Why didn't you tell me automatics are so good!

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

There are 2 reasons to buy a manual now a days. Firstly you have a sports orientated car (the auto version is likely faster).

Or secondly you are just a Moron.

Oh..... so there's no chance of a third reason where you don't mind or even prefer the experience of changing gear yourself and often enjoy better MPG versus the automatic equivalent?

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

Oh..... so there's no chance of a third reason where you don't mind or even prefer the experience of changing gear yourself and often enjoy better MPG versus the automatic equivalent?

Driving manuals while commuting is a pain in the a$$. “Experiance” of a manual in slow moving traffic is not an experience I like to do on a daily basis. Driving the auto is a pleasure.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

Driving manuals while commuting is a pain in the a$$. “Experiance” of a manual in slow moving traffic is not an experience I like to do on a daily basis. Driving the auto is a pleasure.

I have to agree. I drive a manual van and there’s nothing like being stuck in slow moving traffic to keep your left leg exercised It makes me appreciate my Auto more

TT

[green van man]

I have driven autos and every one I did I hated with a passion.

For me nothing but nothing beats a manual box. I have even driven manuals home when the clutch has failed, performing clutch less gear changes, up and down the box and hill starts in first gear on the starter motor.
I find towing far easier with a manual also.

That said my xc70 rarely ever needs anything less than 3rd gear once on the move, even towing. The landrover with its 10 speed box is just as easy to drive clutch less and reversing the caravan in low box is as easy as pie. The volvo I tend to use the caravan motor movers to position it on sites, many of the sites I visit have narrow roadways and 8m of van + xc70 takes a heap of space. Far easier to stop in front of the pitch, un hook and pivot the van around its own axis before reversing it in on the movers.

To each their own but basically I never told you how good autos were because I don't think they are.
Glad you have found something you like.

Paul.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

Driving manuals while commuting is a pain in the a$$. “Experiance” of a manual in slow moving traffic is not an experience I like to do on a daily basis. Driving the auto is a pleasure.

I drove a truck for 12 years with a an 8 speed manual split box in all kinds of traffic so we have very different points of reference as to what's acceptable.
8 gears covering 0-55 mph means you're perpetually changing gear so anything better than that is a breeze.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

Driving manuals while commuting is a pain in the a$$. “Experiance” of a manual in slow moving traffic is not an experience I like to do on a daily basis. Driving the auto is a pleasure.

Never heard of 1st gear and tickover? It's what I do, leave a gap, 1st gear and alow the car to roll along at tick over at 2/3mph, even uphill. Not failed me yet.
No please do not get me started on stop start equipped vehicles, the one I had quickly had stop start disabled.

Paul.

[Dancake]

Just to clarify, more gears does not necessarily equate to increased higher speed. You might find that a car with 8 or 9 gears has such a configuration as a result of the vehicle manufacturers' obligations to meet emissions requirements. I drive both automatic and manual, and the manual offers far better control at junctions, roundabouts, parking and 3 point turns etc. This isn't anti-auto rhetoric. It's fact. Some autos are actually automatically controlled manual transmissions (VAG DSG for example), so just because your car changes gears for you doesn't mean you haven't got an expensive DMF or clutch mated to the engine. On that, I've never seen a light vehicle DMF cost £2000.

When an automatic transmission fails, in most cases it will be more expensive to sort than a manual transmission. Then you have the cost of maintenance. Automatic transmission oil and filter changes can cost as much as a clutch job on a manual car. Most manual transmissions can last the life of the car without an oil change, with the oil will being as clean as the day it went in after 150,000+ miles.

The ZF gearbox fitted to Jaguars and BMWs is good when it works, but do a quick internet search of the dreaded Jaguar/ZF 'E' clutch fault. The cost of repair can be more than the car is worth. I don't think it's appropriate to brand people morons for picking a transmission that suits their style of driving.

[DaveNP]

I drive manual car and an 'automatic' truck, and like both of them that way. I think a modern automatic is a long way from the old torque convertor automatics many people are thinking of when they say they've driven an automatic in the past and didn't like it, my 850 was an auto and seemed to me to be over revving most of the time and drank petrol like I owned an oil well.
Either way one also needs to get to know the system to get the best out of it.

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by green van man

Never heard of 1st gear and tickover? It's what I do, leave a gap, 1st gear and alow the car to roll along at tick over at 2/3mph, even uphill. Not failed me yet.
No please do not get me started on stop start equipped vehicles, the one I had quickly had stop start disabled.

Paul.

Yes, used to do similar in our previous car, but I don’t like to be that person leaving a massive gap in the traffic just because they are ticking along in 1st. I find, and this is my personal opinion, that I would take modern auto any day of the week over a manual. I personally don’t see the point in newer cars having manuals with the driving people do do most of the time. I was a big manual die hard fan, especially coming from a motorbike background but as soon as I started driving a few Mercedes I was converted. From about 2010 onwards autos are a lot better on the premium brands. Not sure if I would go for an auto in something like a Ford or VW, but when you look at new cars from BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, even Volvo now too, it’s not very often you find them in manual. They are fading out unfortunately. And as I said with Electric cars, unless you go for a retrofit there will not be an option.

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by Dancake

I drive both automatic and manual, and the manual offers far better control at junctions, roundabouts, parking and 3 point turns etc. This isn't anti-auto rhetoric. It's fact. Some autos are actually automatically controlled manual transmissions (VAG DSG for example), so just because your car changes gears for you doesn't mean you haven't got an expensive DMF or clutch mated to the engine.

I have never experienced a bad auto with regards to roundabouts, junctions, especially parking, and 3 point turns. Shifting between reverse and drive in our Jag with the dial is a breeze and so smoother than anything in a manual.

My main comparison is the wife...in the manual she was awful with wrong gears at certain speeds, parking and shifting between reverse and 1st took a while when looking at the gear stick, etc. Now she doesn’t have a problem. Yes ok probably laziness but I find you can concentrate on the road more and have better control and you aren’t changing gear while coming out of roundabouts etc. Both hands on the wheel most of them time 🙂