[Pooke]

Quick question, after reading quite a few threads on this forum it seems to me that alot of you prefer the 4speed Automatic rather than a Manual.

Why is this?

In NZ we have alot of used jap import Escudo's which are mainly automatic, the manual ones seems to go for 1-2 grand more! and are more sought after.

I have only owned manual suzuki's, I found the automatic vitara's quite rough changing and not pleasant at all to drive, however the auto box does seem to be more reliable than the manual. I had to rebuild the manual box in my v6 escudo twice in 50000kms and when I sold it it had a new whine.

[SierraDan]

My reason is for better offroad crawling. No riding the clutch. Coming on and off the clutch. A spare foot to use brake and accelerator at the same time. Easier on the uni's, diffs and axles. Effectively doubling the crawl ratio.

The other guys with experience with different uses will chime in. But thats my reasoning.

[shep]

If they are shifting roughly then change the trans fluid as they are normally a sweet shifting box

[christover1]

Autos don't get water/mud into clutch, that's another bonus.
Plus I agree with all above.

I used to prefer manual over auto in the old days, as manuals were cheaper and more reliable.
Autos have come a long way, and I think they more reliable and cheaper than the manuals.

[stocker]

mmm, nothing bad to say about the auto, i've never owned one, however i do like my Manual. its reliable, and it crawls fairly easily even on the bigger 31's

(alot of people on here don't like moving at more than 1km/h) doesn't really work out so well for me as i don't have lockers

[Gwagensteve]

Pooke, I'm not 100% up to speed with all the vitara/escudo variants, but I think it's possible you've been driving cars running the TH180 (trimatic) 3 speed auto. These aren't anywhere near as refined as the AW-4 auto.

My understanding is that any 8 valve or TBI vitara/esucdo will use the TH180 auto. I think the TBI versions use the TH180-C which has a lockup torque converter. Apparently these are trouble prone. (the lockup converter, not the auto)

TH180 cars feel pretty slack as the engines are less powerful than the AW-4 engined variants, the diff gearing is taller to compensate for the lack of an overdrive gear, 1st gear in the auto is taller, and the converter doesn't have as much torque multiplication as the AW-4, to limit slip on the highway. All up they feel like an early 80's auto 4 cylinder car - lazy and gutless and with big steps between the gears, which increases the lurching feeling on shifts.

Any 16V multipoint injected vitara/escudo will have an AW-4. These should shift very smoothly and provide quite brisk performance all things considered. They also have a power mode that holds gears longer and kicks down more aggressively. This works well.

The AW-4 is unstressed in a vitara - it's well, well below its torque handling peak., which is why they are reliable and long lived. Most problems are likely to be due to wiring gremlins - mechanically the box is very sound. The shift module on the side of the auto sometimes gets intermittent, I think this is due to engine oil getting in to them from the (common) leaks around the back of the distributor housing. This will cause the reverse lights to sometimes not work, and you'll have to bump the shifter occasionally to get the car to start, but that's about it for gremlins.

For open road and fast dirt driving, a manual is more fun, no question. For technical 4WD use an auto wins hands down. From what I understand, NZ driving is often quite muddy. An auto is a double edged sword in mud. It will change gear without loss of momentum, and you can rock the car reverse/1st in mud without wrecking the clutch, but it's harder to generate wheelspeed off of a standing start to spin the tyres and clean the them out. It is possible to perform a "neutral drop" where you hold the car at launch revs with the gearbox in neutral and then drop it into drive. This is pretty hard on the auto, and I wouldn't recommend it, but it's very effective in mud.

Steve.

[Pooke]

Hmm a few interesting points there guys! thanks, I havn't driven any 8v vitaras before, only 16v's and v6's.
Older style auto's arent as smooth as the newer variants it seems. And I can really compare the Vitara autobox to my BMW, not really apples and apples.