Plus you're never in the wrong gear. Come up to a junction or roundabout and there's a gap you just hoof it and it goes. As regards performance, the boy racers who try to sprint away from the line end up red-faced when they have to change gear... Fantastic for towing as you don't lose drive as you change.
The downside is that they do use more fuel than a manual.
Find a properly maintained 2.0T (160bhp) auto if you want an S40. Utterly brisk, with plenty of torque so the auto box doesnt hunt, as it does in the smaller engines, and reasonable MPG.
NA 2.0 is rough, gruff and noisy and not very good at all.- 1.8 much sweeter but has to work harder.
Tim..
Historic.
Not any more. Modern autos deliver much more of the theoretical performance without brutality and are often less thirsty; no clutch to wear out either...
The syncromesh manual gearbox is not long for this world.
A
Funnily enough I've heard that before.
Around 1958 I think it was.....
:-)
Chris
Trouble is a decent auto ain't cheap. They are *very* complex beasties. CVT types may be cheaper but so far have a poor life. So I'd say the synchromesh box will be with us for many more years at least on smaller vehicles. They're already rare at the middle/upper end of the market.
There were no integrated electronics in 1958.
The syncro' 'box may still have slight cost and weight advantages in low power applications but they no longer have any efficiency gains to offer...
A
The cost differences are shrinking rapidly.
Most of the reliability problems seem to have been cleared up, at least in low power applications where the benefits are most obvious.
Autos are already a no cost option well down the food chain and a defacto standard on many cars. How many manuals will sell as a cost option?
A
Come back the DAF variomatic, all is forgiven. :o)
PDH
;-)
A mate had a DAF van. Possibly the worst brakes on any vehicle I've ever driven. Including pre-war Austin 7s.
And you have to start them in neutral. Put it into drive and it was likely to mate with the car parked in front - regardless of a blue faced driver pushing the pedal through the floor...
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