Worst auto gearboxes on new modern cars

ahar · 7 Apr 2019 at 19:26

Got a Hyundai Elantra as a hire car (2018 model) this week and it must have the worst auto gearbox I've ever used. It's either hunting for the lowest gear all the time, or kicks down so you're at 6000 revs when you put your foot down, so you're out of the power band for the rubbish engine .Tried manual mode and I think I counted 1.5 seconds response time before shifts

I thought auto gearbox software got sorted years ago. Seemingly not!

vanpeebles · 7 Apr 2019 at 19:48

I hate those CVT boxes that Japanese makers are obsessed with.

paradigm · 7 Apr 2019 at 19:52

vanpeebles said:
I hate those CVT boxes that Japanese makers are obsessed with.

A well set up CVT is a marvellous thing. One that’s been set up to mimic a stepped gearbox? Just no.

andy_mk3 · 7 Apr 2019 at 19:53

CVT boxes are actually very good. They don't have gears, they just simulate them. They generally keep low rpms all the time for economy, then hold the engine at peak power for accelerating.

andy_mk3 · 7 Apr 2019 at 19:55

But on that subject, the absolute worse are the single clutch autos which is basically a manual gearbox with automatic clutch and gear selection. They're horrendous trying to crawl at slow speeds, the gear changes are very slow and just not at all nice.

vanpeebles · 7 Apr 2019 at 19:55

I passed on two or three Japanese cars that were CVT only with no manual option. The Lancer Ralliart etc. would have loved a manual one.

paradigm · 7 Apr 2019 at 20:06

andy_mk3 said:
But on that subject, the absolute worse are the single clutch autos which is basically a manual gearbox with automatic clutch and gear selection. They're horrendous trying to crawl at slow speeds, the gear changes are very slow and just not at all nice.

That’s not exactly true for a decent proportion of performance single clutch automated manuals. Yes they aren’t exactly great at driving slowly or crawling, but the gear changes can be brutally quick. SMG in the E60 M5 for example.

The worst of the semi-automated manuals has to be the Saab Sensonic. Manual H layout gear lever but automated clutch? No ta!

andy_mk3 · 7 Apr 2019 at 20:10

paradigm said:
That’s not exactly true for a decent proportion of performance single clutch automated manuals. Yes they aren’t exactly great at driving slowly or crawling, but the gear changes can be brutally quick. SMG in the E60 M5 for example.

The worst of the semi-automated manuals has to be the Saab Sensonic. Manual H layout gear lever but automated clutch? No ta!

OK I should have been more specific lol. Something like a Peugeot 3008, they are horrendous in an auto. Verging on dangerous trying to drive them onto a ramp in the workshop at times.

And yeah the Saab sensotronic was quite bizarre!

panthro · 7 Apr 2019 at 21:21

I don't know what type of gearbox it was, but I once had a Mercedes mpv style hire car that had an autobox on but with a manual gearstick so when you had to change gear you shifted like a manual but there was no clutch pedal. Absolutely horrible.

ahar · 8 Apr 2019 at 00:16

CVT ! That explains a lot.

Given the car it is, the interior is okay, it's just (!) the engine and gearbox that suck so much.

Rroff · 8 Apr 2019 at 00:21

ahar said:
Tried manual mode and I think I counted 1.5 seconds response time before shifts

Depending on the car and settings (not upto speed on the vehicle in question) manual mode might not be doing what you think. On mine for instance without fiddling a bit manually shifting up/down doesn't directly go up or down a gear but changes the profile to try and stay in a lower gear longer or move upto a higher gear earlier than the computer selected one.

ahar · 8 Apr 2019 at 00:24

Could be. I may have to

*horror*

read the manual.

Howard · 8 Apr 2019 at 07:49

paradigm said:
A well set up CVT is a marvellous thing. One that’s been set up to mimic a stepped gearbox? Just no.

I had a Nissan XTrail hire car once. I didn't even know it was a CVT until I looked it up! It felt like a torque converter box. I was quite impressed.

Akagi · 8 Apr 2019 at 08:03

That's why I passed on buying an auto Audi B7, they're CVT. Eugh.

Joe T · 8 Apr 2019 at 08:16

Howard said:
I had a Nissan XTrail hire car once. I didn't even know it was a CVT until I looked it up! It felt like a torque converter box. I was quite impressed.

The Infiniti QX60 I had in the US was the same.

Meaker · 8 Apr 2019 at 09:15

vanpeebles said:
I hate those CVT boxes that Japanese makers are obsessed with.

This is not CVT, they will be moving to a chain driven CVT in 2020 IIRC which is supposed to be a big step up from the usual fair.

See Savagegeese's review of their CVT and he admits it's actually not bad for this kind of vehicle.

Lashout_UK · 8 Apr 2019 at 09:16

Joe T said:
The Infiniti QX60 I had in the US was the same.

When you put a decent bit of torque in front of them they typically work quite well. Used to drive a 3.0 TDI Multitronic and that ran quite sweetly.

Skilid · 8 Apr 2019 at 09:44

I don't get the hate for CVTs. Yeah people moan that when you drive flat out the engine drones, but 90% of the time when you're driving normally they're brilliant. Smooth, quiet, economical, low RPMs at speed etc.

Just because they don't have 'gears' people don't like them.

Nasher · 8 Apr 2019 at 10:14

Depends how they are used. The CVTs in Lexus and Toyotas are usually pretty good.

Yaayuh! · 8 Apr 2019 at 10:17

CVTs when implemented properly are pretty good and given their design should give you the best possible performance as it fluidly adjusts the ratio giving you full force at the wheels as opposed to stepping through ratios.

However, in practice with mixed everyday driving environments, you want to be able to have more control over your ratios and be more involved.

A bit of CVT trivia;
Apparently David Coulthard's testing of the CVT Williams in 1993 was several seconds per lap quicker than the normal Williams car, which was the best at the time already.

The FIA banned it immediately and from 1994 they had to have between four and seven gears.