At 05:02 PM 1/19/2006 -0500, you wrote:
Well sure. I've checked a number of times and I get much better than the govt. gas mileage estimates in my straight drive V6 Ford Explorer. But I've always driven straight drive cars and learned long ago how to get the best possible mileage. If you don't learn to drive properly you'll get awful gas mileage on either kind of transmission. I assert, though, that you have much less control over the car with an automatic, particularly in off road four-wheeling. And if you run your battery down you can't start your automatic by rolling it down a hill. Many years ago I owned a Renault Dauphine for a little while. Awful car. It never had a battery in it so long as I owned it. I always started it by getting it rolling and jumping in. Try that with your automatic!
Bob
Don Williams La Jolla, CA
