[taj in the uk]

greetings friends

it's been a long time but i've been busy. apologies for not keeping in touch. here's the situation. i have had my 96 sl for about 6 months now. it's only got about 14k on the clock and is in very good condition. it was in better condition but i scraped the front bumper on something and now it need repainting. anyway my question is this. i intend to replace my car in the new year with a twin turbo or what you ghuys call vr4. am i better off with the auto or the manual? i do a lot of motorway driving but our motorways are not as you know it. they tend to be start\stop average speed 40mph.
i have had an automatic porsche 911 carrera to drive for the last month and if i could get the same sort of acceleration off an auto vr4 i'd definitely be tempted. please help. is there any real difference?

 

[Tqlla]

Hey, TAJ. I think you are going to have to go with the manual. In the US, I know that the VR-4s come only with Manual Transsmissions. Plus It would be a crime to have an Automatic VR-4

Tuan Luu

 

[taj in the uk]

luan,

the question is why manual? what's the difference?

 

[Andrew Caple]

>i do a lot of motorway driving but our motorways are not as you know it. they tend to be start\stop average speed 40mph.

Except for the M25 where it goes under the Thames, then it's stop/stop average speed 0. What kind of fool designs a two-lane tunnel for a three-lane highway anyway?

Which makes me want to ask - why, then, do you need a fast car at all?

I've got to figure that with the farty roads over there, you're gonna be doing a lot of shifting, more than the typical guy over here. Given that, and that the Getrag trannies have a bad reputation, possibly you don't want to go that route?

Maybe it's Philosophy Time. To my mind, our cars are luxury highway cruisers - soft cushy seats, power everything, cruise control, very quiet, air-conditioning, soft ride. They're made for driving across Kansas while you sleep. The UK does not have many Kansasish roads. You want something small and nimble with good handling, for the curves and corners and the acceleration and deceleration and one-lane B-roads with sheep all over them. Perhaps it's Porsche time.

 

[David91vr4]

Taj,
With so many starts and stops, you may not get to open up your turbos very often. On the other hand, I've been there and I seem to recall a lot of velocity on your freeways.
The traditional advantage to manual, is timing of the shift, i.e.: you get to control precisely when power is delivered to the wheels, for example, when coming out of a curve. This is perhaps more critical with a turbo, since turbo efficiency is so closely dependent on RPMs. I have to say I thoroughly enjoy the 5-speed in my VR4...
-David