Also, after 115000km the Buggy still has original brake pads and linings. Nothing like compression braking to help your brakes last. Pads 1/2 worn and linings are at 1/3 left.
Yeah, but how many clutches have you put through it???
"Easier to replace brake pads than clutches", as my old driving instructor used to say.
Pathfinder is an auto (they all were), and I love it. Lets me concentrate on pointing the car, and I trust the box now to be reasonably good at picking the right gear (or staying locked in the gear I want). It's true, as someone has already said, it takes some of the "challenge" away, but hey - I'm happy for that! Driving down the beach I don't like being challenged - I like just chilling out and letting the car do the work for me!
Baby Impreza is a manual though, and it's a fun thing. All my "quick" cars have been manuals, and they're fun to work. But for a round-town, do-it-all bus, the auto's are just too lazy...
As for the bikes, well, surprisingly they've been sequential shift manuals too - none of this new-fangled CVT/scooter gearbox for me!
Thanks!
Matto
(who, by the looks of things, just doesn't know what he likes!)