On Thu, 11 Sep 2003, Kim Brennan wrote:

> In Sunny California this is probably true enough. In the snowy north
> (and east), a manual transmission is superior to an
> automatic...especially if you already know how to drive in snow and ice.
>
> My automatic cars are essentially inoperable during the frozen days of
> winter.

I hear you there.  I remember having to shift my automatic transmission
Crown Victoria into neutral to come to a stop on snowy days.  At high
idle, with snow on the road, the front wheels would lock up with the rears
still pushing forward if I left it in Drive, and I'd just keep sliding.
The ability to start out in second gear is helpful when it's really
slippery, too.

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si