When it comes to the automotive world, there are plenty of disagreements among car enthusiasts. Probably none could be more classic and timeless than the 'manual vs automatic' debate. One side may say that real 'car guys' only ever drive manual, while the other might champion automatic cars for their many benefits.
While that might mostly be about personal preferences and opinions, there is one context where the discussion becomes much more straightforward. We’re talking about the debate on when it comes to city driving vs open-road driving, and whether a manual or auto car is better for either of those situations.
That's what we're looking at in this article, as we differentiate city and open-road driving, and which type of transmission is suitable for each.
City Vs Open-road Driving: What’s the Difference?
If you think hard enough, you can probably find several differences between city driving and open-road driving. However, most of those differences tend to boil to one thing: a difference in momentum.
Generally, you never enjoy much momentum when driving in the start-stop environment of the city. On highways and other open roads, however, momentum can be your best friend.
City Driving
Sometimes referred to as ‘urban driving’, this is when you’re driving around in a city or urban setting. As you might imagine, you don’t get to enjoy too much momentum when operating under these kinds of conditions.
Instead, you’ll continually experience a start-stop style of driving, and quite often you’ll come to a complete stop at junctions and traffic lights.
Compared to open-road driving, you’ll be accelerating and decelerating very often when driving in urban environments. To top it all, you’ll also make a lot of 90 degree turns at those junctions, something you’d rarely find on a highway.
Open-Road or Highway Driving
There’s plenty of momentum to be enjoyed when you’re driving on an open road.
You see, open-road driving is just as the name suggests: you’re driving on an open road that’s generally straight, though there’ll be a few bends here and there. Once you’ve accelerated to overcome the inertia, you’ll reach a comfortable speed and keep the car going with momentum and a steady level of engine power.
On the open road, there are very few reasons to slow down or come to a complete stop. You may slow down to take a turn or drive to a rest stop, but for the most part, you’re just moving forward.
Manual or Auto Transmission - Which Is Better for City Driving?
So, should you use a manual or auto car for city driving?
In my opinion, you’re much better off with an automatic car, and here are a few reasons why.
Advantage of Driving an Automatic Car in the City
Firstly, an automatic transmission car will let you focus on what’s most important: driving and traffic.
Suppose you were driving a manual car instead, you'd be occupied with switching gears all the time. You’ll switch gears up as you accelerate, and switch them down at every junction and traffic light.
That's true for even the most experienced drivers, so imagine what it would be like if you've just gotten your licence! It'd be like performing a complicated dance while trying to drive, switch gears, and maybe change the radio channel at the same time.
Disadvantage of Using an Automatic Car in the City
There is one downside to using an automatic car for city driving: fuel consumption. Vehicles with automatic transmission consume more fuel in an urban environment because of how it performs all the work for you. On a manual car, you'd have complete control over gear-switching.
But is that a significant difference? Not really. These days, car manufacturers are continually improving on overall fuel efficiency. So, the extra consumption from an auto car is reasonable and becoming more negligible.
Which Is Better for Highway or Open-Road Driving?
The answer is not as clear-cut if you ask be which transmission type is better for highway driving.
I'll say it's a tie between manual and auto.
Advantage of Driving an Automatic on Highways
There’s no denying that an automatic transmission will make driving easier on the open road, just as it does in urban environments. The only things you need to focus on is keeping the wheel straight and pressing on the pedals as needed.
Advantage of Driving a Manual Car on Highways
If there’s one situation where you can enjoy manual driving the most, it’s when you’re out on the open road. Once you’ve reached cruising speed, you won’t have to worry about changing gears.
In simpler terms, you’ll only have to switch gears when you want to, pretty much.
What's more, a manual car will be very fuel efficient.
Final Verdict: Which Type of Car Should You Choose If You Could Only Afford One Car?
Suppose you only had enough money to buy one type of car (just like most people do!), should you buy a manual or auto car? Well, you may have already guessed my stance in the manual vs automatic debate. Yes, I think you’re better off buying an automatic transmission car.
To put it in simple terms, we can say that an automatic transmission gives you fewer thing to worry about. Sure, there are pros as well as cons in automatic transmission, and you might drive on the open road a lot, but typical day-to-day driving still involves a lot of starting and stopping in most cases.
While you may be an expert in switching gears at this point, letting the auto transmission handle it for you makes your overall driving experience much more enjoyable. Your daily commute to and from work will be a lot less stressful, especially if you get stuck in a traffic jam.
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By Ray Hasbollah