Automatic or Manual Transmission for Expedition Use?

[SoyBoy]

Am looking to buy a RHD Diesel 81 series to turn into an expedition vehicle to go as far as South America. I have the chance to choose a Manual or an Auto Transmission. The manual will be more stout and will likely have more power available and better gas mileage.
I have a few cars with a manual and a few motorcycles. I have no problem with shifting gears and would not have it any other way with those vehicles.
I also have a Transit van that I self-built for Canada/USA use and of course it is automatic. I have slept in that van for 15 months in a 30 month period. and put on 65k miles. I like that rig in general and ended up appreciating the automatic because it is just so much easier to bump along and not have to shift gears (especially in traffic in an unknown location which is pretty much almost all the time when Overlanding)
So - Manual or Automatic for the 81. I am concerned that having a manual may get old when I'm on the road for 3 months straight. I realize that traveling is give and take - I just don't want to have something that is not easily changed - when it gets less fun to use on the daily.
Any input would help. THX

 

[alanymarce]

There are hardly any situations in which an automatic is less useful than a manual and a lot of situations when an automatic is a lot better (heavy traffic entering Rio de Janeiro or Kampala springs to mind). Ronny Dahl has a good video on this - .

I drove more manuals than automatics for a couple of decades (although I was accustomed to automatics, which my father had in almost all of his cars). In terms of "expeditions" I started out on manuals, and did most of my "off road" driving in manuals (desert, rain forest,...) until the early 90s when I shifted (pun intended) to automatics, with only a few occasions when I used a manual (rental cars in some parts of the world, rental Hilux in Patagonia). The Jeep I bought to take to Europe was automatic, as were two more Jeeps. Our X Trails were automatic and we took the second around South America, with some challenging sections covered with no problems. In our last Africa trip we had an automatic LC80 and it went everywhere easily. Our last "big trip" was around Australia and we took our Montero automatic, which was ideal - highway, cities, outback, and desert - worked perfectly in all conditions.

So, from my point of view - there's no reason to use a manual.

 

[Red90]

It is all fun and games until the day the starter does not work and you need to abandon the vehicle three days from civilization.

 

[Rallyroo]

Since I'm in the States, the choice was made for me. The 80 series only came in automatic in the US. Interestingly, the Land Cruiser 80 Series was my first ever automatic in my entire driving career. It was a bit weird switching to automatic. I kept trying to step on the non-existing clutch for about 3-4 months. The big con with automatic is when going down steep highway grades where I prefer the manual to select the gear I want to be in. I have to use the brakes a bit more on the automatic on steep highway grades.

analymarce beat me to it. I was about to post a link to Ronny Dahl's video on Manual vs Automatic: Pros and Cons.

 

[alanymarce]

re engine braking - you can use lower gears in an automatic. We live in the most mountainous country in the Americas, and select gears manually when going downhill. Even very old automatic boxes had the means to select a lower gear (the L in PRNDL), modern boxes have selectors which allow you to stay in full automatic or go to a "manual" selector to change up or down at will.

 

[Joe917]

Be aware you will not be able to transit Costa Rica with a RHD vehicle.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I'm sure an A442 or A343 would be fairly common and reliable for an automatic but it sure seems like you'd be more likely to find an H55 and someone who could fix one in just about every corner of the world.

 

[Rallyroo]

Be aware you will not be able to transit Costa Rica with a RHD vehicle.

I've driven from Belize to Panama in a RHD Defender 110. Costa Rica was fine with the RHD. El Salvador was a no go (although supposedly one can apply for a permit, but that takes a couple months advanced to process).

 

[alanymarce]

It is all fun and games until the day the starter does not work and you need to abandon the vehicle three days from civilization.

Yes that's true, although as long as you keep the vehicle maintained, and don't leave the lights on when you go walkabout, the battery should be OK, the starter motor should work, and you should be OK. If you're really three days from help, then you should be able to fix a jammed starter pinion, and I'm guessing that you'll have a means to charge the battery (solar panels or generator).

I guess it can still happen - the only time in many years that we've had this problem was on a little-travelled road in central Tanzania, and we had stopped in a tiny village. We couldn't turn over the engine. The villagers said that there was a mechanic in the next village (an hour away), so we decided to send a mototaxi to find him while we played football with the kids and they taught us Swahili. The mechanic duly appeared two hours later, so we tried to start the engine to show him the problem - and the vehicle started(!). We later found a relay problem and bypassed the relay. All part of the adventure...

 

[Deleted member 9101]

It is all fun and games until the day the starter does not work and you need to abandon the vehicle three days from civilization.

Or your clutch cable/slave cylinder dies.
Or your clutch and flywheel gets packed with mud .

 

[alanymarce]

Or your clutch cable/slave cylinder dies.
Or your clutch and flywheel gets packed with mud .

So - yes, with an automatic the risk is that the engine won't start and it's more difficult to push start, tow start, or start rolling downhill.

With a manual, the risk is that your clutch and/or clutch actuation system fails. Although if the starter still works you can get the engine started and then change gear clutchless.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

So - yes, with an automatic the risk is that the engine won't start and it's more difficult to push start, tow start, or start rolling downhill.

With a manual, the risk is that your clutch and/or clutch actuation system fails. Although if the starter still works you can get the engine started and then change gear clutchless.

Yeah...starting and stopping while in gear is a little problematic...lol.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

analymarce beat me to it. I was about to post a link to Ronny Dahl's video on Manual vs Automatic: Pros and Cons.

I think it's alan y marce. Not anal y marce.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yeah...starting and stopping while in gear is a little problematic...lol.

Drive a stick long enough and eventually you'll have a clutch issue. It's inconvenient but not impossible to drive without a clutch. Commuting in any city without a clutch isn't an option of course but getting yourself off a track can be done fine.

 

[Rallyroo]

I think it's alan y marce. Not anal y marce.

My bad. I analyzed that incorrectly and read the screen name wrong. I can't put the blame on smartphone autocorrect this time. When I saw the "y" my brain saw "analyzed".

Reminds me of this:
"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."