Manual is more preferred
Manual or automatic is often a personal choice. However, technically, manual is always better than automatic! Here we see why -
[1] In manual, you can feel your car. You’listen’ to your engine and decide what gear to engage. In automatic, there is a genie between you and the car’s engine.
[2] Automatic cars consume more fuel(at least 10-15% more). Just observe a simple phenomenon. In most manual cars, you can start the car from standstill while your engine is revving around 1500 RPM. In most automatics(even expensive ones), you’ll see that rev counter often touches 3000 RPM while moving. So, you waste more fuel. Moreover, unnecessary revving at high RPM reduces engine life.
[3] Manual cars can be started by pushing on back even if starter motor fails. In automatic, you can’t do that!
[4] In many countries, passing driving test in manual car will allow you to drive an automatic but not the vice versa!
[5] Once you start driving automatic cars regularly, you’ll face difficulty in driving manual cars again.
[6] Cars are more difficult to control at high RPM range. Most automatics tend to rev engine high. In manual cars, you can always select correct gear to keep engine rev low, thus a pleasant drive. If you don’t believe me and can’t try with different cars, simply try to drive cars in computer games with manual and then automatic option!
[7] Automatic cars are more expensive than manual ones.
[8] In USA 90% cars are automatic. In Europe 90% cars are manual. Indian road condition is more like that of in Europe(traffic jams, narrow twisty roads, frequent stops etc.) So, for India, manual would be better choice.
[9] Automatic transmission is much more expensive to repair compared to manual gearboxes.
[10] If you run automatic cars in very congested traffic, like in big cities in India, it is quickly to fail. Contrary to popular belief, automatics are suitable in long running(as in USA). For too much city traffic driving, manual is far better. But you’ll find that often car dealers will try to convince you by saying exactly opposite.
[11] If you are driving long distance, with barely any traffic, in a manual car you’ll quickly shift to top gear and enjoy crusing along, without any frequent gear change. So, why do you need automatic then?
Long live manuals!