Manual vs automatic

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  • Gloomendoom
    Gloomendoom Posts: 16,550 Forumite
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    Normally I'd recommend an auto but not a DSG. I really don't like the way they drive and as has been said, on a car out of warranty, you could end up with big bills.
  • iolanthe07
    iolanthe07 Posts: 5,493 Forumite
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    I much prefer automatic, but it has to be a proper trusted and reliable, if old fashioned, torque converter.
    I used to think that good grammar is important, but now I know that good wine is importanter.
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,235 Forumite
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    All in all I'm disappointed that auto box technology has moved on so little in the last decades. Why don't they use sat nav to anticipate hills, bends and even a traffic queue ahead ?

    Perhaps we should go back to the 'rubber band' technology, remember DAF?
  • Iceweasel
    Iceweasel Posts: 4,708 Forumite
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    buglawton wrote: »
    All in all I'm disappointed that auto box technology has moved on so little in the last decades. Why don't they use sat nav to anticipate hills, bends and even a traffic queue ahead ?

    Perhaps we should go back to the 'rubber band' technology, remember DAF?

    I imagine/hope that was said tongue in cheek as a joke.

    If not - when did you last try a modern 8-speed auto-box?

    My auto box IS linked to the sat-nav and anticipates sharp corners and hairpin bends.

    Coming off a motorway the box changes down as I travel along the exit slip road in anticipation of the upcoming roundabout or junction.

    As for traffic queues the sat-nav already did that years ago.

    Even in cruise control my car will slow to a stop if necessary when it encounters slow/stationary traffic ahead.

    The car will maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front - braking or accelerating as required and making any necessary gear-changes to do so.

    And yes I do remember DAF - my Marathon 55 back in the late 60's was made in Eindhoven - a great little car - set the revs and off you went - engine speed constant and the twin belts did it all.

    I still see a few of them around in The Netherlands.
  • iolanthe07
    iolanthe07 Posts: 5,493 Forumite
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    Iceweasel wrote: »
    I imagine/hope that was said tongue in cheek as a joke.

    If not - when did you last try a modern 8-speed auto-box?

    My auto box IS linked to the sat-nav and anticipates sharp corners and hairpin bends.

    Coming off a motorway the box changes down as I travel along the exit slip road in anticipation of the upcoming roundabout or junction.

    As for traffic queues the sat-nav already did that years ago.

    Even in cruise control my car will slow to a stop if necessary when it encounters slow/stationary traffic ahead.

    The car will maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front - braking or accelerating as required and making any necessary gear-changes to do so.

    And yes I do remember DAF - my Marathon 55 back in the late 60's was made in Eindhoven - a great little car - set the revs and off you went - engine speed constant and the twin belts did it all.

    I still see a few of them around in The Netherlands.

    This is very impressive and I would love to own a car that does all this. Is it horrendously expensive? What is it?
    I used to think that good grammar is important, but now I know that good wine is importanter.
  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
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    iolanthe07 wrote: »
    This is very impressive and I would love to own a car that does all this. Is it horrendously expensive? What is it?
    That'll be BMW. Standard on latest models with Auto and Nav.
  • Iceweasel
    Iceweasel Posts: 4,708 Forumite
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    iolanthe07 wrote: »
    This is very impressive and I would love to own a car that does all this. Is it horrendously expensive? What is it?

    All BMWs with an auto-box now have the 'predictive drive' feature linking the drive-train with info from the sat-nav.

    All have cruise control but the active cruise control which keeps distance is a £620 extra on most models.

    There is also a feature called 'driver assistant' which can involve up to front and rear cameras, a total of 12 parking sensors and radar scanners to cover blind-spots and detect pedestrians.

    There is a mind-boggling array of features and options on most top-end cars these days, I suggest that anyone who wants to try them go to any BMW, M-Benz or Audi dealership for a test drive.

    Other brands are available. ;)

    But none of them can make a good driver out of a dopey, inconsiderate one.

    As is often pointed out on this forum some drivers haven't even found out where the indicator stalk is yet.
  • fiish
    fiish Posts: 815 Forumite
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    If you prefer an automatic anyway and you know that the automatic version of whatever car you want to buy doesn't have any known common expensive reliability issues (honestjohn.co.uk is really helpful here!), then go for it :)

    I prefer manual myself, but with the motoring world heading towards more automation, I think a switch to automatic will happen in the future whether I like it or not. For example, I once considered buying a hybrid car and those come only in automatic. Gears don't matter on an electric car, and we're only going to see more and more of those on the road.
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,235 Forumite
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    iolanthe07 wrote: »
    This is very impressive and I would love to own a car that does all this. Is it horrendously expensive? What is it?
    Interesting to see that the satnav linkage exists if only at the high end. If I knew a car would be economically maintainable for 15 years might consider such a thing. Trouble is I've been spoiled by the hugely improving price/performance/smartness of most electronics these days, when will it all reach the budget car buying consumer I wonder?
  • reeac
    reeac Posts: 1,430 Forumite
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    [QUOTE=Iceweasel;71457140

    And yes I do remember DAF - my Marathon 55 back in the late 60's was made in Eindhoven - a great little car - set the revs and off you went - engine speed constant and the twin belts did it all.

    I still see a few of them around in The Netherlands.[/QUOTE]

    We had a Daf Marathon coupe for a few years as a second car. Couldn't resist buying it (second hand) as it was so smart in orange and black. One big design flaw was that it had no differential in the drive train. The word was that the two belts would adjust their ratios to give a differential effect ...trouble was that they didn't as there was no mechanism to induce that change of ratios. The result was very jerky progress around sharp corners and a couple of broken drive belts during our ownership. Daf acknowledged the error as the succeeding 66 model had a conventional diff. No problem selling it though as it looked so smart.
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