I drive a manual transmission car and I find my mileage to be comparable if not lower to an automatic transmission car. While activating cruise control, my mileage rises by a few kms because of this I have always wondered which transmission for my next car would be the best, considering mileage to be an important factor.
In: 35
We are speaking about small fractions. Form best to worse:
1 superb driver with manual.
2 robotic shift (clutch and gears but automated)
3 normal driver with manual
4 automatic with torque converter and gears.
But mind that the drive style is way more a factor compared to the above list. Above,we are speaking about 1% differences.
An automatic with torque converter is maybe 1-2% more thirsty than a superb driver with a manual set.
to be considered: we don’t always focus that much on gears, so the manual gears will have different result in different days. Also, the manual advantage exists only if the road allows for it. Some terrains don’t give you any advantage to exploit with manual. While manual is for example very very good in mountains, its not so much if a help in traffic jams, where the difference between a manual and a torque converter is that the manual will wear down more (clutch expecially). Torque converter may be slightly less efficient but will give the smoothest ride of all, while also being the easiest.
So, don’t focus only on mileage when choosing transmission. Reliability, long term costs, road type, congestion, and your drive style; all of this important in the choice.
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