QUOTE(Monica @ Sep 23 2005, 10:09 PM)
wuld it be easier to learn in an auto then switch to a manual later on?... & iz it true that auto's are more fuel efficient?.... sum guys i kno just get manuals 2 look beta coz theyr tools & its tha only way they can look tuff... but then therz sum guys i kno who put it 2 good use & make it look H.O.T! and then therz a whole lot of others that i really CANNOT be stuffd writting about.. and i think i just managd to dig myself into a hole bcoz iv forgoten wat this was about again!!!
learn in an auto, the last thing you want to worry about while you're trying to learn how to drive and how to drive with other people on the road is gears. i honestly urge ALL new drivers to start in an auto until you are competent on the roads - by competent i don't mean can drive to the shops more that you can drive in to town, park your car and get back out again in peak time...
which is more fuel efficient - auto's - though when you put you're foot flat all cars suck a lot of juice! auto's will choose the most efficent, not always the best, gear for the speed and incline they face.
QUOTE(PaulHamon @ Sep 25 2005, 08:08 PM)
auto.. so i can eat / read / write / text / whatever while drinking

man, i can eat macca's and accelerate from a standing start while turning around a corner right in front of a cop shop

don't recommend it...
in a big car i'd prefer an auto just for the comfort cruise factor but any other day of the year gimme a manual - provided it's not too dodgey... having lived in the hills all my life the advantages to manuals are noticed more so, you can set yourself up for corners better plus you have more direct control of the power going to the wheels. manuals can make you a better driver but only if you were a good driver to start with, and in all seriousness it takes the better side of 4 to 5 years to be fully profficient in a manual - to the level that the people in the car with you would think you drive an auto...

one thing that makes me nervous is people who keep always have one hand on the wheel and one one the stick, the only time you should take your left hand off the wheel is to either change gear or carress the thigh of the lovely girl who's sitting in the passenger seat... end of story