Manual vs Automatic off-road

[M.Seidam]

Which is better in terms of different points vehicle/ driver related ? 
maybe slightly lengthy but worth watching it 

what you think desert wanders ? 
 

P.S : personally I learned driving on manual and all my drivers licenses too . however as of off-roading I never tried the manual , it seems more fun but requires extra skills 

[Srikumar]

You are opening a topic that has one clear winner : Manual all the way. 

The automatic guys will just jump in to justify themselves now.

[M.Seidam]

@Srikumar I was born to drive a manual vehicle . It’s the king of fun be it on or off road agree . I really miss it but honestly I never tried the manual off road 😄

Edited November 17, 2020 by Mohamed Seidam

[Rahimdad]

With a manual in off-road is different than driving it on-road. @Srikumar and @Frederic can confirm this. But once you learn driving off-road with a manual you'll hardly go back to driving an auto. There are many advantages and disadvantages driving off-road with either. It's just what you're comfortable with. With manual you have more control, however with most good automatics nowadays it's easier to self recover. Manual takes marginally lesser fuel than an automatic, but in slippery and inclines situationsvits easier to start moving with an automatic. I see the way @Srikumar and @Frederic drive their manuals and I have the highest respect for them.

[Wrangeld]

For years and years, I was an "I will never drive an automatic". Then I realised, life is simply easier in an automatic day to day. I still remember how frustrating is was sitting in early morning traffic on the way into central London driving a manual. 

Off road, I went for Auto first simply because I knew there would be a lot to think about apart from changing gear. 

For sure, at some stage, I will have a manual for the desert. As long as it's not my daily driver. Auto is simply that, automatic, so easier. 

[Atif]

For those of us with slower response time, automatic is better suited.

I felt this when I decided not to play around with even the steptronic as the brief attention diversion to decide and switchover to the lower gear was impacting my drive quality. Just using the gas pedal to switch gears automatically improved my driving. 
However, the above does not affect those with sharper concentration and want more control in their hands. 

[Alexander Alcala]

Automatic is more relaxed and has some advantages on soft terrain like sand, an also when rock crawling.  But manual is more fun. It demands more from the driver and (at least for me,) the challenge and adrenaline of the manual offroad has no substitute.  Having said that, I have an automatic wrangler, because there was no manual option when I bought it, and now I don't think I will change my ride in the short term.

[Frederic]

Driving a manual comes with a steeper learning curve. As a beginner you will be very tempted to use the clutch to rev up a bit when you are taking off in a soft patch. While playing with the clutch is acceptable on-road up to a certain extent, offroad it kills the clutch very soon. We all had to learn that lesson the hard way.

But once you have passed the initial stage, and become in "sync" with your vehicle and the exact right time to switch gears, the driving experience is more engaging and it gives you a better sense of control. If i get behind the wheel of an automatic car now, i quickly get annoyed by the fact the car is upshifting and downshifting by itself, resulting in me kicking it into tiptronic and taking over control. That also depends on the type of car of course and how "smart" the car reacts in D (which is something the ECU is adapting and learning from your drive style every week).

[Srikumar]

One big advantage of manual transmission is that there is no Hot Gear Oil Indicator (atleast not in my XJ) . Plus the manual gear oil is much more thicker and hence can absorb more heat than the relatively less viscous automatic ATF gear oil.

I have pushed my XJ extensively on first gear for the past 3 years and keep checking the quality of oil. Hardly any burnt smell or discoloration.

[M.Seidam]

In addition to what @Srikumar and @Frederic have valuably said regarding manual vehicles also another advantage that if your battery got cut for what ever reason still you can start it by pushing it or let it roll slightly if inclined while it’s in gear pull the clutch and drive again ( I had experienced my self when I used drive manual ( not in UAE ) ) on the other hand in automatic you will need a charger , towing or recovery vehicle .