Automatic v Stick Shift Vehicles

[mjw47]

I mean acknowledging other drivers, as well as the legal responsibility that everybody has to be able to make proper hand signals in the event that their indicators fail.

 

If you can't lift either hand up then you can't thank drivers who have given way to you, for instance.

 

(I'm editing out your disguised rude word BTW).

 

I was instructed many years ago by a mate who was a police qualified driving instructor to never use hand signals to acknowledge other drivers.

 

A pedantic copper witnessing it and feeling that way out can do you for not keeping full control of the vehicle.

 

Both hands on the wheel at all times other than changing gear or signaling changes of direction.

 

Obviously, I appreciate that virtually no one does that but that's it.

 

A nod and a smile should be the way to do it as strictly speaking you're not supposed to flash your lights either.

 

I have a severely damaged left shoulder and can't lift that arm up so hand signals are difficult for me also.

 

Another reason I favour automatics.

 

Since when has waster been a rude word?

[Harleyman]

There's nothing to recommend having a stick shift. Why have to keep shifitng up and down in heavy traffic on a motorway, using another foot pedal into the bargain and lets face it there's very few places now where there's not heavy traffic

 

On mountainous roads with an automatic all you have to do is put the lever in D-3 instead of D-4 which stops the auto trans from shifting up and down all the time

[Guest]

If Danny Boy buys his VW Golf R with the DSG then unless you are driving something which cost upward of £50,000 when he puts his foot down you won't see his arse for the dust.

 

£50,000, haha, sorry, made me chuckle. You can get a Nissan GTR for less than that. I'd like to see him try his Golf against that.

 

You can get faster cars second hand for much less than that so let's not turn this into a willy waving contest.

[El Cid]

There's nothing to recommend having a stick shift. Why have to keep shifitng up and down in heavy traffic on a motorway, using another foot pedal into the bargain and lets face it there's very few places now where there's not heavy traffic

 

On mountainous roads with an automatic all you have to do is put the lever in D-3 instead of D-4 which stops the auto trans from shifting up and down all the time

 

I have driven auto vans for the past 5 years in my job, I prefer manual. I have a manual car.

Our renault master vans did have loads of gearbox breakdowns in the first 3 years, but they seem to be ok now. Every van we had broke down, some went in for repair and lasted a day. I am a careful driver, my van broke down at a higher mileage than most; I think it went into the garage about four times.

[mjw47]

£50,000, haha, sorry, made me chuckle. You can get a Nissan GTR for less than that. I'd like to see him try his Golf against that.

 

You can get faster cars second hand for much less than that so let's not turn this into a willy waving contest.

 

As I said, I prefer a smooth ride rather than speed but the comment was made in response to John Hopes comment about stabilizers on a bike.

 

Personally I think the petrol head speed freaks are pathetic and trying to over compensate for some inner weakness. Jeremy Clarkson for instance is a big girls blouse of the first magnitude.

 

The point was about automatics and some posters claims that they are somehow not as exciting as manuals.

 

Personally I don't care much, but if 0 to 62 in 4.6 seconds isn't enough for you I just hope I never come across you on the road my boy racer pal.

 

I prefer the quite life.

 

---------- Post added 29-04-2014 at 19:56 ----------

 

I have driven auto vans for the past 5 years in my job, I prefer manual. I have a manual car.

Our renault master vans did have loads of gearbox breakdowns in the first 3 years, but they seem to be ok now. Every van we had broke down, some went in for repair and lasted a day. I am a careful driver, my van broke down at a higher mileage than most; I think it went into the garage about four times.

 

I would suggest the problem is with the particular manufacturer and not automatics in general.

 

I have driven an automatic since 1998, two Saab's and a VW, never had a problem.

 

Mate of mine has driven autos even longer, Honda's and never had a problem and he drives aggressively.

[El Cid]

I would suggest the problem is with the particular manufacturer and not automatics in general.

 

 

These were automatics, whereby a computer changes the gears, is that semi-auto?

I drove an auto years ago, with 1-2-park-reverse

[medusa]

One of the cars I have had broke down with a knackered auto gearbox after I sold it, and ended up being scrapped because of it because the cost of a new gearbox was more than the cost of buying a new car. It could all have been prevented if the owner had noticed the oil leak from the transmission which had left the gearbox with no lubrication.

 

I've been driving automatics since 1997, when I lost about 90% of the use of my right arm, leaving me unable to take my left hand off the steering wheel to change gear. I've had 4 old SAABs, 2 Renault Meganes, 1 Renault Scenic, 1 Skoda Fabia and now the VW Touran. None of them, old or new, has had any reliability issues with the gearbox.

[denomis]

So no one mentioned the third and best option, tiptronic.

[L00b]

Mate of mine has driven autos even longer, Honda's and never had a problem and he drives aggressively.

That A4 2.3 auto that I mentioned trying earlier in the thread was a friend's and he's always driven very aggressively (for the car, not other road users I'm quick to add ).

 

Now, I'd heard and read tons of horror stories about that Audi autobox (on 1.8T and 2.3 A4 cabrios models), but he's never had a single problem with it (was a 2003 model), nor with the car generally, and he put well north of 100k on that car before he sold it on. And it's still going strong today.

 

Thing is, it's been maintained on the dot, year-in, year-out, with the full gamut of required servicing points and parts. Personally, same here, always had all my cars maintained/serviced on the dot, year-in, year-out, with the full gamut of required servicing points and parts. Our MX-5 is 16 years old, 82k on it (owned 14 years, put 70k of those miles on ourselves), and still original throughout except for the car radio (original died of death, 2002 IIRC) and the roof (original frayed and cracked, replaced 2008 or 2009): it's still on its first-mount exhaust (no blow), clutch (bites fine, halfway), gearbox (no whine or leaks), brake shoes, etc, etc.

 

Save for manufacturer defects (happens), something to be said for regular 'full fat' maintenance

So no one mentioned the third and best option, tiptronic.

Tiptronic is just another marketing name (Porsche's own, not to name them) for the semi-auto function (manual gear selection) of modern autoboxes, just like VAG's DSG and Mercedes' G-Tronic are.

 

Might be technically better than some, worse than others...but it's still an autobox, not a "3rd option".

[Bonzo77]

Having had numerous driving lessons years ago and still not progressed, mainly down to poor theory tests.

 

I came to the conclusion why the UK predominantly uses stick shift vehicles.

 

I know in the US of A that they mostly all use automatic cars.

 

So why on earth do we make driving so damn difficult for drivers, why are we making people do what the engine should be doing.

 

I think stick shifting vehicles is a bygone method nowadays, what with self driving cars and technology all the rage.

 

I think every single vehicle in the world should be fully automatic, intelligent auto would be great in maintaining optimal speeds.

 

I understand people who race needing manual gears in order for them to have full control of the engine.

 

But for general use, automatic has got to be the way to go, making learning to drive easier and letting the car do the work.

 

100% incorrect, in my opinion. Driving a manual is easy.