Mr P wants one and I'm not convinced. Fair enough it will be his car as I have my own, but there will be times I will drive it. I know they have come on a lot, but there is still something about the fact that makes me feel I want more control in driving a car. The reasons he is giving for wanting one are, having the opportunity to drive them at work is making him realise how nice it is when you are sat in traffic, or just crawling along and you are not constantly playing clutch, gas, brake etc. I could understand if we lived somewhere with real traffic problems, but we dont!

If you have experience in driving the newer automatics, I would be interested to hear the positives and negatives with these.

I have seen someone run themselves over with their own car becuase it was an automatic. Guy got out of his car to post a letter in a post box, obviously left the car in gear, it crept up onto the pavement, rolled up behind him and pinned him against the post box.

I have also seen a guy run over his next door neighbour again because the car was an auto.

Having driven autos a few times I can't stand them, I just don't feel in control.

A DSG box, I could be tempted. A normal torque convertor auto slushbox though - no thanks, I guess I'm not old enough yet

Steve

I've never driven a conventional automatic that has any advantages over a manual except in heavy stop-start traffic.

The CVT in my mum's Jazz is quite nice, mostly because it doesn't change with a jerk (unlike normal autos), and actually drives properly, holding sensible revs under full throttle acceleration, and minimising the engine speed when you're just bimbling along.

Autos are great as long as the engines big enough!

I've driven the automatic offerings from Volvo and BMW (Alpina) and actually found myself liking them. I think they've all been 6 speed and suspect they were "automated manuals" rather than conventional manuals but I could be wrong. They could be left in D through the boring stop/start town stuff and then switch to tiptronic mode for the fun stuff so you got the best of both worlds, although the Volvo did have a habit of changing up for you if you got anywhere near the red line rather than leaving you in control. The steering wheel shift buttons on the Alpina also made it very Playstation-like to drive

One thing I didn't like was that you had to wait for an intermediate gear to engage before continuing up or down the box which meant block-changing required a bit of forward planning. I don't know whether it's common place but I suspect the DSG-style gearboxes are a bit more flexible in this respect. The other thing to say is that these cars had a fair bit of power so it felt a good combination - I'm not sure whether they would work as well in smaller engined cars....

Chris

I've driven lots of autos over the years, and in fact when I was learning had lessons in a manual (mk2 Escort!) and practised in a Mk4 Escort Auto, so I find the change easy. I've recently had to buy an auto (well, a DSG) for the first time after owning manual cars for around 20 years, because of a back problem that makes the clutch very hard going in traffic, and my better half still has a manual car.

The autos I've driven range from ****e (the escort) to tolerable (Micra, Mini) to pretty good (Montego, BMW 120) to excellent (DSG).

The 'out of control' thing? Never feels like that to me- but I've driven both for so long now. My wife had never driven an auto before the Leon, and she felt 'a bit odd' but got used to it. DSG feels more controlled than many, and driving it you do have a lot of control. The extra control of a clutch and full manual shift only really counts when you're really pressing on on an A road, and even there there's not that much difference. Older, crappier boxes like the Escort's auto would tend to change at the wrong time, and do stupid things like change up when you lift off for a bend. Anything half decent with electronic control is much better.

It really depends on your driving style and where you drive. If you're really hammering around the place on the twisties you might miss that final bit of control. If not, you'll get used to forgetting your left foot (though I still try to put the non-existent clutch in when I go to pull away), and if you get stuck in traffic, you'll love it.

The only answer is to drive one for a while. It is very different.

One final note: the bloke that ran himself over was an idiot. There's a good rule to follow: if an auto is in gear and stationary, the footbrake should be on. Many won't let you engage a gear without the footbrake on, after this load of old crap.

Autos are great as long as the engines big enough!

Autos often work better with big engines, but can be good with a small engine, provided the gearbox is good enough. Sadly, some small autos had terrible, power-sapping boxes.

One thing I didn't like was that you had to wait for an intermediate gear to engage before continuing up or down the box which meant block-changing required a bit of forward planning. I don't know whether it's common place but I suspect the DSG-style gearboxes are a bit more flexible in this respect. The other thing to say is that these cars had a fair bit of power so it felt a good combination - I'm not sure whether they would work as well in smaller engined cars....

Chris

DSG is fine with this- you have to change sequentially, but it happens quickly. I suspect that if you had to wait that may have been BMW SMG.

Thinking about it, I've never driven an auto that could skip shift (never driven anything more than a 4-speed auto, so block shifting doesn't really apply), but at least on demanding kick-down, most of them were so fast down 4-3-2 it didn't make any odds.

As to the "out of control" point, I don't see it above walking pace, when you'll need to stall the engine off against the brakes for precision manoevring.

If you want, say, 3rd for engine braking down a steep hill, use the manual gear holds; that's what they're there for! Well that and stopping the box trying to change up every time you ease the throttle on a twisty climb!

As to the "out of control" point, I don't see it above walking pace, when you'll need to stall the engine off against the brakes for precision manoevring.

I think that is what some people find unnerving. DSG's behaviour takes a little getting used to: there's a small amount of creep at first as you release the brake, then the clutch engages a bit more, if you then hit the brakes it disengages again. If you ease the brakes on (maybe there's 2 switches?) you can balance it.

I think that is what some people find unnerving. DSG's behaviour takes a little getting used to: there's a small amount of creep at first as you release the brake, then the clutch engages a bit more, if you then hit the brakes it disengages again. If you ease the brakes on (maybe there's 2 switches?) you can balance it.

Never tried DSG (yet). My comments referred to conventional autos.

Never tried DSG (yet). My comments referred to conventional autos.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It should have been more like:

I think that is what some people find unnerving. DSG's behaviour *also* takes a little getting used to even if you're used to autos: there's a small amount of creep at first as you release the brake, then the clutch engages a bit more, if you then hit the brakes it disengages again. If you ease the brakes on (maybe there's 2 switches?) you can balance it.

As to the "out of control" point, I don't see it above walking pace, when you'll need to stall the engine off against the brakes for precision manoevring.

!

Having mainly driven manuals and only occasionally driven autos I find having to remember to hold down the brake in traffic a pain and setting off to be somewhat unnerving. Also I tend to go down through the gears when coming to a stop or slowing considerably so not being able to do that makes me feel out of control. I haven't driven a car with DSG and I think this would be more like a manual, I least I can chose the gear I want.

I also have bad knees and I find having to hold down the brake pedal uncomfortable. Same goes for the clutch on a manual but I tend to take it out of gear and put the handbrake on if I stop for long enough.

I haven't driven a car with DSG and I think this would be more like a manual, I least I can chose the gear I want.

DSG does this quite well even in full-auto (D)- I always drive a manual like that and it seems to do the same quite sensibly.

I also have bad knees and I find having to hold down the brake pedal uncomfortable. Same goes for the clutch on a manual but I tend to take it out of gear and put the handbrake on if I stop for long enough.

My bad back affects my left leg more, so holding the brake isn't an issue, but stop-start on the clutch (especially when traffic keeps edging forward then stopping rather than crawling in 1st) was a nightmare for me. i could drive hundreds of miles with no discomfort, but hit a good traffic jam....

While I was getting my car serviced a couple of weeks ago a man was paying for a new clutch in his Octavia Auto at £800. I am not sure if other work was done but if not he wouldn't want to replace many of them.

I was running my dad's 1995 Merc C280 auto and thought I would hate it but found it hard to get used to a manual again when my car came back from the garage. Really relaxing and decent auto box: certainly didn't feel slushy: kickdown was really quick and it just flicked through the changes, especially full bore. I could be tempted. I hear DSG can be worryingly sluggish and jerky on take off and will downchange rather than upchange if you back off unlike a normal auto. That and the complexity and expense put me off!

The beemer has an auto box, which is fine for tootling abyte tyne, and really quite smooth. I was stuck at some temp lights on a hill the other day and tried to creep forward without using the brake, but then got whiff of burning clutch, so I won't be trying that again. Another annoyance is when your going down a hill, in auto mode, the car will pick up speed, whereas in a manual you can use engine braking.

In sport mode, the changes are a lot more rapid, and can be quite violent, but you do make amazingly quick progress. I've been experimenting with the flappy paddles recently, and you can convincingly re-create the feel of a manual, but without the clutch pedal obviously. The car hangs on to the selected gear up to the red line if you want it to. Can be a pain if you forget your in manual mode though. lol. I need more practice on the paddles though before I decide if they're better.

In summary: Me likey!

While I was getting my car serviced a couple of weeks ago a man was paying for a new clutch in his Octavia Auto at £800. I am not sure if other work was done but if not he wouldn't want to replace many of them.

How do you have a clutch in an auto? :confused:

ordinary autos I have no love for but a DSG or similar (who else does these??) I have have another tomorrow. I regret going back to manual and will go to auto again next time for sure.

My driving is mostly rural roads, vert little town stuff.

Pro's

smooth and "lazy" to drive.

Only one pedal to hit in case of emergency!!

It's always (well 99.9% of the time) in the right gear.

brilliant with cruise control on steep roads as it finds its own gear.

very very easy to keep to speed limits in town as with a manual you car always tempted to go to a higher gear and then the speed creeps up.

In MORE control of the car - don't need to take hands of teh wheel, change gears and signal all at the same time!

Creep feature is fantastic in v traffic jams.

Cons

uses more fuel (very marginal with a DSG 'tho)

more expensive to buy, but as with the diesel argument this isn't the full whack in the long term as it reflects in the residuals.

How do you have a clutch in an auto? :confused:

VAG DSG boxes have TWO clutches, but they work automatically:D

box has to sets of 3 gears, one clutch works each "half". It is alway in one gear and ready to transfer to the next.. Because they are computer control there is no chance of slipping or riding the clutch therefore failures are very rare. admittedly expensive if they do mind:eek:

I've found that DSG takes 'a lot' of getting used to. For normal, mainly flat roads, the D selection is brilliant however you need Sport mode or manual for country roads, steep hills etc. Reversing is quite difficult especially uphill and towards something like a wall!

Sometimes I feel like I miss manual transmission but when I really think about it, I don't. DSG is brilliant once you learn to drive it and that takes a lot of miles. Don't get me wrong, it's not that it's difficult to drive just different.

Supposedly a lot less stressful - did have one as very 1st car but that was so long ago I've virtually forgotten what it was like

Having mainly driven manuals and only occasionally driven autos I find having to remember to hold down the brake in traffic a pain and setting off to be somewhat unnerving. Also I tend to go down through the gears when coming to a stop or slowing considerably so not being able to do that makes me feel out of control. I haven't driven a car with DSG and I think this would be more like a manual, I least I can chose the gear I want.

An auto will downshift at "normal" revs by itself. If you want earlier downshifts, that's something else the holds can do for you.

I also have bad knees and I find having to hold down the brake pedal uncomfortable. Same goes for the clutch on a manual but I tend to take it out of gear and put the handbrake on if I stop for long enough.

Same goes for an auto; use the handbrake and/or put it in neutral when you're stopped in traffic.

Edited 29 May, 200917 yr by KenONeill

The beemer has an auto box, which is fine for tootling abyte tyne, and really quite smooth. I was stuck at some temp lights on a hill the other day and tried to creep forward without using the brake, but then got whiff of burning clutch, so I won't be trying that again.

Is it an SMG box?