Manual Transmission Poll

Which do you prefer?

  • Manual

    Votes: 82 43.2%
  • Automatic

    Votes: 53 27.9%
  • Automatic (but I use the paddle or sport shifters)

    Votes: 55 28.9%

  • Total voters
    190
I'm kind of torn like some others here. I like manuals because if you want to shift hard and bark the tires you can. With old school autos you could put a shift kit in it and bark the tires too, but can't do that anymore. I think the Stinger should when it's in sport mode or if you are manually shifting it.
 
I'm just curious about who would have gotten their Stinger in a 6-speed manual transmission if it was offered. I'm assuming there would be no cost difference and everything else was the same, except for options that are not possible to use with manual (for example stop-start cruise control and remote start).

I also added in an option to select that you use the paddle shifters or the sport shifting.

For me personally, I love driving a manual, because it feels like I am actually doing more than just mashing a pedal. I've had a manual transmission in all of my cars; I even special ordered my last car (Ford Fusion) with a manual. But it's getting harder and harder to find cars offered with a stick. I may have to give that up if I end up getting the Stinger.

If a manual were available, I'd be saving my pennies. It's not, so I'm probably going elsewhere, despite the fact that it's a fantastic looking car.
 
If a manual were available, I'd be saving my pennies. It's not, so I'm probably going elsewhere, despite the fact that it's a fantastic looking car.
Howdy, Brother John (I have a brother John). Funny, the different things that form deal breakers in whether to buy/keep a car or not. Welcome to the forum.
 
______________________________
I've been driving manuals for most of my life, so the Stinger was a departure. I lived in LA and drove in awful traffic all the time so that doesn't really bother me, and now I live in a place that has a lot more open road.

I think a hypothetical manual stinger would have to be cheaper for me to make the switch, because there's some features that I can't see working well in a manual car, namely the radar cruise control, which I really like having. I think it would also be nice to have 7 gears in order to be competitive with the auto's gearing.
 
This car would be a 10/10 if not for the 8spd auto. Funny that the 4cyl G70 is offered. I would also have prefered the 7spd dual clutch thats going in the Veloster N. You get so much more feel for the car and its power when you can just control with the throttle. If they ever do come out with a GT thats manual, ill trade mine in for it ASAP!
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
I've been a die-hard manual driver for decades, and still love my 2010 Acura TSX with 6MT, but I've gone through something like the stages of grief over the demise of manual transmissions. I think I've arrived at acceptance, because I've conceded that my next daily driver will probably be automatic.

In fact, test driving the Stinger helped me get there, because I liked the transmission and realized the rear-biased AWD system was more important to driving excellence than the Accord 2.0T's manual. Also, the "before times" traffic around here had become so oppressive that I actually preferred an automatic sometimes. It took awhile for me to acknowledge this, but eventually it became obvious.

If I lived in the suburbs and had the space for multiple cars, I'd probably have a true sports car with MT (Miata, 86/BRZ), and I'd keep it around for many, many years.
 
Manual is just better in every respect.

I still find myself using the paddle shifters to put the car in the right gear occasionally and sometimes the car decides it is not going to change gears, which I find frustrating. I am starting to get used to it but I would have purchased a manual if one was available.
 
If a manual were available, I'd be saving my pennies. It's not, so I'm probably going elsewhere, despite the fact that it's a fantastic looking car.
Don’t discount the Stinger because a lack of manual transmission. I drove 2 different manual transmission cars as daily drivers over 15 years. I miss it big time. But, the car is so overall awesome I couldn’t pass it up. But, like others have said, and I said earlier in this thread, I would trade mine in tomorrow if a manual transmission was made available with the 3.3 (and if I could get the indigo color with it)
 
This poll is flawed by design.

You are asking in a forum full of people that picked an automati9c vehicle already. The people that would have most likely have bought it if it was manual will likely not be here to see it.

Source: Found this while researching manual transmission stinger. Looking for an upgrade to my 2016 Gen Coupe, a Stinger would be perfect for me but alas, no manual = no car.
 
______________________________
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
I keep hearing that no one wants to drive a stickshift anymore, and I thought that can't possibly be true. This poll is confirming my ignorance though, because I am literally the only one on here (so far) who wants a stickshift


I first drove a manual test driving a car in high school. I stalled it out on a hill about 10 times in a row, and I had to get out and have my dad take over. I bought the car and learned how to drive a stick within a week so I could show off that Dodge Stealth at school!
I first learned how to drive stick on my 2000 Mustang GT... the only issue was that I had to have my dad do the test drive, and then drive it home for me and then once I had it home I was able to force myself to learn in a couple of days.

It was the first new car that did not require co-signing and my dad just kept giving me this " do you know wtf you are doing?" look throughout the entire process. I miss that car! ...and being that age!
 
I had plenty of manual gearboxes. They get tiresome after awhile.

I really liked the paddle shift on my Subaru but not so much with the stinger. The stinger does not have the braking effect of the Subaru when gearing down. I could travel a hilly, twisty route with rarely using the brakes with Suzie.

Of course the stinger is an entirely different beast and much heavier I suspect. Just a minor niggle to me really.
 
I had plenty of manual gearboxes. They get tiresome after awhile.

I really liked the paddle shift on my Subaru but not so much with the stinger. The stinger does not have the braking effect of the Subaru when gearing down. I could travel a hilly, twisty route with rarely using the brakes with Suzie.

Of course the stinger is an entirely different beast and much heavier I suspect. Just a minor niggle to me really.
Very weird as I can engine brake in sport mode. What I don't like is that there's a very slight delay when shifting manually. I think it's because with a stick you're in gear when you go into the gear and then release the clutch, whereas with the automatic you're in gear only after you release the paddle. It should be as soon as you press the paddle. I would also prefer if the transmission's computer didn't try to second guess me.

That said I have lived in both the NYC and the DC metro with a stick and have never minded it.
 
I love driving a manual and would still as a daily driver if there was a car that fit my needs. Love my stinger and I own 2 old school chevy's with a manual so I get my fixes on weekends and cars and coffee events.
 
I don't feel that the Stinger is sharp enough to be better with a manual. Somehow I only see the value of a manual in a hot hatch or a racecar. And just to be clear, this is my first ever Automatic car, so I have quite a bit of experience driving manuals.
The Stinger, to me, is a GT car, a cruiser. That's why I chose it over the Alfa Romeo Giulia. You can throw it around a little but it clearly isn't built for that. And for those few occasions the paddle shifts are enough for me.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
I like the Stinger the way it is, but I would definitely want to try out a Manual in it. I drove 18 wheelers for several years. Going into places like Chicago, LA, and Brooklyn with a 15 speed manual and weighing in at 80k lbs, you can blow your knee out if your not careful. But I love the feel of control you get with a manual.
 
______________________________
I've driven the Genesis G70 with a manual transmission, and if that's the transmission the Stinger would get, everyone is better off with the current 8AT. The clutch was fine IMO, but the shifter was pretty rough. My Acura had about 125,000 miles on it when I drove that G70, and its MT still felt much better, as did the MT in the Honda Accord Sport 2.0T I drove a couple of days later. Even the MT fanatics at Car & Driver prefer the automatic in the G70.

But of course it would be great if the Stinger were available with an excellent MT, or even Hyundai/Kia's new 8DCT adapted for RWD/AWD configs.
 
Most of my cars have been manual, including 2 eclipse/DSMs, an audi TT, and a Genesis Coupe.

The Stinger's auto is pretty good for an auto and to be honest, on a hard launch it shifts faster then I could. There is a reason all of the ultra high performance cars with 3 second 0-60s don't have manuals/
Only 15-20% of the time do I wish the stinger was manual. Being able to just push in the clutch to disconnect the power on a whim does have its advantages, and of course you just feel more connected to the car.
However, having a transmission that many cant drive is a problem, not to mention when in stop-and-go traffic, or when you need to drive too slow for 2nd gear.
Probably took a good year of life off my clutch a few months after I got my genesis coupe. Was driving on I-8 to San Diego and spent over an hour inching along in road construction in the uphill part of the mountains. It was too steep to not stall if I just let it creep forward, so had to slip the clutch most of the way. Had to actually pull off and let the disc cool down at one point.

Overall though I am happy with the auto and would still take the auto over a 6 speed. Now a 7+ speed dual clutch would have been better.
 
Last edited:
Manual kia stinger may have taken away from the interior driving experience. I suspect this as well as not having a good and durable manual in house at kia as the reason its auto. Its a great auto but itll never be true manual experience
 
I keep hearing that no one wants to drive a stickshift anymore, and I thought that can't possibly be true. This poll is confirming my ignorance though, because I am literally the only one on here (so far) who wants a stickshift


I first drove a manual test driving a car in high school. I stalled it out on a hill about 10 times in a row, and I had to get out and have my dad take over. I bought the car and learned how to drive a stick within a week so I could show off that Dodge Stealth at school!
Stinger as a stick would be AMAZING!!!!
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
Kia Stinger
Back
Top