Do l go for manual or auto?

[BIGDAI]

I've pretty much decided that l need to scratch my V8 itch and l'm in a financial position to buy a new Mustang but l'm looking for real world advice on whether l go for a manual or an auto box.

The car will be my daily driver and l won't do a great mileage - certainly no more that 6-8000 miles a year - almost all on single carriageway A roads and mainly with just me in the car.

So, over to the experts - do l go manual or auto?

Thanks.

Edited by BIGDAI on Wednesday 9th September 17:50

[rat rod]

BIGDAI said:

I've pretty much decided that l need to scratch my V8 itch and l'm in a financial position to buy a new Mustang but l'm looking for real world advice on whether l go for for a manual or an auto box.

The car will be my daily driver and l won't do a great mileage - certainly no more that 6-8000 miles a year - almost all on single carriageway A roads and mainly with just me in the car.

So, over to the experts - do l go manual or auto?

Thanks.

MANUAL every time, depends on you and how much town driving you have to do when commuting but don't forget you are stuck with that boring Automatic at weekends ,high days and holidays and missing out on all the fun.

Older yanks have heavy clutches and truck like gear box's which is fine for a weekend toy ,makes it more rewarding and a challenge to drive but the latest Mustang's, Camaro's have nice light easy positive gearbox's and clutches and would be a shame not to take advantage of .

There's always the Automatic with paddle shift ,best of both worlds maybe, Not for me but i'm old skool .Bought a certain Italian car two and a half years ago with paddle's and still not got use to it , probably never will but my son plays it like a orchestra. must be a age thing.
Should have bought a manual but never having one thought i'd give it a go plus it would have been £30k more,
If you get the chance drive both but make sure you drive the manual in town and especially on the open road ,
Happy hunting !

Edited by rat rod on Wednesday 9th September 19:51

[David Beer]

BIGDAI said:

I've pretty much decided that l need to scratch my V8 itch and l'm in a financial position to buy a new Mustang but l'm looking for real world advice on whether l go for a manual or an auto box.

The car will be my daily driver and l won't do a great mileage - certainly no more that 6-8000 miles a year - almost all on single carriageway A roads and mainly with just me in the car.

So, over to the experts - do l go manual or auto?

Thanks.

Edited by BIGDAI on Wednesday 9th September 17:50

Auto for me, quicker and way more relaxed . The new 10 speed is a little jumpy in sport mode but that was in the US , maybe the UK cars have sorted it ! I was looking to change my convertible for the face lift convertible , not new but there are no cars with the same spec unless I go new. I will wait.

[rat rod]

David Beer said:

BIGDAI said:

I've pretty much decided that l need to scratch my V8 itch and l'm in a financial position to buy a new Mustang but l'm looking for real world advice on whether l go for a manual or an auto box.

The car will be my daily driver and l won't do a great mileage - certainly no more that 6-8000 miles a year - almost all on single carriageway A roads and mainly with just me in the car.

So, over to the experts - do l go manual or auto?

Thanks.

Edited by BIGDAI on Wednesday 9th September 17:50

Auto for me, quicker and way more relaxed . The new 10 speed is a little jumpy in sport mode but that was in the US , maybe the UK cars have sorted it ! I was looking to change my convertible for the face lift convertible , not new but there are no cars with the same spec unless I go new. I will wait.

Now that's confused you, depends if you want to relax or drive, nice to do both i know,
Maybe buy two ,a Auto for the commute and a manual for the weekend.
Would be nice if life was like that.

[cerb4.5lee]

Which do you prefer using generally? I wouldn't entertain an auto with your usage, but my preference is a manual gearbox for most cars though.

[Trevor555]

When I think of a Mustang I'm thinking burn outs, donuts in car parks, having to take command and drive the thing.

It'd have to be a manual for me.

[BIGDAI]

Thanks all ..... and yes l am still confused!

I'm not an aggressive driver - to me it's all about the sound rather than trying to throw it around.

There is no commute these days - l'm well and truly retired. I spent a career doing anything from 20 to 40 thousand miles a year but
I've never owned an auto - although I've had a few as hire cars over the years - nothing interesting though - always ecoboxes.

One other daft question - will my golf clubs and electric trolley fit in the boot or will l need to drop the rear seats?

[downthepub]

Let's face it, RHD Mustangs aren't sports cars in the British sense without significant but doable modifications to the suspension. I hear the manual box is good and v strong, but for me, a) sporting drives are very few and far between, b) modern automatics know more about changing gear than I do, c) no sts are given about the perceived manliness of manual gearboxes over their automatic bethren. Ergo, I've got the older 6 speed auto in my GT and it suits me down to the ground; although if you are looking at new, the 10-speed auto box is supposed to be very good.

Do you have the opportunity to test drive both and see what suits you best? ie nevermind us....

[rolster]

Hi my tuppence worth is try both and then decide. For me i have had a few British, Italien and German light weight sportscars, that handeled great and had manual gearboxes. I loved them for what they were on the country roads where you could flick them around and go up and down through the gears. But i hated them in traffic and around town.
I now have a 2017 mustang GT i bought from new, i tested both a manual and auto gearbox before i finally bought an automatic gearbox GT. For me it suited the car better, the car after all is a GT grand tourer and not what i would classify as a sportscar in its unmodified state.
I use mine as a daily driver and during the week suffer through comuter traffic in comfort and at the weekends i bug out to my house in the mountains and the car does both very well and capably in comfort.
I am the wrong side of fifty and so my days of climbing in low slung, lightweght, stiffly sprung cars, is well beheind me and i apreciate the dosility of the autobox around town in traffic but its useability when on the open road. in standard form the car goes well around the corners but you really feel how heavy the car is the faster you go, so i would not recomend it as a pure sports car (in the european understanding of a sports car).

[cerb4.5lee]

BIGDAI said:

I've never owned an auto

Now could be the time to own one then I reckon(plus you can't buy many cars with a 10 speed auto). As mentioned the Mustang is a GT car so the auto will suit it in many ways for sure.

I can't believe I've just said that as a die hard manual fan though!

[djc206]

I test drove the manual and hated it. Bought the 6 speed auto, I’m torn as to whether that was the right decision with hindsight. It was ok but not great. I’ve not driven the 10 speed in the mustang but have driven the 5.0V8 10 speed F150 over in the US and it was better. I guess the answer is a decent test drive in both and go from there.

[mac96]

I have had a manual Mustang for 3.5 years- easy choice then as the old auto not as good as current, and it is for me a fun/long distance car not a commuter.

The clutch may not be unacceptably heavy but it is noticeably heavier than a lot of cars and on the odd occasion when I have spent time in stop start traffic it becomes noticeable especially if wearing thin soled shoes.
So I think I would choose the auto if I was expecting to do a lot of stop start.
And of course the new 10 speed auto is faster than the manual.

For what I actually do use it for- I still prefer the manual.

Final thought- not sure why, but for me, the hard top should be manual but the convertible more suited to auto? That is probably emotion not logic.

Try both!

[Squadrone Rosso]

We hired an auto rag top in the states last year. Box was great. Almost DSG great.

[blippo1984]

Unless someone has bought two Mustangs and has them side by side it’s hard to compare.

My two pennies?

I’ve had an automatic ecosport as a Rental in the US. It was very easy to use, fun to put your foot down and ‘point and shoot’. It’s good.

I have a manual V8. The clutch pedal is long. It’s a bit of a knuckly, meaty change. It’s fun to blip the throttle in neutral when parking. Would suggest a test drive to check you get on with it.

[Ozone]

Mrs Ozone has an MY2019 RHD Mustang GT manual - loves it and the clutch isn't heavy. We don't live in a city and have great A and B roads to drive on and you do need to stir the box to get the best out of it for a spirited drive (3rd being the go to gear for any overtake as it good for up to 3 figure speed if necessary and is beautifully controllable) which makes the car an event to drive rather than a cruiser which you can do in any auto.

If you are city driving predominantly, the the auto is probably best.

Driving both for comparison is the best option

It'll be great whatever you choose

[Legacywr]

Got to be a manual, surely, unless you are regularly stuck in traffic?

Have you tried any yet OP?

[BIGDAI]

Thanks for the responses folks.

I do indeed need to test drive them so I bit the Bullet (see what l did there?) today and rang my local Ford main dealer. They don't sell Mustangs! The nearest is apparently in Manchester - 70 miles away!

Not convinced so tried the next dealer (only 25 miles away) and they do sell them - marvellous! Spoke to the sales guy and the snag is that they don't have a demo! They "might" have a used one in stock but he doesn't know for certain as he only deals with new cars and the used car chap isn't in until tomorrow so could l please ring back in the morning.

I can see this is going to be more difficult than l thought!

[Wacky Racer]

Definitely Auto.

Why have a dog and bark yourself.

[Legacywr]

Get a Bullitt, manual all the way

[David Beer]

I have an auto as I mentioned, if I want to go manual I use the flappies!