Hey guys. Recently somebody decided they needed a nap while driving and ended up going onto the wrong side of the road and writing off my dad's 380. (theres a full post about it here http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65871)

Anyway, We're looking at a replacement and Have come accross one exactly the same however it has a manual gearbox rather than the auto box. The car is for my dad, so basically peak hour driving to work and back, it only has about 9000kms on the one we're looking at.

Would anybody have any arguments for / against the 380 manuals? the car drives nicely and is in great condition, but i havent heard a whole lot about them for either performance, spare parts, clutch life and general usability. Any tips?

There is no 0-100 time gain and they use more fuel than an auto, but would be recommended for spirited driving, which doing the daily crawl is not.

But hey, at least his left leg gets the exercise.

Greater part of 1000 rpm different at 110 km/h, on this alone I would take the auto

Manual will be fine so long as he can drive it.

higher engine RPMs are not always a bad thing and guel economy change will not be drastic.

Sorry to hear about the accident (I just read the linked thread). The other lady dozed off? Would have been nice if she'd pulled over first (my VS Berlina recently got rear-ended by a C-class Merc and is getting free repairs now). I was about to comment that the damage suffered to the car would definately make it a write-off - but by the end of the thread you have confirmed this anyway (far too much damage for repairs).
As for the manual... go for it! I'd be thrilled to have a manual. I recently drove a manual VRX, the manual box and clutch are great! Sounds great with after-market muffler too. You won't regret it.

its a real borderline call... The manual one is a good price, low kms full specced s3 vrx. so its perfect. but worse fuel economy kind of sucks. Personally i wouldnt mind, but since its going to be a peak hour warrior might not be ideal...

its a real borderline call... The manual one is a good price, low kms full specced s3 vrx. so its perfect. but worse fuel economy kind of sucks. Personally i wouldnt mind, but since its going to be a peak hour warrior might not be ideal...
Personally I wouldn't be worried about the economy, as I don't believe the difference would be that big - but whatever it is, I reckon it'd be a price worth paying to have a manual (perhaps that's just me).

Personally I wouldn't be worried about the economy, as I don't believe the difference would be that big - but whatever it is, I reckon it'd be a price worth paying to have a manual (perhaps that's just me).


Well, other than changing gears i cant see any reason not to grab the manual (i'd always prefer a manual, but like i said, its my old man's car and will see a lot of peak hour) Assuming he's fine with that, doesnt seem to be any reason not to get a manual

im still not convinced the manual uses more fuel.. just because it revs a bit harder on the highway doesnt mean its using more fuel.. higher revs dont = more fuel... its all about engine load... i would expect the auto to place more load on the engine even if its not revving as hard at a given speed....

I have owned a manual one before. Yes they use more fuel. The grandfather has one with the auto and used about 2 litres less per 100 kms consistently. Now argue away.

Auto may cost 1k more but means he doesn't have to keep changing gears constantly in heavy traffic which can be annoying.

well he just got home and told me he bought it. so i suppose thats that sorted out!!

Chances are the fuel wont cause too many issues. The avg fuel on the trip computer when we drove it was less than the one that got written off so it couldnt be too bad. I'll get some pics of my car and the new 380 in the members ride section soon. thanks for the help guys. i'll let you know how it drives :D

I have owned a manual one before. Yes they use more fuel. The grandfather has one with the auto and used about 2 litres less per 100 kms consistently. Now argue away.
I have a manual and got 8.6l/100km on a trip with family & luggage in the car (crusing between 90kmh-100kmh). My car now has 42000kms and the clutch is fine, no sign whatsoever of shudder.

I have a manual and got 8.6l/100km on a trip with family & luggage in the car (crusing between 90kmh-100kmh).
I bet you it was closer to 90 km/h... lol

I have a manual and got 8.6l/100km on a trip with family & luggage in the car (crusing between 90kmh-100kmh). My car now has 42000kms and the clutch is fine, no sign whatsoever of shudder.Ouch, so that's the best it can do then. My TJ has done 8.2L on the Hume cruising at 100-120 with several detours into towns, driver + passenger, the boot to capacity and a heap more stuff in the back seat. Meant I got from the very first servo on the Hume just out of Melbourne to the outskirts of Sydney on one tank (using 64L).

Ouch, so that's the best it can do then. My TJ has done 8.2L on the Hume cruising at 100-120 with several detours into towns, driver + passenger, the boot to capacity and a heap more stuff in the back seat. Meant I got from the very first servo on the Hume just out of Melbourne to the outskirts of Sydney on one tank (using 64L).

I hate you all! I have auto, don't punch it too hard or too often, mostly around suburbia and using just over 13l p/100k, i'm even keeping the rev's to under 2000p/m at all times to see if it helps....>_<

but... Noooooooo!


Gonna sit in my room and cry now...

Heh, thx
Ben

Yeah, but you have new car warranty :P worst I ever had was 13.8l/100kms, peak hour traffic 5:30pm, 35 degrees, aircon on, full throttle at every set of lights, over the course of 15 minutes.

I hate you all! I have auto, don't punch it too hard or too often, mostly around suburbia and using just over 13l p/100k, i'm even keeping the rev's to under 2000p/m at all times to see if it helps....>_<

but... Noooooooo!


Gonna sit in my room and cry now...

Heh, thx
Ben

Get it chipped ;)

Get it chipped ;)
Honestly, i don't know much regarding the tech side of things regarding automotive, certain area's i'm sweet with but regarding ecu or any other software based not so good...

-With the risk of sounding like an absolute dunce... but i'm sure i'm not the only one, there must be what... 1 other person aswell...-What exactly is the job of the ECU? And "chipped"... What am i looking to read about..?

Ta
Ben

Ouch, so that's the best it can do then. My TJ has done 8.2L on the Hume cruising at 100-120 with several detours into towns, driver + passenger, the boot to capacity and a heap more stuff in the back seat. Meant I got from the very first servo on the Hume just out of Melbourne to the outskirts of Sydney on one tank (using 64L).

I've had my tj down to 9.3 driving in peak hour traffic to work and back. Running BP ultimate, hitting neutral as soon as i saw a red light off in the distance and accelerating like a granny. that was for a full trip computer cycle too (so 20 hours). Pretty much did it to prove to a mate my magna was both faster and more efficient than his vx commo. I won.

could only be bothered doing it once though.

I tried ultimate for a while, made absolutely no difference to economy after several tanks - since there is no knock sesnor after all.

I tried ultimate for a while, made absolutely no difference to economy after several tanks - since there is no knock sesnor after all.


I really just did it to be nice to my car for a while. I noticed a drop in fuel usage. Probably about 5%... Really only wanted to run it for 5-6 tanks with a bit of injector cleaner i had lying around. I've heard it does have some good effects on your engine. only cost me a grand total of about $20 extra over regular unleaded anyway

Combined with the fact I thrash it, maybe that explains why mine is so rev-happy and responsive to throttle prods now compared to when I bought it.