(Flame suit on!) It may not be good to shift to MM to get engine braking due to stress and wear on the transmission. The brakes on the G work very well and are cheap to replace compared to a transmission.

I use the MM for better control of acceleration for passing, for on-off ramps and for fun on fun roads. Local driving to work at up to 25-35 mph on crowded suburban streets is fine (for me) in plain auto.

My first, and several subsequent cars, were manual and they can be fun in the right places. I lost my enjoyment for manuals in NYC with bad traffic at virtually all times. They are more fun in other circumstances. Clutches, however are almost always expensive to replace.

I'm not sure of a written source for better understanding of the uses of the MM mode. There are probably many threads here that address it.

5AT = lazy man's 5MT.

Commuting in Dallas, I didn't look forward to punching a clutch all the time in traffic. So, being a lazy man, I bought the next best thing; the manu-matic.

Safe? Yes. It's an automatic transmission. If you're going too fast, it simply won't let you downshift. Think of the manual mode lever as more of a request than a command.

MM is like Sugarless candy.

As others have noticed, the tranny is jerky when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. After some experimenting, if I shift from 2nd to 3rd at around 3K RPM, the tranny is quite smooth (or as smooth as other gear changes).

wat i have noticed is when ur in drive, its all ready 5th gear, when u switch it to MM mode from D it downs shifts into 4th, u can even see the rpm go up a little

Its less jerky if you get the grounding kit (grounding gear). I just installed it on the weekend and have noticed VERY smooth shifts on auto and smoother shifts in manumatic.

^^EZZ- How hard is it to get the transmission wire on? Can it be done on ramps or jack stands? (I don't have either any more, but might get them)

Thanks.

I didn't actually get the long transmission wire. I didn't want to deal with ramps or jack stands so I said screw it and got the Short transmission wire option (same price). The short is a piece of cake. The hardest part was the interior part due to all that contorting Guess I'm just getting old

^Thanks. That means trouble for me, because I am older than you (I think)!