Thanking of changing to an automatic

Howard · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:08

Knock it into N if you're stopping for a little while, like you would in a manual. There's no need to keep your foot on the brake if you're sitting there for more than a few seconds.

Creeping isn't so bad in a wet-clutch DCT since it takes a lot more to wear them down than a conventional dry clutch.

theone8181 · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:09

Alibaba99 said:
The first car with a twin clutch gearbox was the Mk4 Golf R32, not a really high performance car. They were developed as, it the time, they were smaller, lighter and more efficient than a traditional torque converter box so more suitable for small light cars. These days, torque converter units are much better in those regards, and their other advantages then become significant.

Leave it in Drive and stop using the footbrake, the car will drop into neutral automatically. If you try using the handbrake it will leave it in gear and allow the clutch to drag.

Is that the same for DCT and PDK's?

ShiWarrior · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:12

Howard said:
Knock it into N if you're stopping for a little while, like you would in a manual. There's no need to keep your foot on the brake if you're sitting there for more than a few seconds.

Creeping isn't so bad in a wet-clutch DCT since it takes a lot more to wear them down than a conventional dry clutch.

so when does the handbrake come on?
ive not really driven automatics, so im not fully aware how they work, if i have it in "D", do you use the brake to come to a complete stop then put it in "N" and the handbrake comes on? (stop start traffic , try not to use the brake pedal at all?)

Howard · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:18

ShiWarrior said:
so when does the handbrake come on?
ive not really driven automatics, so im not fully aware how they work, if i have it in "D", do you use the brake to come to a complete stop then put it in "N" and the handbrake comes on? (stop start traffic , try not to use the brake pedal at all?)

If I'm stopped out of gear and on an incline (i.e. sitting at some traffic lights or something), I'll use the handbrake like I would in a car with a manual transmission. Most people who drive automatics probably think I'm weird, but I don't really care

Otherwise, if you're in stop-start traffic, just use D and the footbrake.

MooMoo444 · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:35

Could never go back to a manual now, automatic is just so nice. Aside from the obvious ease, I feel like I have better control of the vehicle because I'm not thinking about clutch or gears so can focus on other aspects, and in particular other road users

Randomface74 · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:38

MooMoo444 said:
Could never go back to a manual now, automatic is just so nice. Aside from the obvious ease, I feel like I have better control of the vehicle because I'm not thinking about clutch or gears so can focus on other aspects, and in particular other road users

Totally this. +1
Looking forward to eventually having an EV (no gear changes at all).

layte · 14 Mar 2018 at 13:48

Alibaba99 said:
The first car with a twin clutch gearbox was the Mk4 Golf R32, not a really high performance car. They were developed as, it the time, they were smaller, lighter and more efficient than a traditional torque converter box so more suitable for small light cars. These days, torque converter units are much better in those regards, and their other advantages then become significant.

Are we excluding the Porsche 962 from this then?

mjt · 14 Mar 2018 at 19:09

Dr Who said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm6zUzv5Ul4

This is pretty much the only reason I just bought that exact car

However, i won't be using ACC all the time. Maybe it's best I treat the DSG as a clutch less manual rather than an auto. I have a full 3-year VW warranty on it anyway, so meh.

Alibaba99 · 14 Mar 2018 at 19:36

layte said:
Are we excluding the Porsche 962 from this then?

I am

It isn't really a road car.

jamoor · 14 Mar 2018 at 20:01

MooMoo444 said:
Could never go back to a manual now, automatic is just so nice. Aside from the obvious ease, I feel like I have better control of the vehicle because I'm not thinking about clutch or gears so can focus on other aspects, and in particular other road users

It should become second nature and not even a factor.

Dr Who · 15 Mar 2018 at 02:53

mjt said:
This is pretty much the only reason I just bought that exact car

However, i won't be using ACC all the time. Maybe it's best I treat the DSG as a clutch less manual rather than an auto. I have a full 3-year VW warranty on it anyway, so meh.

It is a joy in a traffic jam, I would definitely have another DSG and definitely with ACC.

jpaul · 15 Mar 2018 at 10:16

The utube raised a question on what is the peripheral visibility of the 'radar' for the ACC,
with it engaged, the driver contemplated squeezing past the HGV, and with the lane merging, the acc could have found itself compromised by the incursion of a new hgv 'target'
- yes ... at the end of the day you are still responsible, and hopefully you reaction time to is not impacted by ACC.

Within traditional torque convertor automatics (non-dsg), there seems to have been little comment on the increased MPG, and easy access to engine breaking, traditionally issues with automatic's ? are these issues still present (father is thinking of switching too)

mjt · 15 Mar 2018 at 10:40

jpaul said:
The utube raised a question on what is the peripheral visibility of the 'radar' for the ACC,
with it engaged, the driver contemplated squeezing past the HGV, and with the lane merging, the acc could have found itself compromised by the incursion of a new hgv 'target'
- yes ... at the end of the day you are still responsible, and hopefully you reaction time to is not impacted by ACC.

Within traditional torque convertor automatics (non-dsg), there seems to have been little comment on the increased MPG, and easy access to engine breaking, traditionally issues with automatic's ? are these issues still present (father is thinking of switching too)

I had a Mazda 6 loaner a few months ago with that automated braking nonsense (no ACC).
I was driving as normal, squeezing through a gap a bus could fit through at 15-20mph, and the thing slammed on the brakes! Cue an Evoque running into the back of me. I was ******* livid!

But ultimately, regardless of what automated systems you're using, you need to be in control of your vehicle at all times. So if you have an accident, who are you going to blame? VW?
In that case, the LR driver was at fault, but you have to wonder whether these systems are a blessing or a curse..

I'm planning to play WordFeud and read the news while my Golf drives itself in rush hour

Nasher · 15 Mar 2018 at 11:32

Not sure I'd trust it to not randomly slam the brakes on tbh. I've seen it refuse to let people drive in to narrow parking space etc

jpaul · 15 Mar 2018 at 11:43

mjt said:
and the thing slammed on the brakes! Cue an Evoque running into the back of me

interesting, does he have a claim - quick google

The original judge had declared the BMW, the car in front, caused the accident because he had applied the brakes without warning and for no good reason. He continued that it was the BMW's fault for braking negligently or recklessly when there was no hazard. The judge, however, accepted that the transit van's positioning was inadequate and that he was driving too closely to the car in front.
The Appeals Court found that, while the BMW had braked dangerously, both cars were to blame for the crash. The BMW had braked without warning but, if the Transit had been far enough away from the car in front, it would have avoided an accident.

mjt · 15 Mar 2018 at 13:11

jpaul said:
interesting, does he have a claim - quick google

That's exactly what I thought, because the car was given to me whist my Audi was in for some warranty work. I was fuming because I immediately assumed that it would be my fault for braking unexpectedly, and be liable for the insanely high excess.

Interestingly, the guy in the LR had had a similar experience in his car, but thankfully no one was behind him. He admitted liability immediately, but we wrote on the accident form that the Mazda had performed an emergency stop by itself. I never heard anything about it again.

theone8181 · 15 Mar 2018 at 13:17

mjt said:
That's exactly what I thought, because the car was given to me whist my Audi was in for some warranty work. I was fuming because I immediately assumed that it would be my fault for braking unexpectedly, and be liable for the insanely high excess.

Interestingly, the guy in the LR had had a similar experience in his car, but thankfully no one was behind him. He admitted liability immediately, but we wrote on the accident form that the Mazda had performed an emergency stop by itself. I never heard anything about it again.

I dont see how being rear ended can ever be the car in fronts fault (unless they have just cut someone up), surely the driver behind should maintain a decent breaking distance.

mjt · 15 Mar 2018 at 14:08

theone8181 said:
I dont see how being rear ended can ever be the car in fronts fault (unless they have just cut someone up), surely the driver behind should maintain a decent breaking distance.

To some degree. However, if you slam on the brakes for no apparent reason and cause an accident, then you will be found at fault. This how all those whippy compo scams work, and why people started fitting dashcams.

Drollic · 15 Mar 2018 at 19:04

I'm another for going auto in my next car. An s2000 in stop start city traffic gets boring fast.

Dr Who · 16 Mar 2018 at 02:20

I had emergency brake assist on my CLK and at one roundabout on the A303 it would always slam on the brakes, no idea why, never did it anywhere else, but braking into that roundabout became like playing Russian roulette with vehicles behind, I had to start coasting about 200 yards to lose speed making cars overtake me so there was no risk of a rear end.