Manual v Automatic

[Oztalgian 2,852]

Our new car has so many safety aids and fancy dodads to "help" your driving.

It is the first car I have had with an electric handbrake it just comes on when you put the gearbox in park and off when you put it into reverse or drive.

For the first few weeks I still kept going to put the handbrake on before getting out of the car. All is good now except that the older car we have has a conventional handbrake and guess what? ……………………………. I now have to make a conscious effort to remember to put it on.

The new car has a constantly variable transmission and at the weekend we did a 500km round trip on country roads at high speed and returned 53 mpg

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

Took me ages to not reach for the clutch pedal when stopping.

[Brew 5,007]

I, like many driving an auto for the first time, hit the big brake pedal with my left foot. It's quite surprising how much force you use, even with 'normal' braking. The car was a Ford Zodiac and boy at slow speed did it stop!

[philmayfield 5,345]

I think everyone does that when they first drive an auto - but only once! I used to tuck my left foot well out of harm's way. It's amazing, on those rare occasions when I drive a manual, how easy it is with ultra smooth modern gear changers.

[Willow wilson 856]

The First 100 times I drove a LHD manual gearbox vehicle I kept stuffing my left hand in the door storage bin to change gear.

I just got used to it then went back to RHD.

[philmayfield 5,345]

I remember once arriving at Frankfurt airport late at night in the winter when it was snowing and I had a heavy cold. I collected a left hand drive manual hire car and then had to drive 100 miles sitting in the left hand seat changing gear with my right hand. What a nightmare of a journey! The next day, at the factory I was visiting, they gave me a small bottle of Klosterfrau to drink. It was was a herbal, alcoholic cure all. It certainly worked! 

[PeverilPeril 3,153]

I never got on with LHD. Even a car that was kept in France was RHD. Talking about electric parking brakes - last year I collected  Dodge 4x4 from Indianapolis Airport and wondered why it was so sluggish. After about 2 miles entering the freeway I floored the accelerator and notice a trail of black smoke in the mirror....you've guessed why.

Stopped and checked tyres - VERY hot. Rubbish car btw.

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

I've not yet come across anything with electric brakes, other than trailers. My truck like all autos, has the transmission lock when placed in park, but has a foot operated emergency brake for parking. Same with my wife's Toyota RAV4.

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

Going for a none existent clutch still catches me out, mostly if I get some idiot pull out in front of me and I have to brake suddenly. In the beginning, I also reached for the none existent gear stick...

[philmayfield 5,345]

I think electric handbrakes are the norm on all modern cars now. I’ve not examined one yet but I imagine they are brought on an off by a servo motor. Another complication to go wrong as the car gets older. No more handbrake turns sadly!

[loppylugs 8,336]

The more automation of basic functions we get the more dependant we become it seems.

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

I was just looking this up, there are two types of electric brakes, EPB, electric parking brake and braking by wire, ie full electric braking via the brake pedal.

 

 

Gets scary!!!

[PeverilPeril 3,153]

My all time favourite car was a Toyota Hilux pickup - the indestructible mk3. Everything manual. Even had to get out of the cab to switch into 4 wd. It did have snooze control..it was slowwww zzzzzz..but it had soul 

[philmayfield 5,345]

I think it's used in Formula 1 but I don't know of any cars fitted with it. Mercedes cancelled the idea back in 2005. The accelerator usually operates a potentiometer and power steering is generally electric now.

[philmayfield 5,345]

3 minutes ago, PeverilPeril said:

My all time favourite car was a Toyota Hilux pickup - the indestructible mk3. Everything manual. Even had to get out of the cab to switch into 4 wd. It did have snooze control..it was slowwww zzzzzz..but it had soul 

On one of our earlier Shoguns you had to get out and rotate the front hub centres to select four wheel drive which wasn't very funny on a cold snowy morning. On both of our cars now the four wheel drive systems are totally automatic with no option to make a selection. As we don't do any serious off roading or tow pony or boat trailers we don't need things like low ratios and diff locks anymore.

[Ayupmeducks 1,728]

All the Ford "F" series pickups used to have "hub locks" to engage the wheels in 4WD at one time, now it's done through the transfer case. The beauty of hub locks is you're not driving the front wheel axle and reducing drag when in 2WD.

 

The Suburu station wagon I had in Oz was manual transmission, had 4WD Hi and Low range, selected by a second gear shift, could be done safely "on the fly" where as on my Chevy Silverado, I have to stop, select neutral and turn a switch to either 4WD or 4WD lo and wait until the light goes from flashing to steady.

[colly0410 1,180]

Had a test drive in a double clutch auto Hyundai i10 the other day = very strange experience, it also had stop/start. You'd stop at the lights, when they turned green I pressed the gas & nothing seemed to happen, so pressed a bit more, then the engine fired up & it zoomed forwards, when accelerating I could feel it change gear, I can hardly tell when my present fluid clutched Hyundai i10  changes gear. Wife seemed to like it so there's a good chance we'll be having one soon, it'll take me some time to get used to it though, & I'm an ex driving instructor...

[Cliff Ton 9,939]

My previous car - Toyota - had Stop-Start (but not an auto). 

 

I got used to it after about 15 mins and never gave it another thought, and I never had any technical problems with it.

[philmayfield 5,345]

I find auto stop/start considerably irritating and switch it of when I start driving. It can be especially annoying in slow moving traffic. The only time I use it is when I’m waiting at a level crossing or know I’m going to be stopped for a considerable time. Cars are loaded with gadgets these days. If you ever bother to read the handbook you’ll discover even more.  The other irritating one that I switch off is the lane keeping assist.

[swe62 332]

wait till lane assist and self park systems need repair and reset £400 for reset ,around £10000 to purchase the kit  and training to use it,

[philmayfield 5,345]

I've got auto parking on my car but I've never had the guts to try it out! 

[Brew 5,007]

The real scary thing is driving the car whilst standing outside and controlling it with my smart phone, shudder to think what would happen if I dropped the phone...

[Beekay 4,263]

Do cars actually work like that Brew? I never knew that.

[philmayfield 5,345]

It’s certainly a feature on some Mercedes models but no doubt others have it too. These ‘gizmos’ used to be a feature of upmarket cars but the electronic bits are so relatively cheap that less expensive cars now have them to be competitive. I read recently that the upmarket cars are becoming less popular as lower priced models now have all the gadgets. 

[IAN FINN 568]

I have a Hyundai Elantra N line with a 1.6l turbo  and 7 speed dual clutch the dual clutch has two clutch plates one shifts the even gears and the other shifts the odd gears it is a manual transmission but there is no clutch pedal it shifts electonically, love the car its a pleasure to drive. There is no torque converter and automatic transmission oil the gearbox holds about four pints of gearoil which you can easily change yourself.