Auto or 5 Speed

[Wisha Haddan H3]

Originally Posted by K9sH3

Auto... if you deal with traffic and hills.

You're right about traffic in a manual ... rush hour sucks big time. But I gotta disagree with you on the hills.

I test drove both auto and manual H3s up I-70 on 6% grades, and the manual did a much better job. The auto couldn't decide what gear it wanted and it felt like I was lagging behind the traffic. But in the 5-speed I just stick in 4th and hit 3rd on the steeper grades and when passing (yes passing) other vehicles. Engine braking is easier on the way back down, too.

My only pet peeve with the 5-speed is 1st gear at a dead stop. Trying to engage 1st gear from neutral (with clutch to the floor), there's some resistance at idle (about 600 RPMs). But if I rev the engine a little (to 1000 RPMs or so), it slides in nice.

Anyone else notice this?