I'd mostly agree,with one exception: I had a BMW 120 auto as a courtesy car. You're right: I got bored of selecting gears (no paddles, but a bump up/bump down autoshift), but got into the habit of using manual top gear on the motorway, otherwise every time you put your foot down (unless *very* gentle), it would drop gears. A right PITA.
I remember those too. I think some semi-autos had a pedal you blipped to change the gear after preselecting it with the lever.
Me too, also to lock the car in gear when anticipating (down) hills or bends etc to stop the car running away. A multistory car park a prime example.
I drive both, and now both cars are diesel I would certainly avoid diesel manuals as the constant cog swapping to stay where the power is becomes a pain, with a petrol engine it adds to the experience plus the sound of the car hitting the limiter in every gear adds to the enjoyment, but diesels don't have that.
Diesel auto is a great combination - and should also ensure a long engine life too.
The hand-wash does it better.
I thaught preselector boxes.were quite nice to use. They had 3 conventional pedals, but the 'clutch' pedal was actually the gearchange pedal. You simply selected the gear you wanted with a small lever, usually sprouting from the steering wheel hub, but nothing happened until the change pedal was depressed. so once in top gear, you'd normally select the next gear down so it was ready for a hill or for overtaking, with just a dip of the change pedal. I drove a couple of pre-war Armstrong Siddeleys with preselector boxes, and I quite liked the idea of preselecting whatever gear you liked before it was needed. IIRC they were also fitted to Lanchesters, and certainly to the 50's Daimler Armoured Car. Mike.
I agree. My present car (as you know!) is a diesel auto, as was my last. The best of both worlds - the ease and convenience of an auto - but with the fuel consumption of a petrol manual.
Uno-Hoo!
The message from "Uno-Hoo!" contains these words:
I adored my diesel auto - right up to when the auto died!
Likewise, never driven anything with a CVT but have driven autos. With a standard automatic, the har will hold position or creep as you release the brakes, but with a CVT I believe it'll roll forward until a certain amount of loud-pedal is applied. :-)
Not all CVTs. Nissan's N-CVT (Nissan CVT, cunning marketing, eh?) doens't creep forward at all. I've driven one a few times in the past. Horrible interior on the 1995 poor-man's model, but can't fault the gearbox, which was going strong after 100k. Impressive in fact.
CVTs get a bad name because non-Japanese designs are used, plain and simple.
Sorry, possibly being unclear there - I meant standard autoboxes creep (or hold position on an incline), CVTs don't. At least as far as I know. This, I understand is what causes problems faffing around on hills.
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