Automatics in snow/winter?

Jack Brown (abc) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Automatics can actually be easier in slippery conditions, because they insulate the ham-footed from clutch incompetence.

"Winter mode" just locks first out, helping to prevent the ham-footed from giving it too much thrape.

Not always, Vauxhall lock out 1st and 2nd on a 4 speed box. Winter mode pulls off in 3rd.

Gio

The message from Jack Brown contains these words:

Not at all. I've rarely had trouble with 'em even on the most polished ice.

No, these days they're better.

That's ideal.

For most drivers (i.e. fairly rubbish ones with no experience of snow and without the wit to get some first, somewhere safe and easy) then an automatic is better than their manual clutch control is.

They don't have _SNOW_!!! in Sweden, they just have "everyday weather" and they're used to dealing with it. It's only the UK where everyone panics and thinks that normal services are suddenly going to shut down because of it.

There's no 'or' about it. There's nothing wrong with autos in snow or wintry conditions. Winter mode usually just cuts out the lowest gear or gears, but in most auto's without a snow mode, you can still pull away in 2nd or 3rd gear, if you wish, by manually selscting the gear. Mike.

Mike G ( snipped-for-privacy@lycos.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, you can't, not on "most" - certainly not on "traditional" autos.

Selecting 2 or 3, instead of D, just selects "up to 2" or "up to 3" - it's still fully auto below that point, and you'll pull away in first. Not an issue, unless you've got all the throttle control of a pissed warthog.

bad enuf when it rains

Of course. You're right. I should have remembered that. I've been driving auto's long enough. Mike.

The 5 speed ZF fitted to the BNW E34 could be locked in any gear up to fourth - including starting off. Sadly the steptronic on my E39 will only allow 2nd gear as the highest for starting from rest.

Why sadly? IMO the problem with getting traction in snow and slippery conditions, is more down to the width of a cars tyres, than being able to select a higher gear when starting from rest. Any larger or sports car with wide tyres is going to have problems driving on snow or ice. A small car with skinny tyres will keep going when the larger car is just spinning it's wheels. As I found out with my SD1 with

205's fitted. I barely made it home from work through the snow one winter. The tyres had so little grip. The next day I used my RWD Escort van with 165 tyres. The difference was quite remarkable. Compared to the SD1 the Escort had plenty of grip, so until the snow cleared the SD1 was left at home. I hate to think what my E39 will be like in snow with 245 tyres. Almost undrivable I would imagine. Mike.

On the standard issue tyres (conti) mine is. Fortunately, I have a 50 yard driveway of about 1 in 6 I can use as a "test". If I can get up that onto the unclassified road, I'm Ok. If not, it goes back in the garage and SWMBO has to stay at home whilst I use the Disco.

Please reply to group - email address is not monitored Ian

What's the point of that? I've never driven an auto for any length of time .(not enough to get past the going for the clutch action)

Tom

I was absolutely amazed at how much worse my Golf on 185s was in comparison to SWMBO's Polo on 145s. It was stunning.

Engine braking downhill by locking out the higher gear(s).

You can use them to get engine braking going down steep hills, because they stop the autobox changing up to a higher gear as the revs rise.

Phil

Or to prevent the gearbox 'cycling' between gears when going uphill. Where one gear is too high, and the next one up is too low. Mike.

Ah right so you CAN change between 1,2,3 & D whist on the go...

I was told that this was BAAAAAAAAADDD by the owner of the auto that I drove.

Tom

Depends on the auto in question. Selecting P while moving is usually bad. The 'box on my Carlton didn't really like R while it was moving forwards at any speed. Selecting 1 when travelling at 80mph is also probably bad if the box isn't clever enough to know it's going too fast.

(c:

Many years ago I saw a B-W demonstration of what actually happens if you select reverse at speed - on their BW35 transmission as fitted to a Cortina. The answer was nothing bad to the box - it simply broke a half shaft. Stronger rear axles would probably result in locked wheels.