CarlFraz .... don' t forget that the auto box also has the sport auto setting, which may better suit the way you usually drive. I use the standard auto setting most of the time, but I do use both other modes, sport and command shift, when my mood or the route makes it appropriate. In the UK we so often get bogged down in traffic, that auto seems much more tempting to me, and the variety offered on the FL2 really does give you the best of all worlds. I hope you'll love it!  Life is not a dress rehearsal!

Cheers Nick, I'll bear that in mind I seem to remeber the sales guy saying the 'sport mode' held the gear longer to higher revs, more like most peoples driving style, but std mode was fine just to potter about.

Auto auto auto, we waited from our order in Dec 2005! D4 HSE Lux for me
FL2 HSE Zermatt & Alpacca for the wife now gone
Skoda Yeti L&K for the wife.

I have a manual, I'm very pleased with it, it's a nice box to change with good ratios. However if you have any intention of going off road then the manual box is a limiting factor. If you're negotiating terrain which demands a lower speed that you can get in first gear then you're into clutch slipping - that has to be a recipe for problems and poor clutch life. Having ventured off road a number of times now, with every intention of doing more, then I can see the appeal of the auto. All the Land Rover magazines seem to rate the performance of the auto highly.

I get my first experience of an auto this Saturday with Land Rover Experience - so will be looking to make the most of it and see what the car will do. Will report back. My only concern with the auto in day to day driving would be the fuel, Since my mileage is running at about 30k per year that difference from 37-38 down to 32-33 would be quite noticable.

Mine has an auto (i6). It's my first auto and the transition from my previous manual was really smooth. The auto box is just great, I assure you! Sports mode and command shift work great as well. With command shift you can even get in 1st on steep down slopes if you feel like it. The only diffenrence is that due to the principles used on auto's (torque conversion) you vroom away faster and brisklyer with the manual. However I do wander: since the diesel's are working better between 1300 to 3400 rpm what's the reason for sport which keeps the revs up longer. I test drove a diesel the other day and its big torque at low revs was so much fun. No reason to reach 4500 or higher (the only difference with my i6 really, which gives me power from 1800 to 6000 rpm - that and noise).

Have just returned from my second half day Land Rover Experience, this time in a TD4 with auto box - what a fabulous drive it was. While chatting with the instructor before we set of I let him know that I'd already done LRE in TD4 manual, that I've covered nearly 17k miles in my FL2 and that I've been off road on a number of quarry drives already - and that the reason I was there (apart from Land rover admin being so poor that they'd sent me a second invite!) was to see the difference between the manual and auto boxes.

The performance was (to me) amazing. We certainly tackled much more difficult tracks than during my first LRE drive. Progress, on uphill gradients especially, was much better simply because there was no worry about slowing down and slipping the clutch. We tackled some very rough uphill sections which really demanded accurate speed control but at a speed where you'd be slipping the clutch in the manual car.

If off road performance is any part of the equation when buying an FL2, then the auto really is the one to get. My only dilemma is the balance between fuel cost and off road performance. If fuel wasn't an issue then it would be the auto without any doubt. However I cover about 30k miles a year, so there is an additional fuel cost of probably 5 mpg over that mileage to pay. Luckily I don't have to decide right now, the preset car is mine for aother 22 months.

Makes driving around the congested, traffic-ridden streets of New York much easier and less frustrating. The Command Shift option and Sport mode come in handy occasionally.