Complete change of heart - new priorities, new spec me

Well I do yea, but like Olly said, you don't need to (the handbrake on my car is fantastically crap though). If you're going to let the car stand a while, more than a few weeks I'd leave it off though unless you park on a steep hill.

Autos are really just point and squirt most of the time.
 
No not really, a parking pawl locks the output shaft of the gearbox and stops it from moving at all, this pawl is very strong, you'ed have a hell of a time trying to break it anyway. If you park on a steep hill though it will palce much more stress on the pawl, as the rolling weight of the car will be held on it then, so I would advise you do use the brake on hills.
 
One other thing, which you probably do anyway, when you start your car up put your foot on the brake and also keep your foot on the brake as you select drive (most cars wont let you move the gearbox from P until you do put your foot on the brake anyway) ...just in case. Bear in mind the car will move as soon as it is in drive, even if you don't touch the throttle it will still move on it's own a bit.
 
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Yep I did that anyway, seemed logical! Wonder how long it will take till I stop trying to put my left foot through the bulkhead when approaching junctions
 
iaind said:
Yep I did that anyway, seemed logical! Wonder how long it will take till I stop trying to put my left foot through the bulkhead when approaching junctions
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Just watch you don't put your left foot on the brake when doing this ...at clutch pushing force (i.e. maximum braking power) ..I did this once shortly after I had my first auto, it was just lucky that there was no one behind me as the car stopped faster than I thought possible, my ABS triggered and my internal organs felt like the carried on moving :p
 
Moeks said:
Just watch you don't put your left foot on the brake when doing this ...at clutch pushing force (i.e. maximum braking power) ..I did this once shortly after I had my first auto, it was just lucky that there was no one behind me as the car stopped faster than I thought possible, my ABS triggered and my internal organs felt like the carried on moving :p
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I do the opposite now every time I drive a manual and forget to dip the clutch when coming to a stop :D
 
Am worried that when I get used to it, when I get back into a manual car I'm going to forget how to work it....Still, it's all good, for the amount of time I spend in traffic it will be a godsend :)
 
iaind said:
Am worried that when I get used to it, when I get back into a manual car I'm going to forget how to work it....Still, it's all good, for the amount of time I spend in traffic it will be a godsend :)
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Dont worry about that, you wont want another manual :)
 
You wont forget, you will probably get a bit rusty after several years, if you keep the Saab that long, but you wont forget or lose the ability to drive a manual. I don't have any trouble driving a manual often after months or not doing so.
 
Will be borrowing my dad's MG/Mazda/S2000/Whatever quite often once the weather gets a bit better, so I should be ok :)

After sleeping on it, when I often wake up with a complete change of heart - I'm still delighted that I've made the right decision
 
Course I have! I know how to make an auto go and stop (obviously), was just wondering about the "done" thing as I'll be putting 50k miles on it now, rather than 3
 
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I like it


:)

But then I do like Saabs. Someone at work has bought a fully loaded convertible 9-3, had a poke around and it seems nice. Enjoy it :)
 
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