Is Driving a Standard or Automatic Car The Better Driving Experience?

My driving experiences began with an automatic transmission car during the driving school portion of my training, which helped to progress to gain my full driver’s license.  I have since only driven a manual transmission vehicle and think I wouldn’t ever be able to go back.  A comparison of the driving styles, the former of which involves no gear shifting and the latter which does, yields interesting results.

The automatic set-up in driving is ideal for a beginner, but many people don’t want to be bothered with shifting gears in certain traffic congested situations as well.  When starting in driving school, the driver wants to pay more attention to small details like properly changing lanes and parking properly and it would be an unnecessary hindrance to have to worry about gear shifting at the same time.  Also, there are certain situations such as when the driver is on a hill or stuck in stop and go traffic that would make an automatic transmission more convenient.  Thus, an automatic would be suited to someone that prefers ease of use in driving.

The standard transmission vehicle is what I’ve been driving since performing the driving tests and it has made the overall experience far more interesting.  There is an undeniable element of control involved when shifting gears and this leads the driver to feel that they are more actively involved with everything the car is doing.  I would tend to suggest standard shifting to a driver that is more adventurous and doesn’t mind doing slightly more work in traffic congested situations.  After having used this style of driving for a long time, I would never go back to automatic.  It also helps to be greatly accustomed to the particular vehicle that’s being driven when using this style.

Though I personally prefer driving a standard transmission car because I think is more interesting, there are certainly those that might find an automatic more suitable to their particular situation.  It depends largely upon the personality of the driver and the decision could easily be influenced by the driving conditions in the area that the driver lives as well.