My 83.5 Water-cooled Westy is an automatic. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Driving - It is nice that I don't have to shift (especially in traffic), but it does rob me of power. Reliability - I have 160,000 miles on the van with no transmission repairs. So with decent maintenance they seem to be very reliable. - Mark Rissman 83.5 Westy
My questions for the list: Are the automatics worth considering? Do they significantly slow an already velocity-challenged vehicle? Is the mediocre gas mileage made even more so by not shifting for myself? How much of the "fun factor" is detracted by the automatic? How reliable is the automatic vs. the manual (with it's known 3rd/4th gear problem, it's probably better!)? In general, do the automatics make sense? |
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