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How to Choose an Energy Efficient Vehicle

Are manual transmissions better than automatic?

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  • David Rizzo

    Dr. Road Map, Dr. Road Map

    www.drroadmap.com  
    (714) 879-8521

    David, DR. ROADMAP, Rizzo burst upon the traffic scene in late 1987 as the first person in Los Angeles to offer alternate routes to motorists who were sick and tired of being stuck in traffic. In 1990 he released to the world the most comprehensive guide ever written of off-freeway commuting in Southern California. Two years later he became the first traffic reporter to offer daily alternate routes in real time over the air on one of the most popular morning radio shows in Los Angeles. Dr. Roadmap continues to provide COMMUTE MANAGEMENT solutions with the 2006 release of his book, Survive the Drive! How to Beat Freeway Traffic in Southern California.

  • Are manual transmissions better than automatic?

    David Rizzo, fuel economy expert, explains how to choose an energy efficient vehicle to improve gas mileage.

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  • Transcripts

    Host: Are manual transmissions better than automatic?

    David Rizzo: They are close, the gap is narrowing. Generally transmissions are better but you have to be a good driver to squeeze that extra efficiency out of a manual transmission, out of a stick. In Europe people have been sticks for years, in fact it's hard to find an automatic in Europe. Gas is 7 bucks a gallon in Europe the last time I was there. So they use sticks because you can do a little bit better but again you have got to pay attention, you have got to make sure that you car is in the right gear.

    If you don't want to put that much thought into driving then go with an automatic. Again, nowadays engineers have done such a good job of designing the automatics to work with the engine control unit that you are not going to loose that much and the peak efficiencies with some of the Nissan products, the Continuous Variable Transmissions CVT, it's like one continuum of transmission gears. You will never feel the car shift because it's constantly just going back and forth matching the engine speed to the road and the load and the best gas mileage.

    So I would go with what you prefer, an automatic is not going to cost you that much of a penalty.

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