[Z06_Pilot]

we had an '04 E, MT for four years, traded for another SUV, and just got back into an E, and of course, it is AT.

I learned to drive on a stick, and every vehicle I ever owned, except for my truck had one.

Actually, I never really liked the MT on our '04. the tranny was syncromeshed to the max...felt like waving a joystick around, not driving a car. the clutch was so easy to engage it was almost non-existent, no feel to it at all. very hard to shift smoothly, quite a bit of rear squat through every gear when you tried to get on it...

I really like the AT of the 2010 much better. leaving from a stop is easy now with virtually not wheel spin or hop(especially on wet pavement) good passing gear power...

never thought I would say it....

any others with past E MT experience???

 

[ammolab]

Yep I still want one..I would love to see the Honda Six Speed manual in an Element with a decent top gear!......every car (and truck) I have owned since 1964 has been a stick.

I never wanted "Less syncromesh" in a gear box....That means the gears would 'grind' with every shift. Maybe you were complaining about the linkage not the syncros? Can't think anyone would want the syncros to work less than 110%.

Squat on shifting, wheelspin/hop? That sounds like my first day learning how to drive a stick....I got a lot smooooother after that. I put 100,000 miles plus on my cars before trade in and I have never had to replace a clutch in my life.

My one big complaint today is the electric throttle control on stick shift cars that prevents the throttle from closing completely between shifts. This is an emissions thing, and it is tough to be smooth when the revs do not drop as you grab a higher gear.

I do know it can be difficult going from one stick shift car to another...that Z06 is a different dance than that old element. Hard to find the rhythm and get smooth shifting when you hop out of a beast into a box!

 

[Uncle MIke]

Interesting thread, since I will be facing the MT vs. AT decision at the end of this year when my lease is up.

I love the MT, but my wife has no interest in learning to drive a standard, which is a drag on vacation or on trips when I start to get drowsy...not to mention the better gas mileage an AT gets. I'm reluctantly considering an AT, so it's encouraing to read of someone not missing the MT!

 

[ElementaryEd]

I love my E and am usually happy I have an AT but sometimes I do miss driving a stick. I think the E would be even more fun to drive if it was a stick. My wife refuses to drive a MT so that did influence my decision.

 

[Dave_Van]

Ditto here. I drove sticks for 22 years and got used to squeezing out the right amount of power out the four-bangers. My new E is my first AT and it still feels weird to me with it hopping from gear to gear on its own. Maybe the rumored "redesign" will offer an MT option.

 

[ammolab]

I love my E and am usually happy I have an AT but sometimes I do miss driving a stick. I think the E would be even more fun to drive if it was a stick. My wife refuses to drive a MT so that did influence my decision.

My Wife prefers to drive a stick...that influenced my decision to marry her!

A good six speed Element would get as good or better real world gas mileage as the automatiic, and it would not shift up and down on every slight grade you come across.

I pull a motorcycle trailer in mountain country and that gear hunting at 75mph with Honda automatics makes me worry how long the tranny can keep that up before it packs it in.

 

[Box Car Willy]

Highway Screamer

I prefer manual transmissions but not the way the manual is geared on the E. Nothing more irritating than "cruising" in 5th gear on the highway with the engine screaming along at 4ooo rpms...

 

[wbaker911]

I have both and the manual is a different car; superior in every way-

 

[LunchBoxDriver]

This is a good thread Z06... Well, if the 2nd Gen E comes out in 2011, I'll wait to 2012 and get a second one (maybe they'll have a yellow one by then and I can FINALLY have a "Yellow Lunch Box"!!!) and by then, I'm hoping they have a 6-speed MT... I'm subscribing to this thread so that I can bring back when the time is here...!

Good stuff... By the way, this place TOTALLY SUCKS...!!!

LBD
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PS: Happy April Fool's Day...!

 

[xequar]

I learned to drive stick on a 1998 Mercury Mystique with the V6, loved it, and never had any problems driving stick. I've driven other cars with manual transmissions, and aside from getting used to the fact that I had to lay on the gas (compared to what I was used to) to launch an AWD Impreza, I had no problems.

My Element is a stick. I'm getting rid of it in favor of a Ford Fiesta (once Ford gets around to building mine) partly becuase I hate the clutch and transmission in the Element. After 68,000 miles, I very rarely can get a decent shift out of the Element, partly because the clutch has no feel to it and picks up really close to the floor. Also, I'm not wild about the fact that when I change from 1 to 2, I can grind the gear if I do it at what most would consider a normal shift speed.

My Fiesta will have a manual transmission. I've driven the European Fiesta with a manual, and getting into it for the first time, I felt like I'd been driving the car for years. Conversely, I feel like a n00b driver every time I get into the Element.

 

[E277]

I had an '05mt and now an '06mt. They are harder to find, but well worth the search.

I actually ran into a dentist the other day that snatched up one of the few initial '10 manuals back in December. He loves it.

An auto may be better suited in larger V6 engines and V8s but when you're running the small amount of torque as with an Element, or any 4cyl for that matter, any slight modulation of the gas pedal triggers a gear change. I feel as though the engine is always hunting for the proper gear.

A 6mt would def be a great improvement in gas mileage! And not to change the subject, but I don't know what I would do w/o my sunroof either!

 

[pfa]

I'm one of those fortunate few whose wife insists on a manual. She held on to her 86 Saab 900 as her primary car until we got our 2003 MT Element. (You can actually carry an 8 ft christmas tree in a Saab 900 Classic hatch - with the hatch closed - the Element was the first car to come along that captured her fancy since that one.) The Element is her car and our trip car.

Anyway, we're at 120K amd it's still going fine. I almost bought one of the last 2010 MTs but truly, we're not quite ready for a new one yet. I drove a 2009 AT and really didn't care for it. In the hills of southwest VA, it shifted constantly. It's true that the we cruise at an obscene RPM but it'll handle all the hills without shifting. And the mileage difference is slight.

No, it's not as much fun to drive as my Z3 or Mini Cooper S but it's undoubtedly the best car I've ever owned for sheer utility and durability. I'm sad I cannot get another manual - I hope, but doubt, that the redesign will offer one. - her next car may have to be a Mini Countryman or Subaru Forester, neither of which will offer the same attributes as our trusty Element. But it'll be shiftable. And the 2003 will undoubtedly stay in the family until it turns to rust.

 

[kphth]

My Element is a stick. I'm getting rid of it in favor of a Ford Fiesta (once Ford gets around to building mine) partly becuase I hate the clutch and transmission in the Element. After 68,000 miles, I very rarely can get a decent shift out of the Element, partly because the clutch has no feel to it and picks up really close to the floor. Also, I'm not wild about the fact that when I change from 1 to 2, I can grind the gear if I do it at what most would consider a normal shift speed.

Blasphemy I say!!

 

[sloweddie]

Been driving a stick for 50 years. I'd really hate to have an AT but if I was doing alot of off-road stuff I'd probably opt for the AT because you can fry the clutch too easily in delicate situations.
My bride has a porsche so she can drive a stick alto sometimes she drives the E like the P car with not the same results.
se

 

[LunchBoxDriver]

Been driving a stick for 50 years. I'd really hate to have an AT but if I was doing alot of off-road stuff I'd probably opt for the AT because you can fry the clutch too easily in delicate situations.
My bride has a porsche so she can drive a stick alto sometimes she drives the E like the P car with not the same results.
se

DUDE...! You're SO LUCKY!!! You're MY HERO...!!! :lol: My girl drives fast:shock:, drives stick:shock:, and doesn't want to own a MT:-(...!

LBD

 

[bmwrider]

My first 2 cars, a 57 Buick and a 77 Cadillac Eldorado were autos but after the Caddy left me in 1992 all I've had sticks for past 18 years and before that I had to drive one for delivering auto parts. Of course all my motorcycles are manual.

I taught my girlfriend to drive a stick in the early '90's and she bought a Saturn coupe with 5 speed. When she switched to a Land Rover Freelander she didn't get that choice but in January 2010 she bought a 2006 Cadillac CTS with about 7K miles on it (really) AND the 6 speed manual trans - what a cool car, a Caddy with a MT, I remember the commercials at the time but no dealers around here had one on the lot to test. It must be one of the few CTS's they made with a MT.

Anyway, I had to search for a while to get the MT Element in '08 and I'm glad I waited it out. I go from my 6 speed SAAB 9-3 to my Element all the time and other than the position of reverse and the big difference in power I never miss a beat with the Honda MT. On long trips I wish it was a 6 speed for better MPG but I don't notice the high rpms the engine is doing at 80 - in fact it is the same 4K rpm my BMW does at 80. Maybe I'll do the mod when it is out of warranty but even still the solid feeling of the connection in the drive train is worth it. I'm sure that I will be forced by what is available to have an AT someday but I will fight it as long as I can.

 

[Z06_Pilot]

wow, am I in the minority here!

I think for me it comes down to: our daily drivers(Tundra truck and E) are used for daily commuting, carting stuff around, carrying dogs, etc. I just found our 5 speed MT E did not enhance the driving experience at all while doing chores and "daily life" activites.

Plus the jump-happy front end of our '04 MT when taking off from a stop really drove me crazy(and when on a wet roadway, fugetaboutit) i do understand though that the newer E's have something(part of the traction control?) that really calms down that tendency, so perhaps a newer E with MT might be a different experience than I had.

Now, our "fun" cars are an absolutely different story! they don't come with AT's :grin:

 

[Z06_Pilot]

Oh, I do want to mention, so no one gets the idea that I'm against MT's in daily drivers.

we tested the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4 door against the Element, and thought long and hard about it.

we drove their 6 speed MT. Loved it. rear drive, good long throws of the shifter, very firm clutch pedal. I could really feel the transmission through the linkage, and not the very disconnected feeling I had on my '04 E.

It came down to the Wrangler being about $5k more than the E, and you are paying for a lot of off roading capability on that vehicle of which I do very little.

and the reliability reports for all Jeeps is horrible.

Don't have that problem with the E!

I will say it is a bummer though that Honda stopped offering the MT as an option....I guess no one is teaching these kids today how to "really" drive a car so the demand dried up:roll:

 

[KargoMaster]

I wouldn't give up the MT in Zippy... Only way I'll buy another Element (in several years) is if Honda pulls their head out of their butt and puts an MT option back in... (and the sunroof... seriously.... you cheap sob's)

@75k, it's gonna be a while before clutch work is needed, but when it is... LSD, and 6MT....

GMC 1500 Sierra was my last Daily Driver, and the only DD that I've owned with an auto... Can't say NEVER again, but I will potentially be the last person on Earth to convert...

FWIW, my "Trailer Queen" Jeep has a dump truck manual... (NP435 four speed with a granny gear)... if I want more pedal feel and less syncro (granny not even sync'ed), I can have it... Someone mentioned Auto for off-road, certainly seems like the off-road community is heading in that direction... but again, I will stick with the three pedal shuffle...

 

[Filmcarp]

jumpy

I guess I don't understand what you mean by jumpy in wet weather. Our 03 MT doesn't jump at all. Like you and others here, I've had MT's for a long time. My wife insists on MT's, and misses the 6 she had in the Cooper. I'm at 75k miles commuting in NYC and I am nowhere near a clutch. We have never put one in a car. I burned one on my first bike, but that was back in 81 or so....