I have a 1992 Camaro Convertible with the stock automatic transmission (700r4 I believe). Since I got the car I've been wanting to swap to a manual transmission for three main reasons. In all honesty, the first reason is more fun. The other two reasons are power and fuel economy.

My main concern with switching to a manual is that although I have driven cars with manual trans, I have never had a daily driver with one. I'm mostly concerned with wet/icy driving, and how annoyed I'd get in high traffic.

I've been looking at ratchet shifters and gate shifters for automatics and they intrigue me. Unless I'm completely missing something, they appear to allow manual control over an automatic transmission. This seems like it would be more ideal (especially with the dual gate) because I could opt to change gears manually or not.

I know manual transmissions give more power and fuel economy because there is no torque converter and the driver chooses when to shift. With the ratchet/gate shifters on an auto there would still be a torque converter so that benefit would be lost, but would there still be the benefit of choosing when to shift? Also, what are peoples opinions on which is more enjoyable to drive?

 

you cant just manually shift a auto trans, they have to be built with different valve bodies to allow that. the ratchet shifters usually only work well upshifting, since they are made from drag racing. You can t do what you want to do with an auto unless you buy one built with an internal clutch setup for use with paddle shifters mounted ont he steering wheel like some exotics.

Manual cars are more fun to drive, but can get annoying when stuck in traffic, uphill. My DD years ago was a 5 speed acura rsx, and i had to real issues day to day, and loved it. If you commute a good distance every day and sit in traffic a lot, i would pass.

 

See, that's what I always thought, but all these shifters I'm looking at are designed for the stock trans, and they definitely appear to be shifting manually...such as in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5aOFVYgPM

I don't usually drive in heavy traffic or any huge hills or anything like that, so my main concern would be rain and ice. I'll probably just go with a manual but I wanted to get all the information I could about everything before I put all the effort into swapping only to later regret it.

 

I have a daily driver I use the ratchet shifter you can use it to always manually upshift everytime and you can also leave it in D and go. I think you really want a manual transmission though.

 

Ratchet just provides more control. They normally have built in stops to prevent overshifting like the stock shifter allows. When left in whatever gear they will downshift and upshift like a stock shifter would. People get ratchets and manual valve bodies confused. They are not the same. The converter allows the motor spin at low speeds or at stops to prevent bogging, stalling, or stumbling. It also allows the motor to "flash" to a specific rpm at a launch which can put the motor at peak torque or in it's powerband quicker. They also have a torque multiplier built in, which depends on the size of the converter.