Taking test in automatic car - can you drive semi-automatics

JP1978

pogofish wrote: »

Is she looking like being that bad a driver..?

Frankly, the only people I've ever known to have been recommended to sit the auto test have all been people who shouldn't really have been on the road at all.

Ah, so you are the resident driving god then.

Must come to you for all advice re motoring in the future.

What a load of old tosh your statement is - really?

Some people just cant grasp the idea of a clutch and distinguish when you need to press it without stalling - or they may lack a bit of co-ordination or the mechanical understanding of why its needed and how to use it. Been in an auto allows them to focus on the more important bits rather than focusing on gear changing.

Remember when one knows how to do something and has done for many years, it is hard to understand why another person struggles with that same thing.

Bedhead1157

oldagetraveller wrote: »

"Looking at the car we were thinking of getting her Toyota Aygo, I just read the bumf on one and it says semi-automatic."
As an aside, that will be a MMT (Multimode Transmission).
Don't do it, she will regret owning it. That transmission is absolutely dire. It's a conventional gearbox with electric actuators to change gear and a clutch, also operated by an actuator. All controlled by a "thick" computer.

As above, most automatically controlled manuals are bloody horrible to drive. I've seen them destroy clutches because the computer took a hissy fit. One type of motor, I think it was a wee Peugeot, has a failure mode where it just shifts to neutral, one stopped in the middle of a big junction in Belfast and caused utter chaos.

Hermione_Granger

JP1978 wrote: »

Some people just cant grasp the idea of a clutch and distinguish when you need to press it without stalling - or they may lack a bit of co-ordination or the mechanical understanding of why its needed and how to use it. Been in an auto allows them to focus on the more important bits rather than focusing on gear changing.

Well, IMO, people who "may lack a bit of co-ordination" or people who lack the basic mechanical understanding of the ton+ lump of metal that they are in control of fall perfectly into the category of drivers mentioned here:

pogofish wrote: »

Frankly, the only people I've ever known to have been recommended to sit the auto test have all been people who shouldn't really have been on the road at all.

If someone lacks co-ordination then how can they safely perform manoeuvres such as multi-point turns where they may have to move from drive to reverse and back again a couple of times very quickly? and if they don't understand the basics of how a car engine and gearbox operate, would they have any idea of if & when they should manually select a low gear on the selector?

trailingspouse

Why are family members recommending that she learn in an automatic??


What does she want to do? It seems awfully short-sighted to limit her to only driving automatics.

Arklight

JP1978 wrote: »

Ah, so you are the resident driving god then.

Must come to you for all advice re motoring in the future.

What a load of old tosh your statement is - really?

Some people just cant grasp the idea of a clutch and distinguish when you need to press it without stalling - or they may lack a bit of co-ordination or the mechanical understanding of why its needed and how to use it. Been in an auto allows them to focus on the more important bits rather than focusing on gear changing.

Remember when one knows how to do something and has done for many years, it is hard to understand why another person struggles with that same thing.

My other half learned in an auto simply because she was very nervous about driving and wanted to be able to give as much of her attention to the road as possible, without having to worry about also operating the engine.

She took many (expensive) auto driving lessons with an instructor that specialised in nervous clients until she felt ready to take her test, passed first time with three minors, and has been driving without issue for almost three years.

She doesn't like driving, limits herself to the local area and roads she knows, and always will do; but she's safely done thousands of school runs, commutes, and weekly shops which her license gave her the freedom to do, that she couldn't do before.

I've been driven by her and she's perfectly competent with very good road awareness (I think it's a shame she drives so nicely and doesn't enjoy it one bit). I've also been driven by red blooded alpha male imbeciles who think they are god's gift to driving who should have their licenses taken away before they kill someone.

AnotherJoe

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

... and if they don't understand the basics of how a car engine and gearbox operate, would they have any idea of if & when they should manually select a low gear on the selector?

In less than one generation this will be akin to learning what sort of bridle or saddle you should put on dobbin.

Arklight

AnotherJoe wrote: »

In less than one generation this will be akin to learning what sort of bridle or saddle you should put on dobbin.

As fossil fuel engines are phased out there won't even be gear ratios in the engines.

Hermione_Granger

AnotherJoe wrote: »

In less than one generation this will be akin to learning what sort of bridle or saddle you should put on dobbin.

I'm sure that you're right but this doesn't mean that people who drive now shouldn't know the basics of how to control their vehicles in whatever situations they may find themselves in.

James2k

i'll never own a manual again, pointless for me.

Jeep is an auto, Audi is dsg, both are better in traffic and the dsg shifts far faster than any manual.

Just cant be bothered these days.

sevenhills

oldagetraveller wrote: »

As an aside, that will be a MMT (Multimode Transmission).
Don't do it, she will regret owning it. That transmission is absolutely dire. It's a conventional gearbox with electric actuators to change gear and a clutch, also operated by an actuator. All controlled by a "thick" computer.

That is my experience with numerous Renault semi-automatics. We had numerous work vehicles that were semi-auto, I was a very steady driver and my vehicle was the last one to break down.
Every vehicle had gearbox issues, apart from that our Renaults were great.