Manual vs Automatic: Choosing for a Long Rental

For a short rental, the difference between manual and automatic is mostly about what you're used to driving at home. For anything longer, especially in heavy city traffic, fatigue becomes the deciding factor.

Stop-start traffic in an automatic is simply less tiring across a full day. If your itinerary is mostly highway driving between cities, a manual with better mileage might make more financial sense.

Our general rule: under five days and mostly highway, manual is fine. Over five days or mostly city driving, pay the automatic premium — it's usually a few hundred rupees a day and you'll feel the difference by day three.