Automatics changing my view.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by Scott

I have been a stick shift man for years and knew that auto's had draw backs and lower mpg. With the newer transmissions out there, the car companies have made great strides in an efficient automatic trans. So much so, I plan my next car to be an automatic.

You, like many have been misled and are indeed wrong. There are no efficient automatics because manuals will always be more efficient, period. What you're seeing is that the manuals now for sale are intended for a "sporty" audience while the automatics are for the vanilla audience, it used to be the inverse. If you compare the gear ratios of the automatic and manuals, specifically the final drives, you'll quickly see how and why the automatic does better with mileage. Give that manual a final drive and gear ratios matching the automatic and you'll see the MPG fly through the roof. There is a reason why the Civic EX always gets worse mileage than the DX/LX, it's cause the transmission is geared more for performance and less on mileage.