I did the Rubicon with a guy, that just switches of his engine. It stops and stays where it is. To start again he just started it right up in gear, no probs and a lot safer than hitting the clutch. But I dont think it works too well for the starter's life

 

hands down for an auto tranny-

I'll never do another manual tranny rig again.

The only reason to run a stick is if you don't have enough HP to overcome the power lost to an auto tranny to start with- IE, a 22RE.

 

I have a buddy with just over 150:1 crawl ratio in his 'zuk, and with the 5-speed you can stand on the brakes all you want and even that little 1.6 he has will overpower them easily.

I miss my 5-speed toyota, but there are times when wheeling an auto is really nice. I dont need as low of a crawl ratio, even with my airplane gears in the diffs it still crawls nicely. That said, im still pulling the 700R4 i have now and replacing it with an SM465, or an NV4500 if i can find one. With my diesel idling smooth at 450rpm, it should crawl real nice with either of those tranny's and require very little clutch useage. I love having torque.

 

I miss my '97's 5 speed just for control of the power on the highway since autos are so numb and jerky but I'm adjusting...oh yeah,I also miss the 25 more MPG I got with the 5 speed.
The only reason I don't mind the auto is due to my foot surgery that's coming up and my '99 is just a much nicer Runner than my '97 plus it's got all the goodies like the Limited's wheels,sunroof,3 aux power outlets,locker,newer headlamps and of course the "scoop".