Driving automatics

[Gareth]

It is not only because so many drivers cannot change gear well that virtually all upmarket manufacturers including those of extreme drivers' cars have abandoned manual gearboxes.

I would suggest the primary reason for the prevalence of automatic gearboxes is in order to meet emissions controls.

[Pontoneer]

In response to Pontoneer:

I have not come across the feature of cutting engine power when the brake is touched. In a modern Merc I have used accelerator and brake simultaneously for slow manoeuvering over a bump. Can you better describe what happens in your C class? Like you I enjoy left foot braking, which is particularly pleasant in the transition from brakes to gas entering bends on rural roads.

I consider that modern autos give excellent control of gears and in most rational ways simply do a better job - faster, smoother, more economical, always ready, and lower workload. I also agree that there can be satisfaction in attempting to get the best results from them. However, and it is a very big however, for me a large part of the satisfying interaction between man and machine in a manual car comes from trying to achieve the best use of clutch and gearbox, and so I find driving an automatic less satisfying. For that reason I have recently bought a manual sports car to replace a dual-clutch one. While I understand thje analogy with an ignition control, I don't think that use of an ignition control would give anything like the satisfaction of using a manual clutch and gearbox, and it would also involve giving up far more of the other benefits of modern cars.

I agree with most of your comments , and understand your reasons for going back to a manual .

Re the cutting of power when the brake is touched , this is a well documented trait of newer Mercs , and many other cars . I can make it happen when standing still - if I raise the revs above idle , then touch the brake , the revs will drop back to idle , regardless of accelerator position ; this also happens whilst driving - if you try to left foot brake with power still on , the power is cut . I have experienced the same thing in a number of other cars of a similar age , including , in no particular order W220 S320CDI , W220 S500 , R170 SLK320 and a W204 C220CDI . As far as I am aware , all newer Mercs have a similar engine management regime and will disallow simultaneous application of brakes and power ( while I appreciate that sustained use of both could be harmful , brief use to set a car up for a bend puts no more strain on the transmission than full power acceleration and can be an excellent technique to master ; one that I have employed in various W123 , W124 , W201 and W126 cars with no adverse effects , most of my cars running well beyond 200K before I part with them , my record being my 430,000 mile W124 300TE-24 , still on its original box but second engine at that mileage when it was written off by an uninsured driver who crashed into it whilst parked on my drive , otherwise I expect it would still be going strong .

I only bought the C270 because good W 124's are getting very hard to find now , otherwise I'd have had another ; I also miss the load space of the S124 and find the S203 too small at times , so the next car will likely be an S211 , unless I chance across a time warp S124 ... I am still put off newer cars by excessive reliance on electronics and , apart from the way they dictate your driving style , the difficulty in doing one's own maintenance on them , what with so many parts needing to be coded to ECU's etc rather than just being fitted - but I digress .

[fungus]

Why do you say that?

I just felt that the car was controlling me, not me controlling the car. I didn't like not being able to creep on the clutch to gain a view at a blind junction. There also seemed to be a delay in acceleration when in drive. If I used the manually selected gears there was no delay.

[waremark]

Why do you say that?

I just felt that the car was controlling me, not me controlling the car. I didn't like not being able to creep on the clutch to gain a view at a blind junction. There also seemed to be a delay in acceleration when in drive. If I used the manually selected gears there was no delay.

You creep against the footbrake instead. And my point was that modern autos give you good control if you want it with manual selection of gears - but auto tends to work well in town.

[TripleS]

Why do you say that?

I just felt that the car was controlling me, not me controlling the car. I didn't like not being able to creep on the clutch to gain a view at a blind junction. There also seemed to be a delay in acceleration when in drive. If I used the manually selected gears there was no delay.

You creep against the footbrake instead. And my point was that modern autos give you good control if you want it with manual selection of gears - but auto tends to work well in town.

I don't know if modern automatics are different in this respect, but I used to find that unless there was a fairly steep gradient involved, low speed manoeuvering was easily achieved by putting the transmission selector in D or R, and controlling the movement by use of brakes only. The engine idling provided sufficient pull.

[fungus]

I think it's me, I just can't take to automatics.

[ericonabike]

Have to say I agree with Nigel - tried the 'two footed' approach but it felt so 'wrong' that I couldn't make it stick. I'm happy enough driving them for a living, but I'll keep to manuals for my own motors.

Someone asked what I thought of the Skodas? The ones we use are diesel estates [sorry don't know the model no] with leather, and a fine array of bells and whistles. The one thing I will say is that they are solid - the one I've just been driving is 60 reg and has covered a quarter of a million miles. It still looks and feels new, and is returning >50mpg

[fungus]

My wife has a 12 reg Octavia 1.6 TDI estate which is a nice car to drive, comfortable and economical, unlike my daughters Cooper . Needless to say it's a manual. Compared to her previous car, a Peugeot 306 HDI estate, it is slightly more powerful but I think the suspension set up was better on the 306. I just felt more sure footed when cornering.