sal

I'm still saving for my C230 Coupe and the more I read these forums the more I want the car already and the more options\choices you guys give me. My new question is manual or automatic. I've owned both kinds of tranny, love maual for performance and auto for...well being automatic. Is it worth the extra $1300 for auto just to not have be shifting gears all the time in traffic and convinience of auto. Just want your thoughts and opinions from those who have driven both.


P.S.

I will be modifying.

Vince

save some money, get the 6 speed and get the C7 package. C7 is probably the best deal that mercedes offers.

tommy

I'll try to avoid my stereotypes of manny drivers vs. auto drivers, which is an achievement for me.

If you're going to be modifying the car, you can shave .4 to .5 secs off your 0-60 times by pocketing the $1300 and sticking with the stick. That'll get you started on your mods.

If you are concerned about driving fast, I see no reason for getting the auto, unless you have a hellish commute. Even then, there are the weekends to think about, and who wants a slushbox on a weekend run?

vinmanc32

If you will be driving in a city environment, then you clearly dont want to be shifting constantly. I live in NY so I can tell you the answer to that one. Other than that you have to look at the fun factor related to the luxo factor. If you want to race or spend some time at the track, you want the manny. If you just want to race around the streets like it is the track, you still need a manny. Otherwise, the auto is always a good bet. Wont be replacing any worn clutches either.

sal

Yeah most of my driving is in the city, i live in miami, and weekends are spent on the highways to girlsfriends house, parents house, and going to the beach. No, i don't want to race but does the auto have enough pick me up to pass someone on the road at say 50-60.

sal

Thanks, but isn't the automatic in the coupe the e-shifting?

KWiK

get the auto and learn how to take a corner. Then go spank the wannabe's with a stick.

Lynn

sal, I really wanted the six speed, but the dealer didn't have one. I bought an auto and ordered a six speed. I drove the auto for 77 days, then traded it for the six speed. The Mercedes auto is excellent. However, the Touch Shift feature is just as useless as every other "manumatic" I have ever driven. There is substantial lag between selecting a gear and actually shifting into it. It is claimed that the delay is just half a second, but it feels like several.

I am very pleased with the six speed. Due to the wide, flat torque curve of the kompressor engine, you don't need to shift as much in traffic as with some other cars. This engine will pull smoothly from just over 1000 rpm's in second gear. Or third, or fourth. With the C7 package, you get a short throw shifter which is not mentioned in the Mercedes literature about the car.

sal

Thanks Lynn, I was just a bit disheartend from manual driving around my 2001 PT Cruiser(which by the way I LOVE, except for that little problem it has<EVERYTHING ON IT EXCEPT THE FRAME>) I'm sure that the Coupe will bring back the fun of having a manual tranny.

sal

Don't know what happend but the problem it has is the whole car except for the frame. I will never buy another american made car again(except maybe a viper or Z06)

Goggles Piasano

For a small car such as the C230 K coupe a manual trani is best. You should definitely test both systems before deciding.

galaxygrrl

Hey guys!

So, this is a little of topic, but I have a question about my automatic tranny (I gave in a got an automatic for the first time my life because I could not take the traffic on the golden gate bridge anymore and I'm missing a stick until I'm sitting in traffic again)

So here is my question, when I try to shift into gear with the steptronic transmission, I always end up in 4th no matter what gear I'm in when I switch over. The owner's manual seems to imply I should be switching over to the gear I'm in. Did I read the book wrong, I'm I doing something wrong, or is there something wrong with my car?

TIA!

Beth

revstriker

On my car, it is the same way. I could be sitting at a light at a full stop, and when I switch over, it says 4th. Normally, when I want to use this function, I just pull to the left, and hold for a few seconds, and it will drop down to the lowest gear. This works well when driving, and you want that down shift power to pass someone. I really haven't played around too much with this since my car is still in it's breaking in phase.

young

here's a link that talks more about that

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...highlight=gear

greg230

obviously the GSR was manual, and it was a ton of fun driving from home to college, some 300 miles away... but now the commute is 40 minutes to philly, stop and go, to bumber to bumper traffic patterns.

the thought of rowing through that 2 times a day makes me tired

the mercedes auto is VERY competent, and smooth. the best auto i have ever driven, and it works well in the coupe.

it certainly is no slouch, but hey, if i could drive the open roads every day, i would have gone with a manual too

greg

MB-BOB

When you engage "-" the first step down from "5/D" is 4th, so it naturally goes there. However, if you're at a dead stop at a light and engage 4 from D and leave it there, the transmission will NOT let you move away from the light in 4th... It downshifts to the appropriate gear (1st on my car) though it's not displayed in the MFD. So, you don't really have to ratchet down to actual 1st. The transmission WILL be limited in upshifts to 4th, max, until you appraoch readline when the tranny takes over and jumps to 5/D.

The differences in accerelation between mannys and autos in the MB line are LESS than in other cars. You expect an auto to be 1-1.5 seconds slower to 60 in some brands, but in the MBs, it's only .3 seconds slower, etc. MB makes great automatics.

Flashman

I can't even begin to count the number of accidents I've evaded by being able to instantly drop a gear and get 'out' of the situation. Something that is never as quick or easy with an automatic.

revstriker

Thanks for the info. I have not tried this. I've always just held it over until the readout indicated first gear. I'll give it a try.

MB-BOB

Revstriker, I was so intrigued by this thread, I left work for a few minutes, went out to my car in the parking lot to test it before responding. So, we're in the same boat. I had never tried that until this morning, either. LOL.

I did notice, coincidentally, that the tranny wouldn't let me downshift manually to play any of these games until the tranny warmed up for 2-3 minutes. That's interesting, too.

revstriker

LOL! That sounds like something I'd do! I'm looking forward to playing with this. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait . We are having some weird weather here in Texas (snow!!), and my car is nice and clean! So I've been carpooling with my wife. Actually, she's from Florida and is too scared to drive in the snow.

jpgroom

My wife and I test drove a 2000 SLK 230 manual, We both thought the shifting was terrible. It was very sloppy and really turned us off with regards to that model although we did not try the auto version. Our C230 is the wifes daily driver, 66 miles round trip in Phoenix, and she loves the auto so far. This is only the second auto car I have ever owned and I really like the auto on this car.

MB-BOB

Tell me about it... Also this morning, I took the camera outside and took a couple pix of the 3 inches of snow on my front yard (idea for Texas Christmas card this year). I understand there's no snow in the northeast corridor, yet we have 3 inches in Dallas. Go figure.

MarkL

I bought my one and only Chrysler vehicle in 1970, a Dodge Challenger, and my experiences with that car convinced me that I would NEVER buy another Chrysler product. (Of course, I discount Chrysler's impact on the current Daimler-C state of affairs ). The PT Cruiser was interesting when it first came out, but to me, it looks like sales around here are falling. Also, it's underpowered, no? Why don't they put a decent 6-cyl in that thing?

Flashman

If you look at MB's website and look up the description of the C7 package, it does say that it includes a "sport shifter" as one of its options. I'm guessing that is marketing speak for "short shifter".

Lynn

Actually it says "Leather-covered sport shift knob."

To me, that does not say anything about the shifter, just the knob.