Why do people buy manuals these days ?

mustrum_ridcully

Harry_Flashman wrote: »

These would appear to say more about old folks driving than the actual motors.

Simple question, could these accidents have happened if the car was a manual?

All of them appear incidents whilst performing low speed maneuvers. I can only speak for myself here, but if I needed to suddenly brake at low speeds the clutch and brake pedals would go down at the same time. So if my foot 'slipped' onto the accelerator nothing (except for a lot of engine noise) would happen (I wouldn't stop but neither would I shoot off like a scalded cat).

mikey72

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

http://www.neleiam.co.uk/Driving_Information/Automatic_Gearboxes/automatic_gearboxes.html

Fire away.

It's a bit worrying the IAM need to have such a basic page on automatic gearboxes.

Best gearbox I had was a borg warner automatic on a Rover SD1 V8. Superb to drive, in any conditions.

iolanthe07

even torque convertor type boxes? i don't think other halfs mothers jag has this.

My Lancer had a torque converter auto box with a manual override. Push the lever to the left and I could go up and down sequentially through the gears manually if I wanted to.

Flyboy152

iolanthe07 wrote: »

even torque convertor type boxes? i don't think other halfs mothers jag has this.

My Lancer had a torque converter auto box with a manual override. Push the lever to the left and I could go up and down sequentially through the gears manually if I wanted to.

But that's just what an ordinary automatic transmission does.

Mark_Hewitt

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Semi-manuals could resolve his for you, although there are some atrocious examples out there, there also some very good ones.

I've often been tempted by these. However they do cost more and usually aren't available with the engine I've been looking at, so I passed them over for a manual transmission.

However I do think a problem with full autos is that I might miss the aspect of changing gear, whereas the semi-auto could solve that problem, allowing me to run it almost as a manual on country roads etc but revert to automatic changes most of the time when I just want to get to where I'm going.

Driving an auto is a strange experience when you're used to driving a manual, it's not the physical work that's the biggest difference IMO but the thinking you have to do disappears. It's somewhat like taking off a heavy backpack you didn't realise was weighing you down!

ElkyElky

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

Or could it be there are now more older drivers who are struggling with manual boxes?

Automatic transmission - helping pensioners have mental car accidents since 1939!

Like these chaps...
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2010/05/11/narrow-escape-after-car-crashes-into-garden-72703-26421386/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-506450/Pensioner-parks-neighbours-car.html

Or these in somewhat less amusing accidents...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5833409/Pensioner-killed-as-husband-reverses-Mercedes-in-their-drive.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328669/Pensioner-killed-freak-car-accident-trying-save-wife-ran-over.html

Great examples of why they shouldn't let older pensioners on the road. Screw the ageism issues, it's about life and death.

Gloomendoom

ElkyElky wrote: »

Great examples of why they shouldn't let older pensioners on the road. Screw the ageism issues, it's about life and death.

Where do you stop? Ban the young and the very old because they have more accidents but then the next demographic group rises to the top of the accident statistics. Do we just keep banning every group in turn until nobody is allowed to drive?

Just think of the death, misery and money we would save.

Flyboy152

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

I've often been tempted by these. However they do cost more and usually aren't available with the engine I've been looking at, so I passed them over for a manual transmission.

However I do think a problem with full autos is that I might miss the aspect of changing gear, whereas the semi-auto could solve that problem, allowing me to run it almost as a manual on country roads etc but revert to automatic changes most of the time when I just want to get to where I'm going.

Driving an auto is a strange experience when you're used to driving a manual, it's not the physical work that's the biggest difference IMO but the thinking you have to do disappears. It's somewhat like taking off a heavy backpack you didn't realise was weighing you down!

Semi-manual gear boxes and sequential automatic transmission are quite different animals. The "Tiptronic" type box, has an automatic clutch, where if the gear lever is moved, the clutch disengages and re-engages when the gear is selected and the accelerator is pushed down (a very simplistic interpretation of how it works, but there it is). The sequential automatic transmission box is basically the same as an ordinary automatic, but the gear selector allows a greater range of switching up and down. As I said, very much the same as with an ordinary automatic, but with a bit more ease. Most people who have them, after an initial novelty period, don't bother with the sequential changing.

mustrum_ridcully

ElkyElky wrote: »

Great examples of why they shouldn't let older pensioners on the road. Screw the ageism issues, it's about life and death.

Should we ban women drivers because of this automatic car accident http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348239/Narrow-escape-shoppers-driver-ploughs-store-parking-Mercedes.html

or Chinese business men http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1246913/Driver-reverses-car-21ft-drop-stepping-accelerator.html

Wow the Mail sure is a good source for these stories...

OK enough of the jokes.

This isn't just about age or driver competence it's about a fundamental issue with automatic cars when performing maneuvers / driving very slowly and needing to brake suddenly and flooring the accelerator by accident (at higher speeds there's less difference). As I've already explained it's different with a manual.

I have no problems with automatic cars (have driven them myself) but they do have this one particular issue.

Flyboy152

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

Should we ban women drivers because of this automatic car accident http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348239/Narrow-escape-shoppers-driver-ploughs-store-parking-Mercedes.html

This is what worries me the most.

A spokesman for Thames Valley police said: 'We are aware of the incident and there will be no further action.