Opinion On Automatic to Manual

[Deleted User]

maxmycardagain said:

(BTW, a DSG is 2 manual gearboxes with TWO dual mass flywheels...)

Not true, a DSG had 1 dual mass flywheel with 2 clutches driving one gearbox. The gearbox has two input shafts, one inside the other driving either odd or even gears.

quest4me2

Mutton_Geoff said:

I thought this post was about how to disarm aeroplane doors as you approach the parking stand 

That made me smile!

Thanks for all the input on this topic, I have provisionally got a 2-hour manual lesson booked on Monday morning in an Audi Q2, its a taster session with an instructor who I knew via IAM some years back, so it will give me a chance to see how I feel about pursuing this further. I never really thought of all the stop / start traffic which I always get where I live, so I admit I might find that rather annoying with gear changes etc.

I'll let you know how it goes! 

Iceweasel

coffeehound said:

^  I suppose they are a bit of a victim of their old reputation as eastern bloc cheapies.  But the new plant (near Prague?) is reckoned to be state-of-the-art.  The aged parents bought one last year and the build quality is impressive

There is also a 'state of the art' Skoda factory just outside Bratislava - inside it's just like the VW factory at Wolfsburg in Germany.

Clive_Woody

iwb100 said:

Skoda are on the road to Volvo I’d say, as makers of reliable but slightly boring cars that over time are becoming more and more desirable and starting to turn heads and become more interesting. They are migrating from solid value proposition to what could arguably be the best quality cars in some cases outside of the premium badges. 

Between my wife and I, we've had four Skodas over the years and they've all been great cars. I only do around 5000 miles a year so can't really justify spending silly money on a car, but my Octavia vRS estate comes with a decent selection of bells and whistles and with 245bhp it has a decent turn of pace when required....and the boot is massive for all the family's junk.

The interior quality is up there with VW (well pretty damn close) and it fits nicely in my garage whereas a Superb would be too big.

iwb100

Clive_Woody said:

iwb100 said:

Skoda are on the road to Volvo I’d say, as makers of reliable but slightly boring cars that over time are becoming more and more desirable and starting to turn heads and become more interesting. They are migrating from solid value proposition to what could arguably be the best quality cars in some cases outside of the premium badges. 

Between my wife and I, we've had four Skodas over the years and they've all been great cars. I only do around 5000 miles a year so can't really justify spending silly money on a car, but my Octavia vRS estate comes with a decent selection of bells and whistles and with 245bhp it has a decent turn of pace when required....and the boot is massive for all the family's junk.

The interior quality is up there with VW (well pretty damn close) and it fits nicely in my garage whereas a Superb would be too big.

Cheers. Have a Kodiaq on order so looking forward to getting that…in about 5 years…but still!

It was between that the Tarraco and the Tiguan Allspace but the Tiguan whilst being ever so slightly more refined to drive felt a bit lower quality inside and to get an equivalent features was about £3K more. The Tarraco was best specced out tbh as SEAT just take all options away and give you really good trims which was attractive. But the back row was just a little more squeezed which sorts of defeats the object really of a large suv especially as it’s boot was smaller too…for the same footprint car….

And then I looked at reviews and the Kodiaq is basically only just beaten by the X7 and XC90 and it’s relatively close but half the price…so became a bit of a no brainer…Looking forward to the day when I can ditch the large 7 seater for something smaller and electric though.

Stubod

..my next car will be an auto.....assuming I can buy one and get it delivered sometime this century?

Ditzy_Mitzy

Do it!  There's no value in ignorance or intentionally limiting what you can do.  You might enjoy it; manuals are more fun to drive and, if you're any good at it, easier.  A lightweight hydraulic clutch requires less effort to operate than a brake pedal and popping the car in neutral means you can sit and relax at lights and junctions rather than having to sit there with your foot on the brakes to keep the car from creeping.  There's also the benefit of knowing what gear you're in and being able to slow the car with the gears rather than the brakes.  Manuals are simpler, cheaper to fix and more reliable and, ultimately, more economical in the real world.  

iwb100

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Do it!  There's no value in ignorance or intentionally limiting what you can do.  You might enjoy it; manuals are more fun to drive and, if you're any good at it, easier.  A lightweight hydraulic clutch requires less effort to operate than a brake pedal and popping the car in neutral means you can sit and relax at lights and junctions rather than having to sit there with your foot on the brakes to keep the car from creeping.  There's also the benefit of knowing what gear you're in and being able to slow the car with the gears rather than the brakes.  Manuals are simpler, cheaper to fix and more reliable and, ultimately, more economical in the real world.  

You know electronic parking breaks exist now don’t you? 

motorguy

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Do it!  There's no value in ignorance or intentionally limiting what you can do.  You might enjoy it; manuals are more fun to drive and, if you're any good at it, easier.  A lightweight hydraulic clutch requires less effort to operate than a brake pedal and popping the car in neutral means you can sit and relax at lights and junctions rather than having to sit there with your foot on the brakes to keep the car from creeping.  There's also the benefit of knowing what gear you're in and being able to slow the car with the gears rather than the brakes.  Manuals are simpler, cheaper to fix and more reliable and, ultimately, more economical in the real world.  

You should be keeping your foot on the brake anyway when stationary.

Most autos these days operate have stop start, so they'll switch off when stationary.  By the time i make the single action of moving my foot from the brake to the accelerator the car is restarted and ready to go.  I dont see how the both feet and hand actions required to perform the same in a manual car would be more relaxing.

Theres regenerative braking on my auto also, so it recharges the battery when you lift your foot off the accelerator.

I dont really give a monkeys what gear i'm in.  The car works it all out for me, so i dont see "knowing" which gear i'm in as an advantage, or even a requirement.  Even when driving a manual i'd have driven by engine revs, not by looking over to see what gear i'm in.  

Far, far more relaxing to be in traffic in an auto.  The same in all driving actually - whether it be motorways or around town or in a traffic jam.

I think old auto boxes used a bit more fuel than the manual variants - back in the day when they were three or four speed autos.  

Report here from the RAC

"It’s a widely-held belief that automatic cars guzzle more petrol than their manual equivalents.

While that used to be the case as older models were fitted with a slow, three-speed transmission, automatic technology has hugely improved in recent years. In many cases, you may even find that you’ll get more miles to the gallon in an automatic."

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/automatic-vs-manual-cars-which-is-better/

RE: Reliability.  I've owned maybe 50+ cars privately and when motor trading sold probably 1500+ over the years.  I've had to have many clutches and DMFs replaced in manual boxes, however i've never had to have any auto box repaired or replaced.

This late in the evolution of the ICE car i'd have thought getting a manual licence was an unnecessary step backwards.

NBLondon

motorguy said:

You should be keeping your foot on the brake anyway when stationary.

If you're in Neutral - you should be putting the handbrake on.

I enjoy the involvement of choosing the appropriate gear when driving an open but winding road.  Don't get as much opportunity as I would like though...  So maybe a modern auto with paddles is the way to go?