Review automatic towing cars?

Iceweasel

When the lever is in the S position you can select gears with the plus and minus rocker switch on the side of the lever.

Google powershift and have a look at the many Ford videos explaining it on youtube.

Or go to FordOwner.com

facade

Iceweasel wrote: »

No it doesn't stay in that gear forever - if you're in D mode then it will revert back to fully auto, unless you make more selections.

If you are in S (Sport mode then what you have is in effect a clutchless gearbox and it does what you tell it to do.

And it not just BMW who offer such a system - the same or a similar type of selectable autobox is to be found on over 40 other marques - but most of them have their own name for it:

Thanks, I never realised how much things have moved on, comes of living in The Olden Days, when everything was better

In my day, autos had 3 speeds, and the engine was flexible enough to pull then with the aid of the torque converter. I've only recently accepted these new fangled 4 speeds with lockup.

Worries me why you would need 6 or more speeds, seems like covering up for an inflexible engine to me, 2 speeds were good enough for decent sized v8s for many years, and they didn't exactly hang about

Gloomendoom

facade wrote: »

Worries me why you would need 6 or more speeds, seems like covering up for an inflexible engine to me, 2 speeds were good enough for decent sized v8s for many years, and they didn't exactly hang about

With a three speed, the torque converter has to slip to smooth the big step between ratios. Slip wastes fuel.

knightstyle

Thanks Iceweasel, is there any indication of which gear you are in?
My DW went for a drive in an older one yesterday and liked it but didn't notice this feature.
Going to look at one that we may buy tomorrow but it is over 70 miles away! Can't find any nearer to us they seem quite rare.

Iceweasel

knightstyle - There should an indicator on the dash which shows which gear you have selected in S mode.

facade - Yes indeed, things have really moved on.

I was a late convert to autoboxes having experienced the old Ford three-speeders, and my Dad's M-Benz 230E. I always though that I could do better than some mechanical box of tricks - even to the extent of thinking that autos were for folks who couldn't handle a manual properly - or for old codgers to dawdle along with their brain in neutral.

How wrong I was.

The gear-stick, hair-shirt, old school brigade complain of there being not enough (or even any) decent 2nd hand sporty cars available these days - they don't seen to have woken up to the fact that the buyers of such new cars want the best performance and responses.

My current car has an 8-speed ZF autobox and the gearchanges in full auto are pretty near imperceptible.

The engine is flexible and powerful enough to pull from low revs right up to near max - but the big range of close ratios means that it always in the middle of the peak torque band (good for towing as well as acceleration) and also means much better fuel economy. In the real world rather than official statistics my present 3 litre gives much the same fuel figures as my previous 2 litre did

In Sport mode and in Manual mode the gear changes are instant - the only way you know the box has changed up or down is by seeing the needle on the tacho move.

I have to admit that I leave the box most of the time in fully auto and leave the thing to get on with it.

The box is controlled by all manner of things - not just accelerator pressure and the load/gradient - it is linked to the sat-nav (even when I have not selected a specific destination) - for example when I turn off a motorway or DC the box will change down in anticipation of the forthcoming roundabout or junction.

On my last car with a mere 6 speeds I used to have to intervene in the Alps for example when I knew there was a series of hairpin bends and didn't want the box to change up momentarily between corners.

On this one it knows how far to the next corner and reacts accordingly.

All very clever stuff and no-doubt would cost an arm and a leg to fix if it went wrong - which is why I would never run such a car without the manufacturer's extended warranty after the initial warranty expired.

I'm now firmly an auto-box man and will probably never buy another manual car.

Gloomendoom

I started driving autos full time around 25 years ago and in that time have managed to convert all of my (initially sceptical) immediate family and their spouses to the joys of two pedal driving.

knightstyle

Thanks again Iceweasel Yes automatics are so good now I wonder why anyone has a manual!
My first auto was a Mk1 cortina estate, but had problems with the starter ring and had to get rid of it. Next Auto was when I was in USA, a 60s Pontiac Baracuda, for a young lad in his 20s that was heaven.
Now we have been through a series of cars, Scenics 1 and 2, Orion, Auris, Juke. Juke is by far the best but MPG poor, Auris had the much maligned MMR box but we got on fine with it, jerky if you accelerate by flooring it and over 50mpg.
Looking at another Cmax tomorrow in Mansfield.

[Deleted User]

Isn't there usually a significant mpg drop for autos and are they more expensive to repair or replace than manuals?

Iceweasel

Deleted_User wrote: »

Isn't there usually a significant mpg drop for autos and are they more expensive to repair or replace than manuals?

Not these days - autos are more fuel efficient than manuals - and have better acceleration too.

That's for powerful engines of course - I imagine a small engine (sub 1600cc) with an auto will likely use a tad more fuel.

As for repairs I haven't had to repair/replace anything gearbox related in the last 20 years - but I never keep a car more than 7 or 8 years and they were all under 10 years old.

marlot

Deleted_User wrote: »

Isn't there usually a significant mpg drop for autos and are they more expensive to repair or replace than manuals?

Some autos actually give better real-life MPG than their manual equivalents.

DSG type autos need oil changes every 3-4 years at a cost of around £200. Torque convertor gearboxes can also benefit from oil changes, though many are 'sealed for life'.