Most cars in Europe have manual trannies?

In message , Vic Smith writes

They can drive exactly like an automatic, but you have a gear stick with which you can choose if you wish, though no clutch.

My friend used to have an auto-stick VW that I used to work on. It was an OK system but my friend always drove it in a boring way i.e., he always started in second and then moved to high gear. The car was slightly less boring if you started in the lowest gear and gassed it and then worked it through the other two gears but he though he was going to break the system that way. :-)

Oddly enough, when you moved the shifter off-center by placing your hand on it, contacts in the shift stalk would activate a vac-operated servo that would push in the clutch fork. The clutch was a standard dry type with the addition of a torque converter so it was a hybrid automatic or is that a hybrid standard? Anyway, it blew.

I have to wonder about folks that think you have to pick one or the other. In a lightweight, nimble, car with a high revving engine, a standard would be a joy to drive. In a 3,600+ lb car built for comfort, quietness, a smooth ride, and meant for 4 or more passengers, why the hell would I want a standard?

yeah, I think we understand each other, what I'm objecting to is that if I take my foot off the accelerator and I see the tach drop to 1K RPM or less and the car just feels like it's coasting, as opposed to simply keeping the TC locked up so that I don't have to use the brakes every time I hit a slight downgrade or need to shed 2-3 MPH due to traffic. I suppose there might be a little additional wear on the backside of the R&P in that case as well as the non-drive side of the CV joints, but I don't think that really adds up to much in the grand scheme of things, as the drive side of those components is under constant load at steady-state cruise in any case. Most of my personal vehicles over the years have been stickshifts, and I don't think I've ever done more than one brake job on any of them and some of them I never touched the brakes at all save for fluid changes every couple years. I can't say the same for my company vehicles; the latest one needed brakes at only 50K miles which is certainly uncharacteristic for vehicles in my care.

nate

Can't remember which ones had them - they were mostly Macks - but when I was jockeying tractors from the fuel pumps at UPS, some had hydraulically actuated clutches. Clutch pedal took hardly any effort.

--Vic

My guess is that because of the clamping pressures involved with a big truck, you'd need some kind of assist. OTOH, the Alfetta GTV that I used to have had a pretty nasty spring that pulled the clutch pedal up to the return position. My foot slipped of that once and my shin has never quite been the same since. :-)

In message , Hoof Hearted writes

But wrong. Thermal recycling does the most damage to any engine that you can think of.

In message , dsi1 writes

The sort of transmission I am talking about came into use on F1 cars and was banned because it took a second off of a lap, something that I fear the average American knows nothing about.

Getting rid of the torque converter is a good idea. I doubt people want to drive semi-automatics in this country though. I think it's sold as "automatics" over here. I have a semi-automatic mode in my Hyundai and I've tried it a few times and it's useless and stupid for my driving although some Walter Mitty types might fantasize that they're driving a manual or F1 car.

I can appreciate the smooth flow of power but a CVT can do the same thing without the complexity of a dual-clutch system. Do you know how these systems are able to start off from a start without using a torque converter or a separate clutch? I can't find any info on this.

If you have overdrive, take it out of overdrive and you should get your engine braking back.

I have A4 with sport package and a manual imported back to europe from new england. That 5SP shifts like a dream. It's slicker even than manual on hondas.

1. You can TOW
2. You can wring the juice out of the turbo when you need passing power (or just to remind the drivers of french shitboxes on wheels of the superiority of german hardware)
3. You have precise (exact) control over the car which is moot point here in flatlands, but I'm sure on icy alpine road it is a matter of life an death.

Just ask any rav4 driver whose rear axle got connected at an unopportune time. Oh, wait, you can't. He's flying somewhere over the abyss, shitty all season tires notwithstanding.

For the majority of the populace who barely know how to drive automatics are plenty good though. It's the kind of "keep them in the dark and shit on them regularly" mantra of mushroom growing that applies here.

There's a school of thought that you shouldn't downshift with manuals either because you're wearing down the clutch and the transmission. Using the brakes is seen as a better option because it's easier to change brake pads than clutch disks.

I never was a student of that school and so I used to downshift when approaching a red light and timing it so that I wouldn't have to stop or put it into 1st. On my Subaru, I used to be able to almost dump the clutch in first from a stop without slipping the clutch - it was pretty neat. OTOH, I hated that car cause the engine sucked and the gear ratios was just awful.

My dad's Cutlass Ciera had no engine braking while in OD. Of course, this was done to improve gas mileage but was tough on the brakes which were marginal to begin with. I was changing them quite often which is quite a feat because we live on a small rock in the middle of the Pacific. I would shift out of OD under certain conditions but for the most part you just have to accept the nature of the beast and accept the fact that you'll have to replace the brakes more often. Luckily, I've never had a car that was set up in that manner since.

The current trend here is going towards automatics. Shitty manuals on toyoda penalty boxes are to blame I'm sure. people are just unaware of honda/audi snickety snick shifter action and the associated joy of driving. sound deadening high rpm engine wringing permitting (hint: do not try it in an econobox outfitted with a fart can)

frankly, i'd rather buy a subaru with an automatic than their shitty manual just because it feels like the shifter is attached to an anchor and there is a lot of driveline lash (not present in a quattro based A4)

the tranny choice all depends on a specific car. It'd be fun to have a

In message , dsi1 writes

Yes, I got the original manuals that Nissan brought out. It's just 200 small plates 0n a steel band being pushed rather than the original DAF which was rubber bands being pulled. I'm am computer illiterate otherwise I would post it to you, but be warned if you do tell me how, it is 200 pages of PDF format.

In message , AD writes

You don't understand the difference between the BMW rubbish and the Audi DSG auto box then.

In message , AD writes

One of the cars in my family is a (shitty) Japanese diesel car (SR180) which would leave nearly all of your petrol burners looking up it's tailpipe if you could get that close. Just because the turbo kicks off so well.

Nope, even manual second only has barely perceptible engine braking. The TC is that loose. Also I don't know how sturdy that trans is, if it handles regular manual downshifting gracefully.

nate

Well there's one of your problems. Rather than brake to drop 2-3 mph, let off the throttle sooner.

Seems unlikely for a motorist whose technique includes braking to drop

- gpsman

To my knowledge, no one but you has addressed what does the MOST damage. I don't think that a top fuel drag engine experiences its greatest damage due to thermal cycling to name but one.

In message , Hoof Hearted writes

To my knowledge, it's all i.c. Engines, but please share your experience I'd like to know more>