I had the manual version, very torquey engine. Four gears, with overdrive on 3rd and 4th. Towing a caravan made little difference to the fuel consumption.
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Parking an automatic on a hill.
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I had the manual version, very torquey engine. Four gears, with overdrive on 3rd and 4th. Towing a caravan made little difference to the fuel consumption.
Yes the BHP was nothing to write home about for a 3.3L but the torque made up for any deficiency.
Yes indeed (as you can on her car), but both of those reduce the advantage of the auto box - if you're going to change gear manually, all it saves you, is pressing a clutch pedal, and it still denies precise clutch control.
I thought you wanted the advantages of manual control?
You can have auto if you want.
What is it you really want?
This?
Yes I do! But that's why I prefer a manual box to an auto box. It allows complete control of not only which gear and when, but how that gear is engaged. So if I'm in a car that has to change gears, I prefer to do it myself.
The 5 speed Steptronic ZF in my old BMW (a model introduced 30 years ago) gives the best of both worlds, as in addition to full auto it will :
Allow selection of sport mode, thereby delaying upward gear shifts until higher revs. are reached.
Allow manual gear selection, but will automatically shift up if the rev-limiter is reached or down shift to prevent engine labouring.
Following a cold start, delay the shift to 5th gear until the 'box has reached a designated operating temperature.
Allow selection of sport mode, thereby delaying upward gear shifts until higher revs. are reached.
Allow manual gear selection, but will automatically shift up if the rev-limiter is reached or down shift to prevent engine labouring.
Following a cold start, delay the shift to 5th gear until the 'box has reached a designated operating temperature.
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I like my manual too - used to drive wagons back in the 80s/90s Twin Splitter was my favourite, proper driving, wonder if I could stll manage one?
My van is manual and away from heavy town centre traffic I think I prefer that to the wifes auto, it is an 8 speed (twin clutch type seamless change), lovely an easy to drive - it has these flappy paddels for maual changing, but it is seriously crap, why would anyone use them ? the car is overly fast in 'comfort mode'
I have no skin in this game, but would appreciate someone explaining why it stresses an auto gearbox to leave the car "parked" on it, any more than the gearbox is stressed by having to repeatedly accelerate and haul the car around in its normal life?
Back in the days when handbrakes were pretty rubbish, it was common to leave a car in gear on a steep hill, as well as applying the handbrake. When auto boxes were introduced, they had no way of doing this, because the torque converter would allow slow slip anyway, so the car would still roll if the handbrake failed.
Auto box manufacturers then provided a locking pin that physically went into a gear or hole in a shaft, which physically prevented the driven wheels from turning. If the handbrake failed, that pin was the only thing stopping the car from rolling away. It wouldn't do the auto box any real harm, but when the pin used to be pulled out by a mechanical linkage actuated by moving the gear shifter, it would give the gear linkage a pretty chard time, trying to pull the pin out of its slot, with the weight of the car "hanging" off it. The same thing would happen with a manual car, left in gear when the handbrake failed, but of course, had it been a manual car, the drive could just press the clutch to take the load off the geartrain whilst moving the lever out of gear.
Auto boxes do have advantages. (You don't have to change gear). If you have to change gear manually to circumvent the kickdown delay, then you have reduced that advantage, have you not?
That's where we differ. I don't see that as the best of both worlds at all! I see it as a way of trying to make up for some of the inherent deficiencies of an auto box.
I bet it isn't really seamless! I've been in some upmarket cars where you can "scarcely feel" the change (unless you're accelerating hard), but apart from the old Variomatic DAFs, I've never been in an auto that is truly seamless.
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Auto or manual really depends on where you do most of your driving, and how much you enjoy your driving when out of traffic.
For most nowadays auto is the best choice, even if there is a lot more, expensive stuff to go wrong
For most nowadays auto is the best choice, even if there is a lot more, expensive stuff to go wrong
