On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 16:47:40 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote:
I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now.

Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping
trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty.

The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that
if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity
would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty.

I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed
the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty,
but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic
transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement.

Although some heavy trucks have auto transmissions today I think that
probably a manual shift would be more convenient for hauling a trailer
as if nothing else it will allow an appropriate gear to be selected
for going down steep hills. My Isuzu pickup has a "low range'
selection on it's auto transmission but that is too low except for
something like the Matterhorn :-)
--
cheers,

John B.