Can i improve economy of an automatic?

Kilty_2

Using 6th at 50 will probably clog up the DPF (which a 1.9 Zafira does have, unlike the Astra)

wazza

Kilty wrote: »

Using 6th at 50 will probably clog up the DPF (which a 1.9 Zafira does have, unlike the Astra)

yes i am aware of that. I believe that even on motorways if your engine revs are below 3,000-4,000 rpm the exhaust/dpf is not going to get hot enough to burn off the built up of soot and clear itself.

I think pug has FAP which reduces the chances of dpf clogging up? Then again this is another topic which has been discussed elsewhere.

Gloomendoom

wazza wrote: »

This post was created because i was wondering if i had a normal automatic and it had a feature where you can change the gears yourself. Will that improve economy if i changed the gears myself.

Am I missing something here?

You will save a lot more money if you just buy a manual in the first place!

I have driven a lot of automatic cars over the last twenty years and I can assure you that the novelty of shifting yourself soon wears off. I never noticed any improvement in economy over letting the box get on with doing the job it was designed for. The only time I shift manually is if I want the car in a lower gear for overtaking on a busy road and I need instant ooomph.

cyclonebri1

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Am I missing something here?

You will save a lot more money if you just buy a manual in the first place!

I have driven a lot of automatic cars over the last twenty years and I can assure you that the novelty of shifting yourself soon wears off. I never noticed any improvement in economy over letting the box get on with doing the job it was designed for. The only time I shift manually is if I want the car in a lower gear for overtaking on a busy road and I need instant ooomph.

:THe actually realised that and said as much in the orig post.

And yes, the answer is still YES,

wazza

so you are saying i am better sticking with a manual? :rotfl:

i know one can get get bored of changing the gears manually and leave it in D.

thanks for all the replies. I will delete fully auto from my list and will look for semi-auto/DSG type gearbox cars whose fuel consumption is similar to the manual version.

Gloomendoom

wazza wrote: »

so you are saying i am better sticking with a manual? :rotfl:

i know one can get get bored of changing the gears manually and leave it in D.

thanks for all the replies. I will delete fully auto from my list and will look for semi-auto/DSG type gearbox cars whose fuel consumption is similar to the manual version.

Most DSG gearboxes are fully auto too, so that really narrows your choice down a bit.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

I love how people get so hung up on mpg.

"Hey, I just bought a new car and it does 55mpg, miles better than that other one we looked at that only does 52mpg!

"Yes but the 55mpg car depreciates at about £500-£1000 faster each year than the 52mpg car"

"....oh"

harveybobbles

.......... and to save an extra 15mpg they have had to shell out about 8000 quid on a new car.............

Inactive

harveybobbles wrote: »

.......... and to save an extra 15mpg they have had to shell out about 8000 quid on a new car.............

That never comes in to the equation.;)

cyclonebri1

Several ways off looking at this;

For some mpg is largely irrelevant and as long as the Joneses buy a car newer than theirs, they'll mortgage the children to get in front;)

Then there are those for whom MPG is paramount. Me I fall in the latter cat. It now has to be economical and I really don't care about age, I get rid of cars when I get too bored with them. That may be a little hard to justify if I said I kept my last 2ltr Vectra from 1 to 9 years of age, but when you condider the 1.5 diesel estate I replaced it with does over twice the mpg of the Vectra then it does become relevant:money:

Last car bought 4 years ago at 1 year old with 28K on the clock at 1/2 new purchase price. Works for me;)