ORIGINAL: Jeremiah 29:11

For drag strip and automatic is the way to go, but I plan to do more with road handling hence I prefer a manual tranny.

"Dave Smith of Factory Five Racing said there are numerous reasons to install a standard transmission in your kit car: "A Cobra replica with a manual transmission has a better resale value because that is how the original car was configured. Therefore, typically, buyers looking for a Cobra replica will look for a stick shift, but if you are going to do hard-core drag racing, you cannot beat an automatic transmission. For road racing and autocrossing, I believe you need to have a manual transmission. For driving on the street, it is personal preference. I prefer the manual trans because it is more period-correct. An automatic in your daily driver may be more convenient, but banging a four-speed is a lot more fun for me." "

For road handling I believe manual is the way to go. Kit car builders who understand that you put 15 to 20 percent more power to the ground in a manual than in an automatic, as there is very little parasitic loss in a manual trans system. Heat is parasitic loss, plus you link power to the ground instantly in mechanical coupling (manual) as opposed to hydraulic coupling (automatic). Another key point is that manual transmissions can be 99 pounds lighter than an automatic, and some automatic systems weigh as much as 200 pounds more.

Every 100lbs can be .1 seconds off of ET times