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With a manual box you can drop the gearbox say in to second and rarely have to touch the brake pedal meaning less wear and heat on the brake pads etc. plus it controls the caravan in tow. If you watch a vehicle with an auto gearbox towing a caravan going down hill the brake lights are illuminated constantly right down the incline till they reach the bottom. Now if you understand about brake pads and shoes, when the linings make contact with steel they get very hot which the generated heat can actually melt the adhesive bonding between lining and disc or shoe. This can lead to unnecessary disc warp and brake wear which I have seen previously which then of course requires the expense of replacement discs, pads and re-bleeding the vehicle's slave cylinders. Judging by these facts, I still prefer the manual gearbox.

Advanced driving techniques are not to change right down the box when going downhill as brakes are cheaper to replace than gearboxes, this now also applies when learning to drive and when coming to a stop.Auto boxes can be locked into a lower gear if necessary, I have never known a case of the adhesive melting and have seen discs glowing red. Most modern auto boxes now have 6, 7 or 8 gears and Land Roveri s due to introduce a 9 speed auto on the Evoque, Don't know of any manual boxes with above 7 forward gears so the statement that autos generally have one less gear than a manual is inaccurate