6MT vs 5AT
 

I have a question for you sports car enthusiasts out there. I remember back in the day (7 years ago) there used to be a huge difference in 0-60 times between a car with auto vs manual transmissions. Recently, I have noticed that the differences are not that pronounced, on the average of at the most 3/10th of a second for well engineered cars. I am asking since I went with the tiptronic auto so others in the family could drive the car (on special occasions of course;) ), but am trying to guage how much performance is going to be compromised. My car now has a manual, and I love it, but I would not claim that I am an expert driver. My question in performance would relate more to the street driver, not the racer. For the non racer (but likes to drive fast) driver on the street, is the 5 AT tiptronic a huge performance sacrifice over the 6 MT? Thanks in advance for the opinons.


Cheers,
Tubbs

I don't think the issue between MT and AT is really performance from 0-60. My current car is a 2000 SLK230 with a 5-speed auto and I doubt I could do better in accelerating from 0-60 with a manual. But the auto completely sucks in other cases, like coming out of a corner and knowing you want to be in 2nd right now, or dropping a gear in anticipation of a passing maneuver. You can't rely on an auto to shift quickly or positively enough. So I wouldn't look at 0-60 times as any kind of comparison to determine which way to go.

yeah, nowidays not much performance, if any is lost in auto trannies.
in fact, if you wanted to drag only, then an auto would probably be better (more consistant times for bracket racing).

(Don't know how a second post got added!)

True, but with a AT, you'll lose out on the fun of manually controlling 280+ ponies!