Your fleet: Weighing up manual vs automatic gearboxes

Manual gearboxes

Manual vans tend to be cheaper. When comparing like-for-like models with manual and automatic gearboxes, their price can vary by up to £3,000+, and traditional manuals are cheaper. They’re produced in greater volume, and rely on less complicated technology – they just need a driver to wrangle them.

Drivers are in full control of the gears they need. An obvious point, but important nonetheless; especially with vans, where heavy-laden vehicles may suddenly need to head up steep hills, it pays to have greater control over gear selection. While there’s a certain ability to “game” an automatic gearbox into changing on its own – or a gear limiter can be used to keep it going no higher than second or first – manual gearboxes are much better for true control.

However – they can be tiresome, and are easier to stall.

If you’re stuck in slow-moving – or start-stop – traffic, the need to change gears every time you want to move can be annoying. What’s more, the fact you’re in control of the clutch means you’re more likely to stall it.

Automatic gearboxes

They’re great to drive in traffic – and doing hill starts. If you’ve never driven an automatic car before, it can be a surreal experience the first time you jump in. You start by putting your foot on the brake; as soon as you start the engine and take your foot off the brake, it’ll start to move forward, as it’s always in gear. That means they’re great for edging along in traffic, but also for lifting off on hill starts, as they’ll nearly never seem to roll back.

They’re a lot less stressful to drive. You turn the key, put it in drive, and drive. Want to reverse? Slide it down to reverse. You can limit the gears on hill climbs, and gear changes are smooth. It’s a bit like a go-kart – you might often forget your automatic van even has gears.

However - they can be expensive. As mentioned before, automatic gearboxes can be quite pricey. They’re bigger and heavier, and are much more difficult to build.

To close out our comparison, one myth worth busting is that of fuel efficiency. In the past, manual cars almost always delivered better MPG than their automatic counterparts, but as technology is improving, it’s often going the other way. When weighing up your options, speak to us about the comparative efficiency of automatic and manual models. Given your road needs, you might find yourself choosing an all-new way of driving!

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