Thinking of delving into more 124 ownership, modern one already own the 'classic' one.

Cannot decide between the auto or manual, both 6 speed so no problems there.

I love the paddles on my 500 Esseesse MTA, so they do appeal on the 124.

The only opportunity to drive the auto was one run up Goodwood hill at near flat out so have little experience to rely on.

Is there sufficient torque to light up the rear tyres through the gears?

Does it down shift by itself in manual mode whilst slowing down?

Any real world thoughts to share?

I have the auto box; I wanted a manual (based on the reviews I'd read) but there were none to be had this side of The North Channel and the deal on the car with the slush box the garage was offering was so sweet.....!
My only gripe is that it hangs onto lower  gears on a trailing throttle a bit too long, even when not in sports mode, but I can live with that.
The paddles are great fun to use, although the gearbox software will always have the final say on whether or not I am actually allowed to change gear. Still, I suppose this is designed to keep me on the torque plateau and protect the drivetrain.
While my Spider's Aisin six-speeder is not as nice as the ZF eight-speeder or the six speed TCT that I also drive from time to time, I don't think I would swap it for a manual now. I must be getting lazy in my old age. Buy the automatic without regret.

Hi

Well the Auto Manual debate is probably a very personal choice and I have respect for both view points.

The elephant in the room question which is a fair one... is the auto a duff option. Simply NO it’s still a great car. That said it’s not perfect, my old VW DSG box was I think slightly better. The A124 does occasionally appear to hang onto gears a little long when cruising. But it does a far better job than me. Also remember you can nudge the shifter into manual mode and have paddle shifters. I’ve tried these now and again and they work well, but I generally switch back to using auto as...it works.

The auto car cost I think £2k more than the manual. There are about ish 600 auto cars and 1100 manual, approx numbers. Auto trader recently had 24 manual ones and 14 auto for sale, obviously all used.

The key for me is the spec. Try and get the visibility pack so you get parking sensors and auto lights, BOSE stereo is great. Forget about NAV, buy a SD card on Ebay for £33. Colour and heritage black bonnet is for me really personal and also simply what you can get...there are not that many of these cars about.

Finally this car is awesome and I love it.

Hope this helps.

A

The auto box isn't that good  . Better than the MTA box on the Abarth 595 perhaps. However, I have bought an Auto as it's my daily car. Too much traffic on the roads these days. The Porsche Boxster auto I had was superb. Audi TTS DSG was awesome. The z4 28i 8 speed auto is pretty good too.
It's a real shame they couldn't put a bang up to date auto box in the 124 which is quicker and more economical than the manual.