Auto or manual

Jonnycoupe said:
Acme prefers manuals...

The repair manuals.
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Ha, good job... with that... ;)

If I used repair manuals I would probably have avoided several disasters I've created over the years though!

To be honest though I think this is probably a case of forum-itis, it is clear me and ericmcn are both fairly vocally opinionated and defensive, nigh argumentative, and neither of us are that good at putting our opinions in writing in a way that reads as intended...

Outside of this environment we'd probably all have a jolly old time and find our thoughts are broadly similar. Same goes for everyone else in here too. :p
 
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I've got a mk3.5 mx5 and the gearbox, once warm, is a joy to use. Sadly, I predict the manual gearbox will become extinct.

I'm old enough to remember the manual choke and also the reluctance of some people to accept auto choke as the norm. One friend even had the auto choke removed from his Escort and a manual one fitted!

I bet if you go further back people were clinging to their starting handles and snubbing electric starter motors.

Even I'm too young to remember those :)
 
bainbridge said:
I'm old enough to remember the manual choke and also the reluctance of some people to accept auto choke as the norm. One friend even had the auto choke removed from his Escort and a manual one fitted!
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I doubt people would have removed the auto choke if they felt it was working properly, but I could be wrong! I think most of the time the change from auto to manual choke was a necessary part of the process when upgrading to an aftermarket carb like a weber. Or people converted to a manual choke when the auto choke was playing up, because it was easier than trying to get it working properly!

I would like to own a carby somewhen, I still need to tick that off... If I got one I would want one with a manual choke though, not because I think it is better, but because it gives me another part of the experience I missed out on. :p
 
Sometimes newer tech isn't better (at least to start with) and comes with new issues. Look at electronic handbrakes, a simple thing made complicated and less functional :/

Light aircraft still use manual chokes.
 
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Nasher said:
Sometimes newer tech isn't better (at least to start with) and comes with new issues. Look at electronic handbrakes :/
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I like the idea of electronic handbrakes, but the thought of them malfunctioning worries me... Whether that means you can't put it on, or take it off, etc.

And it seems like it does happen as well so its not an irrational worry. There have been threads about it on this very forum.
 
They can go nuts if the battery gets low (not even flat) and refuse to release, even if you recharge it or replace the battery :/
 
Acme said:
I like the idea of electronic handbrakes, but the thought of them malfunctioning worries me... Whether that means you can't put it on, or take it off, etc.

And it seems like it does happen as well so its not an irrational worry. There have been threads about it on this very forum.
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They are simpler and less prone to issues than a conventional handbrake. It's just a motor that winds the caliper. You can unwind it manually if you need to, infact you have to in order to change the pads.

Meanwhile no worries with cables etc.
 
Problem with electronic handbrakes - for instance if I lend my truck (which doesn't have one) to someone used to them they forget to take it off before starting off and/or forget to put it on after parking (fortunately in park it doesn't tend to move easily).
 
[TW]Fox said:
There is nothing to it, it's just a simple motor.
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An electric switch and some wiring and relays and electric motors by the rear calipers which also have some computer control going on in most cases for hill start assist etc is in no way simpler than a lever which pulls a cable. :p
 
Rroff said:
Problem with electronic handbrakes - for instance if I lend my truck (which doesn't have one) to someone used to them they forget to take it off before starting off
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What? Surely it just auto releases.


Rroff said:
(fortunately in park it doesn't tend to move easily).
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Park is a more effective way of stopping the vehicle moving. Many people don't even bother using the handbrake in an auto.
 
[TW]Fox said:
What? Surely it just auto releases.
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You'd hope so, otherwise part of the point has been missed entirely! :D

[TW]Fox said:
Park is a more effective way of stopping the vehicle moving. Many people don't even bother using the handbrake in an auto.
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I only use the handbrake in an auto if I'm parked on a hill, to take strain off of the transmission. :)


Rroff said:
My truck has old school handbrake - most of my friends/family now drive cars with electronic handbrakes so if they drive my truck they forget to manually do it before driving off :(
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Wait, your friends and family are all so used to having auto releasing electric handbrakes that a conventional handbrake is alien to them and they actually forget to release it? Even after presumably seeing the handbrake with their eyes when they enter the vehicle? :eek: :p
 
Acme said:
Citation needed. :p
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My mom and brother were in the back of our car on our driveway, which was uphill, and I looked at them rolling down the hill and into the motorway in reverse. That was in our W123 Benz.

Thankfully traffic managed to stop. Ever since, I don't trust any handbrake, but manuals even less.
 
M1k3H said:
My mom and brother were in the back of our car on our driveway, which was uphill, and I looked at them rolling down the hill and into the motorway in reverse. That was in our W123 Benz.

Thankfully traffic managed to stop. Ever since, I don't trust any handbrake, but manuals even less.
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I always park in gear in a manual, whether the car has a handbrake which works really well or not.

It feels wrong to me not to do it... If I'm in someone elses car and they park on a hill and don't leave the car in gear it pains me. (Sometimes I just knock it into gear myself as I get out... :D)

A handbrake can fail whether auto or manual. I think an electronic handbrake failure is more likely than a handbrake cable snapping or a metal ratchet mechanism slipping though.
 
Acme said:
Wait, your friends and family are all so used to having auto releasing electric handbrakes that a conventional handbrake is alien to them and they actually forget to release it? Even after presumably seeing the handbrake with their eyes when they enter the vehicle? :eek:
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Some of them have been driving cars with electronic handbrakes now long enough to get out of the habit.
 
Acme said:
An electric switch and some wiring and relays and electric motors by the rear calipers which also have some computer control going on in most cases for hill start assist etc is in no way simpler than a lever which pulls a cable. :p
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My insight is a mare for the aluminium sleeve corroding in the steel rear beam, it can only expand inwards where the cable is and pinches it so it doesn’t release.

That issue is not even there to exist on modern electric handbrakes now they have caliper motors rather than powered cables.

Hill hold etc. simply uses hydraulic line pressure rather any sort of mechanic actuation of the pads.
 
Rroff said:
Some of them have been driving cars with electronic handbrakes now long enough to get out of the habit.
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I suppose. Does still seem weird to me though. Do people who are used to driving autos forget to use the clutch and jam the car in gear with an agonizing crunch whenever they borrow a manual? :p

Maybe! :eek:


Jonnycoupe said:
mu insight is a mare for the aluminium sleeve corroding in the steel rear beam, it can only expand inwards where the cable is an pinches it so it’s doesn’t move.

issue not even there to exist on modern electric handbrakes now they have caliper motors rather than powered cables.

Hill hold etc. simply uses hydraulic line pressure rather any sort of mechanic actuation of the pads.
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Ah fair enough. I assumed that hill start assist would use the handbrake because that is what made sense to me. Perhaps some systems do? I don't know.

Out of all the ****boxes I've owned, including the 30 year old BMW and the Primera which sat for 7 years, I have only had handbrake issues with one car, my V70R. And that was a rusted up handbrake cable which prevented me from -applying- the handbrake. I just parked it in gear until I fitted a new cable. (a clip had snapped which allowed the cable sheathing to be worn through by the inside of the tyre, then water/salt ingress did the rest)
 
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I still remember the day I thought I was downshifting in an f type as a car ahead slowed for a turning ...

The van behind me had quite a surprise and I’m not sure how he stopped in time.
 
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