I've only had 2 automatics since I was 18...let's see that was 27 summers of love ago. Manual is second nature. Choose the best gear for what you need and go. However, my wife spends time in traffic jams every now and then. She been talking up an auto lately.

 

Oh Bob, you're so PC.

Of the 4Runners I've owned, the breakdown is:

Gen I - 5M/T
Gen II - 5M/T
Gen III - 5M/T and another 4A/T
Gen IV - 5A/T (no choice, of course)

My preference? I'll take a manual tranny any day for any application. It's all about control. Other Toyota vehicles I've owned with different trannys included an SM/T (sequential manual) and CVT (infinite gear ratios). Nothing compares to a close-ratio M/T, guys and gals!

 

I appreciate the acknowledgment Mr. Bob

 

5-speed for me. Living in Colorado it's a must on the hills. The auto's are always kicking up and down gears going up big hills. Coming down you have to brake more.

5-speed Auto

 

1989 5speed

 

Technically you cant say 5speed or auto as the 4th gen V8 has a 5speed auto

I love autos, as it works great in commute, and it also make off roading easier, unless you do really hardcore stuff and have a really low crawl ratio.

I think manual trannys as we know it will be obsolete in a decade or so. Look at the trend:
1) Most comfy rides auto
2) Most super and sport cars come with auto shifting clutch arrangement, like F1 look at the Ferrari's, Lambo, BMW, etc. And you can run them in auto mode if you want.
3) Most fuel efficient commercially availible car (Prius) comes with CVT, also auto.

The point is autos will be availible in various formats, pending on requirement and are starting to prove superior to manuals in all areas, speed and control, fuel efficiency and comfort. So it wil a take a few years to sort out, but soon the clutch pedal and stick as you know it will be absolete and we will love it

In closing if F1, which is considered the most high tech and competitive from a technology point of view goes auto (SMG), you have a good feeling where the rest will end up eventually. You can argue it is not auto, but anything you can put in drive and it drives itself is auto to me, irrespective of the mechanics

 

Bob, technically guys include the female gender as well these days I think SO you can use guys for a group of men and women.

 

F1 banned auto SM/T's for the '04 season. Drivers have to actuate a clutch and up/down shift manually, usually with steering wheel mounted buttons and paddles.

 

True, but it is still no shift from driver i.e. no clutch and stick any more

 

You forgot 4-speed. I guess I'd have to say "none of the above" but you forgot that too.

Don't know why anyone would an automatic. They suck too much power that could be going to the rear wheels. That hydro pump in every automatic can drain anywhere from 20 to 100 hp from the crank (Toyotas are probably in the 20-40hp bracket), that is hp better used elsewhere if you ask me. Horsepower losses in a manual tranny are frictional only and a mere fraction of those in an automatic. Just my 2¢.

 

5 speed manual - Auto boxes are optional "extras" here in the UK - the 4runner was only built here from '93-'96 and very few were autos.

 

I would think off-roaing with a manul would be a b*tch!!

Auto for suv is better. Manual is better for sports cars!
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Rob


Automatic for me. I don't want to have to shift the truck. I think the auto is better for off-roading and for towing. I am certainly not lacking any torque with the S/C. If I owned a sports car, that would be a different story. That would be a manual shift.
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-Noel-

ACTUALLY IT'S THE OPPOSITE WAY AROUND. WHEN WHEELING WITH AN AUTO YOU LACK CONTROL THAT YOU GET FROM BEING ABLE TO POP THE CLUTCH IN AND OUT. LETS SAY YOU WERE TRYING TO CRAWL OVER A ROCK BUT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO GO TOO FAR OVER...STOPPING IN THIS CASE WOULD BE A LOT EASIER WITH A MANUAL. THE AUTO WOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT SINCE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE ANY CLUTCH TO CONTROL YOUR SPEED/ACCELERATION. UNLESS AUTOMATICS CAN DOWNSHIFT THEN I DON'T THINK THEY'RE EVEN CLOSE TO AS USEFUL AS A MANUAL WHEN IT COMES TO OFF-ROADING (AND ALL AROUND DRIVING FOR SOME OF US

 

I've Had Two Manual Trucks...

Toy283 Unless Your 4-speed Isn't A Manual Or An Automatic Then You Must Be Mistaken.

 

When you come up to a rock in an auto truck, you have to wind the engine up to get it to begin climbing....usually faster than you had planned on. The solid clutch on a manual allows you to just idle up the rock and ease down on the opposite side.

Besides, I don't like Toyota telling me I have to buy a car the way they want to sell it...which basically means they will bump the price up $1000 and make me buy the auto. I don't work to put money in Toyota's pocket (or any other car manufacturer).

They allow the rest of the world to buy manuals...only us rich Americans get no choice.

 

I think those numbers are very pessimistic for a modern auto box, probably any good auto box made in the last14 years would be better. The big problem was that auto boxes had one less gear (typically 4, 3 plus an OD gear basically) compared to manual, leaving gaps. That is busy getting fixed, or fixed for the most part. My 2c

Make no mistake I love manuals, but in sports cars more than SUV's. Even there though they are becoming a dying bread.

The reason why autos are so popular in the US is the fact that the average engine size here is more than double than in Europe or most other places. So it is easily able to handle an auto box, but even that paradime of big engine and auto will change in the next 10 years, look at the prius as an example of what can be done for fuel efficiency.

 

When you keep vehicles as long as I do...things break. Simpler is cheaper and generally break less. Even though there are some 4Runners here with autos and high miles, my simple 5 speed will probably live longer.

Simple is better...about a $1000 better.

 

I have one of each.

 

i'm also a 4 speed guy...though it's more or less by coincidence that i've owned 3 4 speed trucks in a row. when the opportunity(e.g. cash) presents itself, i'm dumping the old l43 for a w56 5 speed

my problem with autos is that since most people buy them, manufacturers are beginning to give us stick purists less options. it pisses me off to no avail, that therein lies my prejudice agains the automagic

 

It's a 4-speed manual. The poll specifically says: Manual (5-speed) though I voted manual anyway.

 

Take 2 stock Tacomas, one with a manual-one with an auto and race them up to the mountains. Who wins? The manual of course. End of story.