Manuals are better for only three things:
- High RPM mudding
- Feeling all manly because “manualz is betterz”
- Clutch out compression braking downhill.
That’s it.
Why are autos better? Infinite low-speed.
With a manual, and the clutch out, there is a minimum speed you will be moving. While that speed is very slow in a parking lot, it is often too MUCH too fast when moving on rocks. So you have to slip the clutch and risk stalling. As you bump around on rocks, feathering the throttle and clutch is more difficult.
With an auto, one foot on the gas, and one on the brake… go as absolutely slow as you want in full control.
On bouncy stuff, when you’re going a little faster, every bounce can move/bounce your gas foot, causing jerking. With an auto, the bouncing is dampened to some extent as the power gets delivered through fluid vs mechanical hookup (clutch).
On sand, autos can keep you momentum where a shift can get you stuck.
Again, I’m in the minority. Folks try to convince me very time I bring it up that I’m wrong. But their rationalization seems to come down to “manualz iz betterz” and not practical things that matter to me.
Arguments for manuals that I discount as mattering (to me)
- Better gas mileage. It’s a Jeep, you’ll be lucky to beat 13mpg no matter what you do.
- Better control. I just plain disagree.
- Better for hill climbing - people who think that are wrong. Human can NOT downshift better than an auto can when you are losing power on a hill. The loss of momentum in the manual downshift sucks.
- You can pop-start a manual trans car - OK, that’s a valid point. But with all the electronics in cars these days, even a 20 year old TJ needs an operational battery to run properly.
None of this is to say “don’t buy a TJ with a manual”. I’m just saying, I’d prefer one with an auto.