Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,421
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Jun 10, 2017 15:08:47 GMT
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I once had the misfortune to drive several hundred miles through the central North Island of New Zealand in an automatic Isuzu Bighorn. It couldn't make up its mind what gear it wanted to be in. This could have been exacerbated by the huge off road tyres that the owner had chosen to put on it though. My Pajero is like this, the overdrive is around 45mph, fine if you're on a 50 road, nightmare on a 40 where it's dropping in and out and revving its off.
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Jun 10, 2017 16:09:53 GMT
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I've always been a manual guy, driven lots of cars and the autos of old were awful. The worst was when I left school and got my first job which involved picking up auction cars. Being 17 ,my boss (quite rightly) would give me the duff car out of the batch of the day, and distances of 100miles were common. One day I had the privilege of driving a mobility mini with auto box, a pull on a lever to accelerate, and a push to stop. Enough to make anyone give up and take the bus. I bought a Mercedes 190d auto 6 years ago.......and that has semi converted me. In heavy traffic or in town it is brilliant, and outweighs the effort of gears and clutch. We recently bought a volvo 850t5 auto ( to replace the 190) the two are like chalk and cheese, the volvo box is superb and works well with the engine. I do worry about it going wrong though, something that I never worried about in the Mercedes
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Jun 10, 2017 16:27:55 GMT
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I like auto and manual, always miss the other when i havent got it.
But, i absolutely hate dsg. Awful, awful things. Enough to make me not buy any of the vw group.
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Jun 10, 2017 16:50:34 GMT
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Depends on the car in my opinion. If it's a luxury cruiser it's got to be an auto. If it's a car that demands to be driven then it has to be a manual.
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AB car pix
Posted a lot
Car mag' snapper
Posts: 1,337
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Jun 10, 2017 16:55:51 GMT
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I used to despise even the idea of an auto. I wanted full control all the time. Even to the extent of buying a manual Land Rover. Well that and my first Volvo manual truly tipped me over the edge. Autos are perfect in the right car. I genuinely love them now.
My workhorse 850 is an auto, and when I imported a Granada recently an autobox was a must on my criteria. But in my performance cars I'd always have a manual. Not a chance in hell I'd entertain one of these modern sports DSG etc type boxes. Seems utterly pointless and counter intuitive in a performance car.
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1979 Chrysler Horizon 1.3 GL 1980 Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia 1985 Ford Sierra 3dr 1985 Ford Escort Mk3 1988 Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 1989 Ford Escort 1.3 Popular 1995 Volvo 960 1996 BMW 525i 1998 BMW 323i 1999 BMW 530d 2003 BMW 530i . www.facebook.com/ABCARPIX
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Jun 10, 2017 20:53:35 GMT
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The more i daily the Escort the more i'm tempted to dump the auto, on the other hand the Carib auto is easy enough to live with & more economical than i thought it would be.
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Jun 10, 2017 21:37:33 GMT
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Massively depends on the car and what type of driving you are doing. For me:
Track day - manual
Any shortish trip on decent roads with little traffic - manual
Long journey on motorway - auto
Bumper to bumper traffic - auto
This is just a few scenarios and my opinion. I have owned autos and manuals and as has already been said a lot depends on the car too.
In short, both have their place.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,199
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jun 10, 2017 22:15:32 GMT
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I used to despise even the idea of an auto. I wanted full control all the time. Even to the extent of buying a manual Land Rover. Well that and my first Volvo manual truly tipped me over the edge. Autos are perfect in the right car. I genuinely love them now. My workhorse 850 is an auto, and when I imported a Granada recently an autobox was a must on my criteria. But in my performance cars I'd always have a manual. Not a chance in hell I'd entertain one of these modern sports DSG etc type boxes. Seems utterly pointless and counter intuitive in a performance car. I started out pretty much the same ; I kind of wished my old Jag XJ40 XJR was an auto. The funny thing is you can have control with an auto but in a different way ; the throttle inputs can determine gearchanges and with modern cars you can even use engine braking in the auto modes depending on how you go about it. I also thought the same about performance cars having them until until last October. 30 minutes to 1 minute off a lap time is not counter intuitive however between a manual and an auto across three drivers in the same car ; Ok it was the Nurburgring but that is quite a difference. Neither is a mis shift which can destroy an engine. While it is rare for the enthusiasts it does happen. It's part of the reason why F1 went over to sequential 'boxes; 90% of engine failures were down to mis shift IIRC;). I remember chatting to Dale Lomas about this briefly about why they didn't have manual 'boxes for the RingTaxis around the Nurburgring ; he said that from a business sense it made no sense whatsover with even the slower times out of the equation; a mis shift is potentially £20k. Ouch! 2 years ago I'd have said an auto box of any sort did not belong on the track I will admit. It's an interesting point someone raised about tools on the road from another poster. There are quite a few! I never can remember being people that careless on the road!
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Last Edit: Jun 10, 2017 22:23:30 GMT by ChasR
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Jun 10, 2017 22:30:07 GMT
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Definitely an auto for me but backed up by some decent cubic inches. If the engine/ box torque characteristics match then auto is the way forwards for normal road use, towing is a bit different as is a full load. Low box and first gear is handy in manual 4x4s so you can jump out on tickover, open a gate while the car drives through, close the gate and make your way back in
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Jun 10, 2017 22:48:33 GMT
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I'm manual full stop. Would never consider an auto, to me, I'm driving, I'm in control. I do have a passion for leaving roundabouts quickly! Although one thing I do enjoy is cruise control but annoys me when you're set at 70, Muppet in front is doing 65 on a motorway, I pull out they speed up to 71 or 72....
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jonk
Part of things
Posts: 154
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Jun 10, 2017 23:20:17 GMT
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Driving around in my mx5 or other small-engined nippy cars, I'd only want a manual.
I only came to buy my first auto reluctantly, but I soon saw the light! In a big barge with a relatively powerful engine, I think it's such a good feeling to slump slightly in the seat, point and go. In most journeys I don't really hear the engine.
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Jun 10, 2017 23:25:39 GMT
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I quite like both - like a lot of others have said...each have their place/suit some cars better than others. The only thing I've found is compared to their manual equivalents fuel consumption really seems to suffer.
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I enjoy both in context. Autos much better with a meaty big engine, (I tried a small engined auto once and that was a bit naff). When you're in the mood and the right car, what's better than going through the twisty bits, up and down a manual gearbox and, (ideally), switching in and out of overdrive as the revs counter dictates?
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Last Edit: Jun 11, 2017 0:51:43 GMT by MkX
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Auto all the way. Regarding changing gears...been there done that. I am doing about 800KM a week. So happy with my 2 pedals!
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Having seen how well that automatic Escort goes Mr roundtuit I'd have to agree that it is not the greatest thing. You can abandon it near me any time though. I'm sure my daughter would love it. She had a driving lesson in my manual Falcon today and it really is too big for her. She's not tall enough to push the clutch in fully even with the seat right forward.
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wodge
Part of things
Posts: 455
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We have both - the wrong way round! A pointy darty Mini Cooper S with a slush box and a lazy soft 406 Coupe with a manual. The auto is great for cruising about but I find it takes some of the fun away at full tilt. Strangely I find it really annoying in traffic I find it hard to be smooth in stop start traffic and keeping my foot on the brake so it doesn't creep is more effort than holding the clutch down imo because it's higher and I have small feet so have to float my foot.
It really depends how intuitive the auto box is the Aisin in the mini is pretty good and has a good spread of gears. But an old shogun I used to have was woeful - 3 speed with overdrive - either revving it's nuts off or slogging along off turbo. But it was incredible off road - I'd never had an auto off-roader before then but for traversing ditches or rocks it was incredible- no more stalling or wheel spin. Not quite so effortless on steep descents though -
Finally I still trust a manual more to get me home so my overland vehicles will always be manual.
P.s I agree the Sprint box is crunchy especially in 2nd but I think it has great ratios for an old car and in overdrive top is comfortable at 85 mph cruising which isn't true for most early 70s cars I've driven. I think an auto would kill the fun totally in the triumph for me. Maybe a stag roof down with more torque would be different though.
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Last Edit: Jun 11, 2017 8:23:00 GMT by wodge
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I'm largely anti-auto especially in small to medium cars, but in large wafty type cars they make perfect sense. Mind you if a large manual car came along it would still be my choice, I just prefer the feeling of control a manual box gives you .i was nearly pitched off the snake pass by an auto in manual mode due to it double guessing me . I wanted it to change down coming into a corner , computer said no , and no again , then without warning dropped two gears when I was about to accelerate away. Fwiw we have an iveco pickup with a SAMT gearbox , manual box with a clutch but auto control, it's a hateful thing, a bit like smart car boxes
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As many others have said, to me the car and the engine dictate what gearbox will work well. Occasionally both can work well and give an otherwise identical car a slightly different characteristic.
My latest car is an auto, bought because I had an e46 320d manual and hated it. Rubbish gearbox, I said at the time it felt like a van but thinking back to the Transits I've driven that was very harsh on vans, and I don't like the characteristics of a 4 pot diesel, so the replacement (4 pot diesel for economies sake) had to be an auto. Not the best auto box in the world and a bit out dated but lovely and relaxing, works well with the soft suspension and big comfy arm chairs.
Had it been a 5 or 6 pot diesel I may have preferred a manual, but probably not. Big engined, sedate Merc/Jag/7 series etc, has to be auto. If however I was buying a car to be a 'drivers' car, or wanted to modify it to be more a drivers car for a fun project, it would have to be a manual.
Saab 9000 - Land barge. I've driven a few autos and they're nice enough, do the job very well (although the 2.0 struggles with the gearing compared to the 2.3), however neither of mine would suite an auto box to my mind, manual all the way.
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Jun 11, 2017 12:07:58 GMT
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Having seen how well that automatic Escort goes Mr roundtuit I'd have to agree that it is not the greatest thing. You can abandon it near me any time though. I'm sure my daughter would love it. She had a driving lesson in my manual Falcon today and it really is too big for her. She's not tall enough to push the clutch in fully even with the seat right forward. As if thats likely to ever happen without getting lynched by no.2 daughter, apparently it's to be HER car.
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Jun 11, 2017 12:35:10 GMT
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I drive an auto. The times I'm glad I drive an auto outnumber the times I wish I drive a manual by at least ten to one.
I can switch between them quite happily as my wife drives a manual but I'd rather not.
I cannot drive semi autos. My brain cannot deal with changing gear without using a clutch. I have to really concentrate to overcome this which distracts from concentrating on where I'm going. As a result I don't enjoy it.
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Jaguar S-Type 3.0 SE
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