does the hhr in manual transmission get it better gas mileage? i'm in the market now & wondering...

 

Yes

 

I have 2.4 with 5 speed and average 27 mpg in town.

 

That really is a loaded question, not everyones driving habits are the same, but on the expressway, yes a manual will get better mileage. In the city, it depends on your driving habits, but generally yes it will get better mileage.
If most of your driving is on the open road, not stop and go, I would definitely choose a manual, but if most of your driving is stop and go, your preference is more important than the difference in MPG.

 

Who cares when it more fun to drive a manual. Just FYI, my ls gets an average of not less then 28 in town and 31 on the road mostly at 70 mph.

 

On mid grade gas my '08 2.4 5 speed was getting about 27-28 m.p.g last year.Cold weather lowered it to 23-25 m.p.g. over the winter.

 

Old school thinking has the manual better then the auto on the hwy..they should be the same as the auto goes into lock up...in town, different story.....

 

That is true. I tend to drive with gas mileage in mind on my commute. I only get on it when needed.

 

I don't see this as a loaded question at all. Since we could probably assume the driver (jarp79 in this case) is consistent and his/her driving habits would be similar in either the manual or automatic. The question is whether the manual is better on gas regardless (and/or if either) driven hard or with mileage in mind.

Stats from a government site www.FuelEconomy.Gov (not GM sticker data) below, but this is average across a variety of driving styles and as esmarkey correctly pointed out your individual results will vary depending on your driving habit and terrain.

Cty Hwy
2.2L Man - 22 32
2.2L Auto - 22 30

2.4L Man - 21 30
2.4L Auto - 22 29

2.0L Man - 21 29
2.0L Auto - 19 29

 

Actually the fuel mileage figure on that government site are not averages at all.

They are absolute fuel use numbers from the Federal test procedure used by the EPA. Also, the testing is done on a chassis dyno with a computer controlling the engine's throttle.

While the EPA numbers are valuable for comparisons between powertrains, they are for the most part irrelevant to real world fuel economy because few, if any, people drive cars like the Federal test procedure is written.

More useful are the real world fuel economy testing done by the mainstream road test magazines such as Car and Driver.