I have a 5 speed 3rd gen 4runner and it took quite a while to find one with the Toyota locker. I had a dealer tell me only 5% of the the total came with a manual trans...

 

5 Speed here

 

Another 5 speed manual here, but it's a pain in the neck during rush-hour traffic though.

 

I'm the driver and I decide what gear to use. I'll never drive a truck that thinks it can see the terrain ahead better than I can. My transmission is not smarter than I am. I won't let it make my descisions for me.

Manual forever! Even if I have to buy a Nissan to get one.

 

You can also select a gear with an auto, just a thought.

 

Umm, sort of. You have to get approval from a computer first though. On an auto you can move the lever to a different position but all that does is ask a computer to grant your request to change gears. With a manual the lever moves the gears with no questions asked.

Auto driver to tranny, "Excuse me, i'd like to go from 5th to 3rd please."

Tranny to driver, "I'm sorry, that is an illegal operation, i'm programed to have to visit 4th gear first, request denied."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Manual driver to tranny, "I want to go from 5th to 3rd right now!

Tranny to driver, "YES SIR! ITS ALREADY DONE SIR!!"

 

Ok, so when last did you guys with manuals drive a decent auto???

My 4Runner is 5th to 3rd slide over tick, tick and your in third, the only time it willl tell you no thank you is if you are trying to do it at 110mph. My previous car was a BMW 330 covertible, also auto. 5th to 3rd tap tap and your there, quicker than you will do with must manuals. The only issue I had with the BMW was that the shifts under hard accelarations was too soft, and wasted time. one for manual (the 4Runner actually is better in this situation). cruise along or drive hard through a mountain pass with the BMW and there is no difference bwteen the two. commute rush hour, two for the auto. go with the Runner wheeling, and the torque coverter actually make tricky uphills a lot easier as you dont have to slip the clutch if you dont have a super low crawl ratio and you dont need a hand lever for the gas.

SO I guess to each its own. But I will put it this way I have driven stick all my life till I got my first auto with the beemer and I will probably never buy stick again, unless it is a Porsche, Lambo, Ferrari or serious sport car. I have gone wheeling with stick (FJ40, Fords, etc) and it does not compare to auto. My opinion!

Obviously there are people who agree and people who dont which makes it great!! But to those who is against auto, wait till you have tried one of the new ones like the new 4Runner and then we talk again.

ALso I bet you, all of you that you will probably drive an auto in 40 years time

 

Of course we will all be driving automatics since the car industry seem to be phasing out true manual trannys,every year less and less vehicle models offer a stick.

 

My truck is a 5-speed but my wife's RAV4 is an automatic.

 

Have you ever rented a car in Mexico or Europe? Good luck trying to find an auto. They might try to phase out manuals in the states but it's a different story in other countries. Manuals are more fuel efficient, and with gas being close to 5 bucks a gallon in europe I don't see the manual going away anytime soon.

 

Yes plenty of times. That might be the case now, but wait for CVT unit prices to come down and it will be a very different story. Toyota is leading the way on this and Audi is following suite.
Toyota Prius
and
Audi
http://www.audi.co.uk/experience/tec...ultitronic.jsp

 

try getting out of a sticky situation when an auto tranny blows up.

if there's no cars in 40 years that are manual, i'll import a manual tranny and put that sucker in myself.

 

I didn't say there will be no cars with manual, I just stated that most people will drive auto on this forum. Last time I checked it will be called aging and not wanting to deal with clutch, etc

 

How about a poll of people that would want to switch from a 5 speed to an auto and vice versa??

Some people had little choice if they wanted a 5 speed Runner.

 

Auto. Though I wish that I had purchased a 5-speed instead...

 

i too drive a 5 speed .. love the control over the engine i always have ... although we have a 91 lexus that is a automatic although it is so comfy i tend to fall asleep once i hit crusing speeds .

 

I switched. Twice. My truck started out with a 5-speed manual, then went to a 3-speed automatic, and now has a 4-speed manual.

 

I have 5spd with the 3.0 and 4:1 crawler.
On road in traffic.....I prefer it over auto. I can just idle in 2nd with a little space between me and the car in front. I hardly have to use the brake. by the time I get too close, they start moving again. I also don't have to step on the brake while stopping on flat roads.
Off-road.....stick all the way. with the crawler I just crawl over stuff uphill and crawl down hill with out using my brakes. my wheels never lockup and loose tracktion.

I think the 5spd makes the brake pads last longer cause you don't have to brake that hard ...compare to auto.
I drove my wife's Odessey and find myself using brake more than my truck .....especially in traffic.

 

All of my Yota trucks ('81, '85, '01) have had the stick. It's especially nice in my '01 because my wife hates driving anything with a clutch, so it's mine, mine, all mine!

Oh, BTW -

 

Strictly manual here, this is my 7th vehicle (1st truck) that has a manual tranny

If I bought an auto, I would be kicking myself in the ass for as long as I owned it.