I am seriously considering leasing a Crossfire Coupe and need some input as far as whether to get the auto or 6Spd. For those of you that own one, does the auto stick behave like a clutchless manual or is it just a gimmick and basically behave like any other automatic .

 

It's a slush box that makes changing gear manually easier than a conventional auto. Change order is P R N D. Once you get back into Drive the lever can be tapped left or right to change down or up respectively.

It does have a trick that if you hold the lever to the left (as opposed to tapping it left to change down) HAL will decide which gear will give you the best torque for your current speed and change down to it. It's useful for overtaking on single-carriageway roads.

As with any slush box vs manual debate, ultimately it's what you're happy with.
A

 

Hi,

I have both, I can tell you honestly its up to you. The auto. has a manual like feature where you can select your own gear or just put it in D. By tapping the gear **** to the left or right you can manually select gears 1 thru 4; if you hold it towards the left rather than tapping it, it will automatically select the correct gear for you. Now if you hold the gear lever to the right it will automatically go back to drive. It also has the Mercedes winter feature where if you select that feature, it will start the car from standstill in 2nd gear rather than 1st to give you a bit better traction taking off from a standstill and it will reverse in a 2nd reverse gear to give you better traction backing up.

The 6 speed is nice if you like manuals like me. However its not the best manual transmission out there. The gears are clunky especially when cold and the throws are long for a sports car. Also the car requires you to shift through three gears to hit 60 mph so it makes it almost identical in 0-60 times as the automatic. Also the clutch has a real hi grab so at first i was slipping the clutch until i got used to it; this in addition to a clunky gearbox and long throws makes it for a rather uncomfortable daily driver especially in traffic conditions. However in the higher end the manual will take over the auto. but again its only a slight advantage not a huge one.

SO i recommend you drive them both before you get one so you can see what i'm talking about. Dont discredit the automatic its a 5spd auto. from Mercedes, the ratios are great and the car really performs well with the auto.

 

Mine is a daily driver and ever since I started rolling my foot (ala heel to toe shifting) I have not had any problems with the smoothness of the manual tranny... you will figure it out eventually.

As said before test drive both, to me the auto seemed to lack power and the slush box was very slow to actually change gears when you tell it to. it was like you hit the plus, you wait a little and then it changes gears.

To me it's not like you are buying a pratical car anyways (as with any sports car), so why buy a tranny that should be in the family car? :shock:

remember we all have different opinons, it's yours that matters.

-marc

 

I have auto stick. My last car was a BM 330ci sport 5 speed manual. A excellent tranny but, for me I perfer the auto. I do a lot of motorway miles with that traffic jams so auto is best.

I somewhat agree with drunkiq. on up shifts the tranny does have a delay, on full power it will not shift untill red line no mater what gear you try to upshift too.

The downshift is as quick as a manual if you get it right. Downshift and floor it, but choose the wrong gear and the ecu will correct and pick the right gear.

On paper there is no diff in power between auto or manual but if drunkiq says he feels a differance the it must be pshycological on his part.

I have drivin the new M3 with its SMG tranny and hated it. If you driver the car hard (as design) its great. Blips the gas on down shifts full control on up shifts but, drive the car normally and you will find that smoothness is impossable.

The merc autostick is a comprimise between a SMG and normal auto in my option.

I understand that the audi tt 3.2 with it new semi auto is something special and as close to a manual as you can get but, I have olny read about it, never drove one.

It may be a few years yet befor technology give you what you want.

 

There has to be a horse power and torque difference - the 215 is at the flywheel (I have seen a dyno of a stock slk320 somewhere and whp was in the 190's), we all know that an automagic robs more power... besides I get chirps in 2nd and 3rd gear with the manual! - Lot's more fun...

-marc

 

All a matter of personal preference IMO. Myself I would never own a car like the Crossfire with anything but a manual transmission. Having an automatic would be akin to buying a Corvette with a V-6.

 

ok now I am a bit confused. Both auto and manual have same 0-60 and top speeds. If there was a diff in the whp should the above figs not repersent that??? would gear ratio also play a part?? Gear ration is different in 5 speed auto to six speed man.

 

I'm new here. Just picked up my 04 a couple days ago. I went with the manual tranny, because I do not like autos at all. I live in CA, Orange County to be exact, and it's still a great car to drive as a daily driver. Even in heavy CA type traffic.

 

Carcaridon, Born and raised in Huntington Beach, Moved to Scotland 16 years ago. What part are you from???

 

I'm originally from Tucson, AZ but now I live in Rancho Santa Margarita and work in Irvine.

 

the final drive ratios are identical at 3.27. the 6 spd, having the additional gear, has a higher gear ratio than the auto from 1st-5th gear. the gear ratio of the auto in 5th is .838, which is nearly identical to the .833 of the manual in 6th.

since the auto has a lockup torque converter it can acclerate without the 5-10% slippage associated with non-lockup converters. therefore, the auto can deliver the same, or nearly identical, power to the wheels as with the manual. not to mention it gets better fuel economy.

as far as 0-60 times are concerned there are several factors in play. the manual will accelerate faster while in gear than the auto due to the gear ratios. however, the auto can shift faster than a driver using a clutch. things should be expected to be pretty even. one thing i'm not sure of is at what speed under WOT the auto shifts into third. the manual will be in 3rd by the time it gets up to 60mph. and that 2nd- to 3rd shift will take some amount of time. anyone know at what speed the WOT shift occurs from 2nd to 3rd in the auto?

something very important that should give a slight edge to the manual is that it weighs 24 lbs less than the auto. it doesn't sound like much, but its around 8/10 of one percent lighter. this would translate to approximately 1/2 a tenth of a second in 0-60 times.

i think the answer on which transmission to get depends on how and where you drive, and the impression you get from your test drives. i had always preferred manual transmissions in performance cars. i drove both, and was more impressed with the experience i got from the auto. like many others, i found the 1st to 2nd shift to be awkward in the manual. i don't have any regrets.

 

It has to do with the difference in the gearing on first, second and third - the first on the auto is longer but the second and third are shorter to catch up plus the shift times as mentioned before help.

Automatic, Five-Speed Overdrive:

Torque Converter Stall Torque Ratio 1.800

Gear Ratios

1st 3.950:1
2nd 2.423:1
3rd 1.486:1
4th 1:1
5th 0.833:1
Reverse 3.147/1.93
Final Drive Ratio 3.270
Overall Top Gear 2.740

Manual, Six-Speed Overdrive

Description Synchronized in all forward gears

Gear Ratios

1st 4.459:1 --------- good to 30mph
2nd 2.614:1 -------- good to 50mph
3rd 1.723:1 --------- good to 80mph
4th 1.245:1 --------- good to 110 mph
5th 1:1
6th 0.838:1
Reverse 4.062
Final Drive Ratio 3.270
Overall Top Gear 2.740

 

Manual is fun once you become comfortable with it. A car like the crossfire should be manual! Also, for those of us who purchased, the manual is less expensive in the beginning, and very likely :lol: worth more when and if you decide to sell.

 

Thanks for all the great input. I guess the best thing to do is drive both and then make a decision.

 

Personally, if you are going to get a beautiful, well handling, sleek sports car, wouldn't you want to shift those gears thru every turn? 6 spd!

Rick