To the editor:

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed more articles about how high the price of gasoline is. Some articles even discuss various ways that people have attempted to cut their costs of driving. I have yet to see any mention of how the different types of transmissions can impact vehicle efficiency.

During the past 11 years, I have owned two Saturn cars. They have same body design, power steering, power brakes, 4-cylinder engines and air conditioning. Each was purchased used. Both cars were driven with a mixture of highway and Lawrence street miles by the same person. The ONLY real difference between the two cars: one has an automatic transmission and the other has a manual transmission.

With an overall average of 48 consecutive fill-ups for each car, I found the manual model got 33.5 miles per gallon overall with a road trip best at 52.33 miles per gallon. The automatic model overall average for 48 fill-ups was 28.3 miles per gallon with a road trip best at 39.15 miles per gallon. The manual model overall average mileage is 18 percent better than the automatic and best one-time efficiency was 33 percent better than that of the automatic model.

Although this comparison was not performed under laboratory conditions, it is enough data for me to make a reasonable decision. I shall continue to purchase cars equipped with a manual transmission. I only hope that the automakers here in the United States will continue to offer them.

Robert J. Vaughan,

Lawrence