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Car Forum / Pontiac / Pontiac Firebird / September 2005manual or auto?
I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether to get an automatic or manual gearbox. I've heard one opinion saying: you can shift the automatic if you really want to, you'll rarely use the upper gears on a 6-speed anyhow, and "unless you're going to race" the automatic makes more sense for this car. And no, I'm not going to race. I've heard another opinion saying: the automatic is no fun in this car, get the 6-speed. :) I don't have a lot of experience to guide me on this point. I know how to drive a stick, but it's been some years back and it was all jeeps and pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your thoughts, opinions, pros and cons? > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > and pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your > thoughts, opinions, pros and cons? Well, as fast as the 5.7 cars are auto or stick, I could have fun with either one. As far as what I would buy? Not a stick, never, not a chance. I had to borrow a friend's car a while back, and around town, the shifting and clutch drove me nuts after a half hour or so. I was very happy to give it back. But, it's up to you... BDK > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your > thoughts, opinions, pros and cons? Sticks are much more fun unless you drive in traffic often. Also, it's much cheaper to fix when something goes wrong. > Sticks are much more fun unless you drive in traffic often. Also, it's > much cheaper to fix when something goes wrong. Uh, priced out an LS1 clutch lately? I can get a rebuilt TH350 for the price of a stock clutch for my TA. (the factory flywheel is good for zero resurfacing and must be replaced when you smoke the clutch.) For the OP... it's up to you. Burnouts are easily accomplished with either. It depends on what you want to do, how you drive, etc. I have a six speed and I prefer sticks to slushboxes myself, but there are days in rush hour where I can see where an auto would be nice. Ray >> Sticks are much more fun unless you drive in traffic often. Also, it's >> much cheaper to fix when something goes wrong. > > Uh, priced out an LS1 clutch lately? I can get a rebuilt TH350 for the > price of a stock clutch for my TA. (the factory flywheel is good for > zero resurfacing and must be replaced when you smoke the clutch.) Checked the price of rebuiding a modern 4/5 speed auto lately? >>> Sticks are much more fun unless you drive in traffic often. Also, >>> it's much cheaper to fix when something goes wrong. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> > Checked the price of rebuiding a modern 4/5 speed auto lately? No, because I have yet to own a five speed automatic Trans Am. :) fwiw, from my summit catalog: TCI street fighter transmissions: TH350: $759 TH700R4: $1330 *I don't think these include a TQ* - add $100-$500 for a TQ. (a local shop can rebuild my TH350 for about $400.) The stock clutch from a GM dealer was $600. A RAM clutch/pp is $410. I don't even want to know how much for a new T56 in a crate, but the 6 speed richmond in the summit catalog was $3000. Neither is cheap. But the stock clutches in the LS1 cars are barely able to handle stock power, and don't survive under abusive conditions. (a little spray and some drag radials = mondo slippage at 30,000 miles.) That said, I'm a stick guy. My truck is a stick, my TA is a stick. My dirt track Camaro is an auto because the rules say it has to be otherwise it would be a stick. (and it was originally a stickshift car.) for the OP -> try and drive one of each. Ask yourself if you want the aggravation of a clutch in rush hour traffic or if you like to get rubber on the 1-2 upshift (in rush hour traffic if you're evil) and using both feet to drive is just fine. Don't buy one and try and convert it if you don't like it - it's mucho bucks to do it... Ray > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether > to get an automatic or manual gearbox. It depends on personal preference. Myself, I will never own another stick shift again! As I get older the "enjoyment" of shifting is getting short. If you are going to use the car as a daily driver I would go auto. For fun, maybe a stick. Greg > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your > thoughts, opinions, pros and cons? The standard shift is better then the automatic overdrive's they offered from 93 to 2002. 5th & 6th gears are overdrives for highway cruising. So you do use them. Also the standard shift cars came with 3.42 rear gears where as the automatics had 2.73 or 3.23 rear gears. Charles >I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a >pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is >whether to get an automatic or manual gearbox. My $.02 I drive approximately 50,000 miles a year, most of that in a service van. The van has a 4 speed auto which is fine for my daily driving since I don't want to be thinking about which gear I need to be in running through NYC or Westchester traffic. When I driving in a car I have a need to row my own gears. In my driveway there are 4 cars and one van, all of the cars have manual gear boxes in them. I believe all of them to make better gas milage than if they had slushboxes in them. In the end it's up to your own personal likes and dislikes. Do you want learn to be one with your car or do you just want to drive it. Sure you can move the gear selector up and down in an automatic but just how often will you after the initial newness of the car wears off? I always used the auto gear selector when I had automatic cars, I guess I have a need to do more than just turn a steering wheel when out on the road. ...Ron -- 68' Camaro RS 88' Firebird Formula 00' Mustang GT Vert What's your 4th car? And with my experiences... I drove an auto for 8 years..(did drive a few people's manuals once or twice here and there... then I got the 'Bird and drove that for a week. Now as I am back with the auto.. all I can think of is getting back in the 'bird. So like everyone said.. its personal preference.. and if you will be driving from stopsign to stopsign every block.. it might get annoying to have a stick.. but if you are on open roads.. go for it. -Geno 1985 Blue Camaro 2.8L auto w/T-tops (aka "Tazmaro") 1988 Blue Firebird Formula 5.0L auto w/T-tops 1985 Brown Firebird 5.7L (360) 5-speed NO T-tops >What's your 4th car? The 4th car is a 97' Hyundai Tiburon that at present has 187,000 + miles on the clock. We bought the car in 1998 for $10,000 with something like 24,000 miles on it. I'd like to go out on a limb and say that it has to be the least expensive car that I've ever owned. Practically nothing but scheduled mantainance has ever been done to it. Two alternators have been replaced and a couple of relays, not bad for a 9 year old car with plenty of miles on it. It's been from NY to Atlanta Ga and also to Kansas City Ks. Definately a fun car to drive, handles like its on rails. It needs more power, though it does ok for what its intended purpose is. ...Ron -- 68' Camaro RS 88' Firebird Formula 00' Mustang GT Vert I have a 96 6-speed Camaro myself and I love it. The only time I ever wish I had an automatic is at the drag strip. The LT1 has enough torque that it will hold 6th gear down as low as 50 mph. I do realize though that stick shifts are not for everyone. No one can really tell you which one is best for you. You will have to decide for yourself. - Gary > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your thoughts, > opinions, pros and cons? Automatic transmissions are for minivans and SUVs. A sports car with a manual is more fun to drive. You'll get used to it after a week and never want to go back. I drive in heavy traffic 2+ hours a day with a 6-speed and still wouldn't trade for an auto. It's a shame there are so few of them out there. GM seems to think we're all too lazy to drive for ourselves. If you buy a 6-speed, disable the skip-shift immediately. It's annoying and dangerous and easy to get rid of. >Automatic transmissions are for minivans and SUVs. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >If you buy a 6-speed, disable the skip-shift immediately. It's >annoying and dangerous and easy to get rid of. I agree. My El Camino is a 3 speed and I got it after I got my SS. I could kick myself for getting an auto in the SS... -- lab~rat >:-) Do you want polite or do you want sincere? > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether > to get an automatic or manual gearbox. It's a -sports- car for crying out loud. Only a nub without any hair on his a.s would buy a sports car with an automatic transmission. That point is not lost in the resale market. LS-1's with Manual 6 speeds, all else being equal, almost always have a higher resale value. Trans-Am, Corvette, Camaro, what ever, especially if you get it in a convertible. > I've heard one opinion saying: you can shift the automatic if you really > want to, you'll rarely use the upper gears on a 6-speed anyhow, Shift an automatic?? WOW! That's worse than having sex wearing a rubber. At $3.00+/gallon and the Chinese getting a bigger share of the oil market every day, you want to get in the habit of using 5 and 6th gear. Unless you never drive over 30mph, it makes a noticible difference in your gas milage. You will get a bit better milage on the highway and quite a bit better milage around town with a 6-speed manual than an automatic. Of course if gas milage was the only consideration, we'd all be driving Honda Civics. > and "unless you're going to race" the automatic makes more sense for this > car. And no, I'm not going to race. If an automatic makes "more sense", why don't you just buy a Buick Park Avenue Ultra and be done with it? > I've heard another opinion saying: the automatic is no fun in this car, > get the 6-speed. :) I don't know about "no fun", hard to imagine any LS1 being "no fun", but autos sure as hell aren't near as much fun. > I don't have a lot of experience to guide me on this point. I know how to > drive a stick, but it's been some years back and it was all jeeps and > pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your thoughts, > opinions, pros and cons? See above about nubs. Of course, if all your game is, is running stop light to stop light, an automatic with a good stall converter will blow most rice rocketeers away off the line. Not much other use for them in a Trans-Am though. > I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a > pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is whether [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your thoughts, > opinions, pros and cons? You can't rev up the engine and pop the clutch with an automatic.... Downshifting to slow down in a late model auto is very different than manual. The engine braking in an auto is missing in some gears. Sports cars should have manual transmissions.....unless they are driven by old farts like me. If you're young get a stick. If you're old, get an auto because you never know when that knee is gonna be botherin' you. i have a six speed in my car and i have drove an automatic and hands down the best one was the stick. you can powerslide through the first 3 gears and the automatic had problems accelerating past 130 cause of the gear ratio, where as my 6 speed will easily make it past 160 trust me its funner. oh better doughnuts to. unless you get caought then it sux >I'm on the verge of getting a recent (as in 98-02) Firebird, and have a >pretty good idea what I want. One little question on my mind is [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >and pickup trucks, not sports cars. Could any of you can offer your >thoughts, opinions, pros and cons?  Signatureshaun smurf |
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