From Manual To Auto - What are they like to live with?

Joshy

Joshy

Joshy

Soldato
Joined
15 Jun 2009
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Yet again I'm beginning to consider another new car. Whilst my 205 GTi was thoroughly enjoyable out on track last friday it wasn't nearly as nice as the experience of being wafted up the A1M in a 08 530d In complete silence and comfort. I decided in that heated leather seat with the climate control set just right and Radio 2 on, that comfortable cars are certainly the way forward :D.

That's got me thinking about 'barges' once again, and barges almost always come with an automatic gearbox.

I've dabbled in Automatics in the past - I learned to drive in one so it comes fairly natural to me. What I never did was used an auto on a daily to pick up on the flaws that people complain about. My experience with automatics was fairly enjoyable - Not having to mess around with a clutch every couple of seconds is a massive benefit in stop start London traffic. I did however notice that the gearbox in the e34 5 Series I was using was slow to react to 'kickdown', there would be a pause in power delivery and then a surge of power. In hindsight it probably isn't any different to down shift in a manual car, so I have heard other people complain about this in the past.

Another issue I've read about is the gearbox 'kicking down' at stupid times, such as when leaving a roundabout, equalling a spin or even worse? Some even claim that they HAVE TO lock the box into 2nd to prevent this sort of random kickdown?

This might be a long shot question, but does anyone have experience with an autobox out on the track? Whilst I know that a manual is far better for track driving, It would be nice to know if they aren't completely useless as I'd still enjoy the odd track day.

How good are these clever 'tiptronic' gearboxes that learn driving behaviour and choose shift points based on each individual driver? Please bare in mind that I'm looking at the dregs of the market here. Sub 5k (far more realistically £3k) so talk of fancy new DSG gearboxes aren't going to do me much good ;).

Thinking along those lines, in general, what is the reliably like on your average 15+ year old Automatic gearbox? Likely to fail, not likely to fail or complete pot luck?

What I'm really thinking to drive at is what is behind the stigma behind automatic gearboxes? Is it because people just (wrongly) assume that automatics are only for 'Fat Americans' (I have heard that said before!)? Is it because of the "Loss of control"? Or is it some fundamental reason that I'm missing?
 
When commuting to work, I so wish I had an automatic, normally I'm tired (in the morning or on the way home), theres some traffic, and I'd rather sit back as I'd only be using one foot.

However, on those days where I have to drive somewhere, or end up going down roads with a curve in them, I prefer manual because of the pure control you get over gears.

In dangerous weather I prefer manual also, just feeling more in control of the car.

Hope that helps, I guess if you're doing a lot of motorway driving or long commuting, an auto is a great idea, however I find manual more fun (even in my passat :( )
 
I have had manual cars for ears till I got an auto Supra and really like it. It doesn't change down at the wrong time on roundabouts as that would only happen if you hammered the accelerator down half way round which wouldn't be too good with a manual box.
 
namnoc said:
I have had manual cars for ears till I got an auto Supra and really like it. It doesn't change down at the wrong time on roundabouts as that would only happen if you hammered the accelerator down half way round which wouldn't be too good with a manual box.
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Caught up in another thread? ;)
 
I'm a big big fan of the Manual box, but when I drove an A6 the other week that had an auto, and found it to be fine and wasn't bothered in the slightest :)

But then again I wasn't ragging it through lanes either :p
 
Kappa said:
When commuting to work, I so wish I had an automatic, normally I'm tired (in the morning or on the way home), theres some traffic, and I'd rather sit back as I'd only be using one foot.
Click to expand...

I drove to work in an auto this morning. I'll be driving back home in a manual though ;)
 
Joshy said:
Yet again I'm beginning to consider another new car. Whilst my 205 GTi was thoroughly enjoyable out on track last friday it wasn't nearly as nice as the experience of being wafted up the A1M in a 08 530d In complete silence and comfort. I decided in that heated leather seat with the climate control set just right and Radio 2 on, that comfortable cars are certainly the way forward :D.

That's got me thinking about 'barges' once again, and barges almost always come with an automatic gearbox.

I've dabbled in Automatics in the past - I learned to drive in one so it comes fairly natural to me. What I never did was used an auto on a daily to pick up on the flaws that people complain about. My experience with automatics was fairly enjoyable - Not having to mess around with a clutch every couple of seconds is a massive benefit in stop start London traffic. I did however notice that the gearbox in the e34 5 Series I was using was slow to react to 'kickdown', there would be a pause in power delivery and then a surge of power. In hindsight it probably isn't any different to down shift in a manual car, so I have heard other people complain about this in the past.

Another issue I've read about is the gearbox 'kicking down' at stupid times, such as when leaving a roundabout, equalling a spin or even worse? Some even claim that they HAVE TO lock the box into 2nd to prevent this sort of random kickdown?

This might be a long shot question, but does anyone have experience with an autobox out on the track? Whilst I know that a manual is far better for track driving, It would be nice to know if they aren't completely useless as I'd still enjoy the odd track day.

How good are these clever 'tiptronic' gearboxes that learn driving behaviour and choose shift points based on each individual driver? Please bare in mind that I'm looking at the dregs of the market here. Sub 5k (far more realistically £3k) so talk of fancy new DSG gearboxes aren't going to do me much good ;).

Thinking along those lines, in general, what is the reliably like on your average 15+ year old Automatic gearbox? Likely to fail, not likely to fail or complete pot luck?

What I'm really thinking to drive at is what is behind the stigma behind automatic gearboxes? Is it because people just (wrongly) assume that automatics are only for 'Fat Americans' (I have heard that said before!)? Is it because of the "Loss of control"? Or is it some fundamental reason that I'm missing?
Click to expand...


random kickdown? no. it might drop a gear because revs are low, or, it might kick down a couple of gears if you plant your foot down. but then you wouldnt plant your foot in that situation in a manual (unless you wanted to cause some tail out fun).
lock a gear into 2nd? the people you have spoken to have driven some odd autos...

autos are for fat americans?! coz yeah, lots of fat americans in new ferraris eh!

quite why you would want to track a cheap auto i dont know. wou;dnt be the worst thing in the world but i wouldnt want to do it.

old boxes will go wrong like any part of a car after 15 years.

why would you be spending £5k on a 15 year old car anyway?!
 
I think you need to make a distinction between an 'Auto box' and the type you would find in a Ferrari.

They are 2 very different things :p

As for stuff going wrong, Auto Boxes are expensive when they blow up, no?

As for random kick down, the 3 Series I had in South Africa refused to stay in 2nd gear on a slight incline at an appropriate speed for second and was always kicking down into first. It was a little annoying to say the least and did not make for a comfortable drive!
 
The only problem I've had switching to an auto is that I keep trying to press the clutch in, it's resulted in a few left-foot braking sessions :p
 
Sin_Chase said:
Thats like, an oxymoron :(
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Not really. Supras (Well, MKIII and MKIVs) were designed to be Gran Tourers more than anything.

Dr Who said:
DSG box is what you need, auto relaxation with manual performance, sorry better than manual.

:D
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I realized that the company Golf has a DSG gearbox today. Granted I haven't driven it, but I've been a passenger and I have to say I thought it was utterly dreadful. Very 'jerky' with it's gear change.

Funnily enough, I do very little commuting so that isn't my drive behind 'wanting' an auto. I just want something slightly more laid back and relaxed. A 'Semi-Auto' seems the best of both worlds as far as I can see.
 
I do miss my manual s14a for country lane blasts, an auto does take the fun out that, but having said that I like my auto 300zx as its a lazy v6 around town but can be still be fun, I just drop it into 2nd if I want more control as this gives better engine breaking much like in a manual. If I stick it it D with overdrive on it behaves quite differently with no engine braking, does feel a little out of control, but on the flip side great for motorway and general stop start driving.

The downside to autos are higher fuel consumption too, would I track one? Maybe if it had some kind of paddle shift but even then you don't get total control.
 
depends on the 'box.

the auto box in a focus is crap, but boxes in mercs and bmws are rather good
they do dent fuel economy rather a lot so be prepared for that.

some cars have good automatic gearboxes, some have good ones. i'd base my decision on what car i want and then go from there.
alternatively, if you want a wafty auto, it'd have to be a 7 series, S class or A8 ;)
 
mjt said:
the auto box in a focus is crap, but boxes in mercs and bmws are rather good
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the auto boxes in focus's are not crap. they do what they are expected.
a focus isnt a 3 litre bmw.

also, not all 'auto' BMWs are good and neither are the mercs (had a c180 for a few days last week (09 plate), the auto box was crap. infact the car was pants, except for the 156bhp 1.6 engine!).
 
I have driven numerous autos, personally I think 2.5-3.0 and 200bhpish minimum is a must.

Autos are the way forward for normal cars, repair costs are the only problem, I paid £1800 to fix mine :(
 
Worst auto i've driven was a 1.2 punto with CVT, I wanted to crash the thing and walk but it wasn't mine, can't imagine anyone test drove one and thought "hey this is good".
 
beermonster said:
Worst auto i've driven was a 1.2 punto with CVT, I wanted to crash the thing and walk but it wasn't mine, can't imagine anyone test drove one and thought "hey this is good".
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the punto 1.2 that i drove was so bad that i did crash it. though that was crashing into it, with my BM (e36). It caved the arch in :D
 
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