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[Martin_1962]

95% of the time I prefer an auto... ...5% of time I wish I had a manual.

Its a choice you have to make...

More like 90% 10% for me.

WHen I need the last bit of performance manual would be nice, when stuck in traffic an auto is fantastic.

To be honest the 4L30 autos are excellent boxes and are the only autos I have driven which didn't annoy me

[Paul M]

  [size=18]Where's Paul M?[/size]    
He always like to give the pro's & cons of an auto a manual!!    

On my way....

[Paul M]

I find that a used Auto is usually in a better mechanical condition
than a used Manual.
It compensates for the useless or lazy driver and reduces the wear
and shock loading that they put on the drivetrain.

If they are not slamming the clutch off and shocking every bearing
from the Big Ends back to the diff, they drive lazy in too high a gear.

Remember back to when you used to ride a push bike. Can you remember
the creaks and groans you used to subject your crank to, when you tried
to ride up that hill, or along the flat at too slow a speed, without swapping down a cog or two?
Now transpose that into the loading on your car's engine and drivetrain
when the lazy or incompetent driver does that to his car.

Driving a car in too high a gear will do more damage than the typical typecast
'yoof' in a baseball cap revving the nuts off his 'personalised' motor.

An Auto is always driven smoother with the optimal engine/drivetrain loading
controlled by the car's electronics/autobox, and will have been subjected to
far less abuse and shock loading.

Don't really see the point of manuals, myself. You spend most of your time
cruising motorways/dual carriageways without changing gear,
or stop starting in town traffic pumping your left leg up and down on the clutch.

Why not just use an Auto and go to the gym to exercise your left leg.  

What a load of rubbish  

First I've heard of all those lazy Omega drivers seeking out manual versions so they can leave it in top gear all the time, or slam the clutch out lol.... Yes if I were a lazy driver I'd definitely go to the extra effort of finding a good manual Omega considering they're more difficult to find

The reality is that most people buying large cars with larger engines like the Omega V6 with a manual gearbox are doing so because they want to drive the car properly -- that is be in full control of the car and shift gears themselves. In which case they're probably better drivers on average than those driving slushomatics, as they want more than just a "get me from A to B with as little effort as possible" type car.

Why don't you just get a chauffeur and go down to the gym to work out your arms instead of turning that big circular thing in front of the driver's seat?

Oh and you can bleat on about mechanical sympathy all day if you like, but I can almost guarantee your automatic geabox will fail long before my manual one will, even if you're the most sensible driver in the world

I've driven a few automatics and hated every minute of it, personally if I'm not in control I'd rather go the whole hog and let someone else do the driving.

My two pence

[Paul M]

I almost forgot to answer the original poster's question

Anyway, if you're prepared to travel, and maybe wait a little for the right model to come up, it shouldn't be too hard to get hold of a facelift 2.6 V6 MV6. Unfortunately VX only made the 3.2 V6 manual for the police, most of which are pretty basic in terms of toys. Personally I wouldn't compromise, if I couldn't find a good manual 3.0 MV6 I woulnd't be driving an Omega today -- it's that simple! There are other models out there (such as the 540i/6 although it's a bit more expensive) and I'd rather choose one of those than accept an automatic.

[Andy B]

............
 In which case they're probably better drivers on average than those driving slushomatics,  .......

Cough ... bo!!ocks !!!!      
I manage to drive my auto with complete control. I don't even need to lift a foot from either pedal - 2 pedals ... 2 feet! Complete control!    
I now drive a manual every day ...... first time in about 18 years. I find it a complete ball (& left left ) ache. I can't even take my brew with me in a morning!  

[hotel21]

Cough ... bo!!ocks !!!!      
I manage to drive my auto with complete control. I don't even need to lift a foot from either pedal - 2 pedals ... 2 feet! Complete control!    
I now drive a manual every day ...... first time in about 18 years. I find it a complete ball (& left left ) ache. I can't even take my brew with me in a morning!  

Does that mean that with a manual, you have both hands on the steering wheel rather than having to decide whether to hold onto your left b*ll*ock, right b*ll*ck, or coffee cup!!      

[davlad22]

You have PM mate  

As with any car, it's always worth buying the lowest mileage you can (especially if you are going to keep the motor for a while), even though most omegas will happily travel to 200,000 miles+

As somebody said, condition is a very good indicator and make sure the V6 has had a cambelt change every 40k.

.....I also think the auto box suits the car/engine very well (so that's why we drive manual diesels then  :-/ !)

[korum]

Welcome  

i have the 2.2 auto and in the summer did a trip to mid wales,
now i mostly do motorway trip every day to work and back and get stuck in traffic alot and the auto is so relaxing to do this with.

The trip to wales i was worried with all them hills and narrow bendy roads but i was shocked at the poise and control it gave me

i ragged it around some mad roads in wales and loved every minute of it (fuel consumtion was still above 20 as well)

in the end though its down to you this was my first auto and im very supprised and happy with it.

[V8S]

Dave - thanks for the PM, have replied.


All,

Thanks for the comments. I agree that getting a good car outweighs the spec, but I'm not in a rush at the moment to buy so hopefully I can wait for the right one to come along. I side with Paul in a way because I  enjoy being involved with driving, not just sitting back and being chauffered by the car but sometimes I think I'd just like to relax.

My present weekday car revs highly in all gears (I'm in fifth before I reach 45!!), making any trip fuel-hungry and it's only a 1.6i. I'm looking for a comfortable ride in a nice environment (ability to smooth potholed Dorset roads essential), that can happily sit on the motorway at 90 (leptons) without revving to 5,000 rpm, but also be reasonably useful along country lanes without swallowing the oil reserves of the middle east in the process. I'd be using it to drive to work (5 miles each way) and trips around the countryside and also to places likes Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, etc when the mood takes me. I don't have kids to ferry around and having an estate Omega as a 30 year old bloke scares me as I've already got a few grey hairs!  

I could just get a diesel and be done with it but I've heard that they are gutless until the turbo kicks in, and I do like to drive my cars properly and improve my driving, not just stagnate behind the wheel.

[Dazzler]

Hold out for what you want then matey

[Paul M]

............
 In which case they're probably better drivers on average than those driving slushomatics,  .......

Cough ... bo!!ocks !!!!      
I manage to drive my auto with complete control. I don't even need to lift a foot from either pedal - 2 pedals ... 2 feet! Complete control!    
I now drive a manual every day ...... first time in about 18 years. I find it a complete ball (& left left ) ache. I can't even take my brew with me in a morning!  

If and when you do actually learn to drive properly, you'll realise it's quite possible to control 3 pedals with two feet I take it you don't play guitar, you'd be stuck trying to play any chords that use more than 4 strings with only 4 fingers available

"Complete control" includes selecting the correct gear for the road conditions and anticipating actions ahead. Until we reach the day where slushomatics have little cameras up front mated to sophisticated image processing algorithms that can tell you're approaching a sharp bend and may need some engine braking, you're not getting anywhere near complete control. Oh and get rid of that damn torque converter too, having 500 RPM worth of slip in your transmission does absolutely nothing for control either

Each to their own and all that, but if you place the driving experience above the "relaxing" characteristics of not having to change gear, then a manual gearbox is a very important feature of the car. I think Mark's DTM summed it up well when he owned both a 2.5 manual and 3.0 automatic Omega at one point, and he said he could go quicker overall on B-roads in the manual despite a 40 BHP deficit.

[Paul M]

Dave - thanks for the PM, have replied.


All,

Thanks for the comments. I agree that getting a good car outweighs the spec, but I'm not in a rush at the moment to buy so hopefully I can wait for the right one to come along. I side with Paul in a way because I  enjoy being involved with driving, not just sitting back and being chauffered by the car but sometimes I think I'd just like to relax.

My present weekday car revs highly in all gears (I'm in fifth before I reach 45!!), making any trip fuel-hungry and it's only a 1.6i. I'm looking for a comfortable ride in a nice environment (ability to smooth potholed Dorset roads essential), that can happily sit on the motorway at 90 (leptons) without revving to 5,000 rpm, but also be reasonably useful along country lanes without swallowing the oil reserves of the middle east in the process. I'd be using it to drive to work (5 miles each way) and trips around the countryside and also to places likes Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, etc when the mood takes me. I don't have kids to ferry around and having an estate Omega as a 30 year old bloke scares me as I've already got a few grey hairs!  

I could just get a diesel and be done with it but I've heard that they are gutless until the turbo kicks in, and I do like to drive my cars properly and improve my driving, not just stagnate behind the wheel.

The manual Omega is nothing like your Honda will be. I consider the 3.0 V6 quite a peaky engine, but that's compared to my 4.4 V8 BMW engine. Compared to your Honda it will actually be very torquey -- I'm assuming your Honda is a VTEC that peaks around 8,000 RPM and has gearing to match. The gearing on the Omega is quite high, for example in 5th gear at 80 MPH it's pulling just over 3,000 RPM. Personally I consider it a little too high as I'd rather have better acceleration, but it's great for the motorway as you can get decent economy and there's no audible engine noise at all. I think the Omega would really suit a 6th gear to get better acceleration without compromising the cruising ability, but you can't have it all!

As for fuel ecomomy, I average around 24 MPG in my 3.0 MV6, and I don't hang about -- it regularly sees 6,000 RPM. There's a fair bit of motorway mileage in there too, much of which is done in 5th gear which brings it up a little. Mine is dual-fuel though which is makes it a little less economical (still loads cheaper though) so on petrol that should rise to between 26 and 28 MPG average -- pretty good for a 210 BHP car weighing as much as a small country! For comparison my BMW gets between 14 and 18 MPG depending on driving style and the kind of roads, so the Omega is a huge improvement over that. And that's got a 6-speed box too, so 6th gear is actually a little higher than the Omega meaning it revs quite low on the motorway.

[TheBoy]

you'll realise it's quite possible to control 3 pedals with two feet

Yup, though the omega pedal setup is not ideal for this...


As to getting a chauffeur, can't afford one.


Got to own up, at your age, I only ever considered manuals.  As you grow up get older, your style change, and the auto becomes more appealling.  You find you let chavs win at the lights (mostly ).


As to driving skill, trust me, an auto needs much more skill to rebalance in a badly taken corner than a manual

[Paul M]

you'll realise it's quite possible to control 3 pedals with two feet

Yup, though the omega pedal setup is not ideal for this...

Agreed, it's 10 times easier to heel-toe in the BMW, likewise with my Impreza when I had it. The only other car I've driven that had a similarly poor pedal layout was a Mondeo TD... and the throttle response on that was so bad it was hardly worth the effort of trying to blip it

As to getting a chauffeur, can't afford one.

LOL well you're half way there... all you need now is the invention of the automatic steering wheel, accelerator and braking system. You now have the most relaxing, but most boring drive ever imaginable

Got to own up, at your age, I only ever considered manuals.  As you grow up get older, your style change, and the auto becomes more appealling.  You find you let chavs win at the lights (mostly ).

I don't intend to grow old... party animal forever! Besides, my dad is fast approaching retirement age and he still enjoys his cars. He has never owned an automatic in his life and I doubt he's planning on starting any time soon, barring a medical issue or similar.

As to driving skill, trust me, an auto needs much more skill to rebalance in a badly taken corner than a manual

Yes, in the same way that a Daewoo Matiz needs more skill to rebalance in a badly taken corner than a Porsche 911 Turbo . One is more suited to the job than the latter, which may make it more controllable but that also means you can get in and out quicker and with a better sense of achievement and exhilaration when you get it right. You're also less likely to get out of shape in the first place when you've got better control over the car. How I pined for a manual gearbox when I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway in the summer, now there is one road that doesn't fit the typical American stereotype, brilliant road. I still managed to have the tyres screaming for mercy even with the slushy, but it would have been much smoother, quicker and more satisfying with me driving the car rather than having a computer make all the wrong decisions

[Martin_1962]

you'll realise it's quite possible to control 3 pedals with two feet

Yup, though the omega pedal setup is not ideal for this...


As to getting a chauffeur, can't afford one.


Got to own up, at your age, I only ever considered manuals.  As you grow up get older, your style change, and the auto becomes more appealling.  You find you let chavs win at the lights (mostly ).


As to driving skill, trust me, an auto needs much more skill to rebalance in a badly taken corner than a manual

I used to be anti auto - but I thought they were OK with big engines.

But a knee which suffers from too much traffic jam usage swings it for me - went over a car at 20Y/O left knee was swolen.

Manuals for running around were OK but long runs set it off, so ending up with an auto was no problem