Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Manual vs automatic on the Plus Four

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I test drove a manual Plus Four and absolutely loved it but if I go ahead and get one, I’m torn between two options.

The dealer has a very nice demo car, the exact one I tested in manual, with a pretty good deal on it. On the other hand, I could spend a few thousand more for a brand new Plus Four in my own configuration and automatic, which several threads here seem to recommend.

I really enjoyed the manual, but I found the clutch travel quite long compared to my Caterham 340S and previous Lotus, where the pedal feel is shorter and more immediate. My only concern with the automatic is that it might feel “too easy” or even a bit boring over time even though I did enjoy it in the Supersport I test drove the same day (obviously a different car, not the same engine, etc.).

So I’m stuck between the “great deal but manual” and “perfect spec and automatic” dilemma.

PS: I’ll also try to test drive a Plus Six : it’s another option I’m considering. I love the 3.0 engine, but I’m not sure how it would compare in terms of driving dynamics.

My advice would be to try and test drive a manual and an auto back to back in the same weather conditions and on the same roads and route to get a true comparison.

On the back road twisty stuff perhaps the manual is more engaging, whereas someone who lives in a city stuck in traffic an auto is kinder to dodgy leg joints, or do you do lots of motorway miles ?

The auto can also be used on the paddles, like a sort of semi-auto

The auto is faster but I prefer and drive a manual. The Morgan sports car Club de France are a good bunch. I would suggest you try to meet up with some owners

I was also torn between a manual and auto, but decided on auto and haven't regretted it. Perhaps I wouldn't have regretted getting a manual, had I gone that way, but my knees may not have forgiven me! Whatever decision you make is the right one, both are good options.

Manual for me! I have a 2022 Plus Four which I really enjoy driving.

Very happy with the automatic gearbox on my Plus Four. BMW really know how to make modern performance gearboxes. Shifting is incredibly fast and it has 8 gears. One flip of the lever and it goes into sport mode, which sustains higher gear ratios - I have it in that mode almost all the time I’m out of towns and villages.

90% of the time it gets the change absolutely right. 8% of the time it is not too bad and still probably better than I might do. 2% of the time, especially in sport mode, it hangs on to a higher gear than necessary for too long and makes a lot of noise.

And of course you have the flappy-paddles if you want to select gears manually.

I spent recently 2 weeks in the USA driving a Mustang the BMW autobox is far better. I atill prefer manual but to be honest as my knees get worse the autobox could have been a good call

Ah, that really makes me want to test drive an automatic. It’ll definitely help me decide which one to go for. The manual version at the dealer is at a great price and has an amazing configuration (pretty much the one we'd choose together with my spouse). But for that price, since it’s a car we’d keep, I want the "PERFECT" configuration...

One other important point: my spouse only wants to drive automatic cars now. She doesn't drive a lot, but it would be nice if she could occasionally take the wheel during our road trips, and that wouldn’t happen with the manual. She already had trouble pressing the clutch when we test drove the manual version the other day 😂

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the automatic other than the traditionalist view (which I once had, but got over) that a Morgan must be manual.

I prefer the PlusFour as an automatic. I drove the manual version for a week and am very glad that I opted for the automatic version.
But everyone has to decide for themselves, as it depends very much on individual needs. That's why you should test drive it.