Hi Wendy,

It depends on the car and the engine, and to a huge extent the driver. Generally speaking, a manual gearbox, used by a competent driver, will yield better fuel economy, not least because it’s lighter than an automatic or dual-clutch gearbox. However, it’s not that simple. Some of the more recent auto gearboxes (ZF’s near-ubiquitous eight-speed auto, especially) are so efficient and clever that they’re actually better at squeezing out economy (according to the official fuel tests anyway) than their manual equivalents.