08 Liberty, Stick or Auto

[Mr_Nick]

Hello all, brand new here.

I'm looking to get rid of my 01 Blazer Xtreme, at the top of my list to replace it is an 08 Liberty Sport 4x4. I'm a car enthusiast overall, and I prefer driving stick shift. My Blazer is a 5-speed, and I plan on converting my 1969 Cutlass to a 5-speed in the future as well.

The problem is, I'm about 6'5" tall...

So working the clutch pedal on some cars isn't comfortable, or even possible. The other day I drove 3 Liberty's:

Sport 6-speed
Sport Automatic
Limited Automatic with power seats. (I thought the power seats might give me more room, but they seemed the same. And a Limited is out of my budget anyway)

Overall feel on the 6-speed was pretty good, clutch pedal is VERY easy to push and work in general. But room for my left knee between the steering wheel and door is tight when my foot is above the clutch. 6-speed was definitely more fun to drive then the automatic. I also accidently hit the brake with my left foot a few times while pressing the clutch pedal... Darn these big feet!

I'm wondering if any of you taller guys with a 6-speed have similar issues? (might not be any yet, brand new vehicle and 'rare' 6-speed)

I actually remounted the seat in my Blazer back 1" on the tracks to give me more room. I didn't look close enough on the Liberty to see if that's possible. Maybe even cutting the 'legs' of the tracks and re-welding them shorter.

Opinions of the 6-speed & automatic transmissions overall?

I hate soft/soggy shifts, do you think anybody will make a reprogrammer or shift kit to make the auto shifts more crisp?

Going back to the dealer Monday for longer test drives.

Thanks guys & gals!

Nick

PS, Sorry if you've read this thread at other Jeep forums. Probably not many 08 Liberty 6-speed owners out there yet, so I posted this at other sites as well.

 

[nightowl90028]

Well, i dont have an 08, but i have an 07 which as far as i know its the same transmission and engine as well. I have about 22,000 on mine and have owned it since new,
couple of pros:
..very smooth once you get the hang of it, the reason i say this is because of the electronic throttle cable makes the RPMs drop slower, also sounds like its gonna blow when you rev it
...very strong shifting is what i like about it, it shifts so good into each gear and never gives me any trouble, i have however accidently almost put it into Reverse 2 times while goin down the highway(thats just because i dont know what im doing lol)
...I get better MPG than my auto 05 liberty i had, im cruisin about 2300 RPMs around 80mph and in my moms 04 altima hers is at about 3200 at 80mph and she gets like 30mpg ha!

CONS:
There really isnt many cons other than, if you get on it the clutch will hesitate if you bring it around 4500 rpms, it does take a while for it to get going, you really have push on the gas, which leads to another down fall that i find my self shifting alot thru town, around 45mph im in 5th gear because if i stay in 4th im goin at 3000 rpms and with gas prices i like to keep it around 2200 at all times

So, if i was you i would definalty go with the 6spd im 6'4 and found that the 6spd is worth it even with limited leg room, i just love gettin that thing to go and trust me it will go and has really good throttle response, which you will notice when you break it in, at first it will seem alot like its really too stiff to even go and may seem like it lags, but break it in a little bit and you will love it, i really want to get an 08 but with my payment now on my jeep at 420.00 an 08 with trade in on my 07 at 3% put me at 621.00 i love jeep but not that much to pay 621, so i know what you mean by out of your budget,

We have tons of 07's that are brand new that have -0- miles on it for like 14,000 but i guess you like the new body style which i cant blame you

Hope this helps

 

[05kj6spd]

Don't know if we can help we have an 05...but the husband is over 6 foot and he hasn't complained yet...we prefer sticks also. Gave up a diesel for a Renegade stick.

 

[nightowl90028]

GO WITH A STICK!!!



IM WITH THESE PEOPLE\\/

Now if it was a compass...i would say no way! test drove one and shifting it felt like i was going to break it, very plastic-ee !haha! Liberty=very realiable and feels like its a well designed ******