I like automatic transmissions
 

I confess, I kinda like automatic transmissions.

Being European, I barely drove cars with AT and have had looked down on them. Historically, many people around here considered AT's as bad, gas-guzzling things for lazy people who actually don't like driving.

Then I bought a VW Polo (It's like a smaller Golf, dunno if those are sold in US) equipped with AT just for driving around town and I LOVED IT. It was a revelation...no more sore left foot in traffic jams and it was the fastest thing out from a red light (when you never actually drive faster than 40mph). Just keep a left foot on a brake and right foot on accellerator and let go! Weeee!

It shifted funny so I did my own service, dropping down the pan, changing filters and so-called "lifetime fluid" and admiring the doodads inside. This was a Jatco 404E tranny. It finally developed a harsh 1-2 shift when cold (worn solenoid something) so I decided to trade up.

This time I bought a VW Golf MKIV with (according to Internet lore) much maligned 01M slushbox which I also serviced according to guide I found on Interwebs...it works even better than old one. I love it! (I'll just have a plain vanilla TC-equipped one, no fancy DSG/CVT things, thank you very much.)

I also downloaded a service manual to learn how the thing works and boy are they complicated things...brake bands, suns, planets, asteroids, moons, mazes with BB's, springs, solenoids, lot's of brass rings...fascinating really!

So there you go...

I had always driven manual Corollas then I bought my girlfriend a Corolla with auto. WOW, what a great car. I'd always given my cars lots of revs, believing that was what you had to do with these small engined Japons. But no, her Corolla heads flat out down the road pulling about 1,800 to 2,000rpm.

And as my young niece said in her infinite wisdom, an auto lets you concentrate on your driving, not on your shifting gears LOL.

I have a tiptronic in my 997, and I have no plans to go back.

I'm a "gotta be doing something" kinda guy...automatics bore me. Shifting keeps me more focused, not to mention it just makes driving more fun.

Yeah, it's like cruise control, after a couple of minutes I get real uncomfortable. Feels unnatural.

Sure, I have Audi S4 with 6-speed that is used on longer trips (and always feels it has one gear too many ;) ) but around town, I really enjoy the smoothness of plain old slushomatic. DSG's are all herky-jerky in stop and go traffic and I never really liked CVT's.

I would really love to test some of those old Turboglide cars that supposedly didn't have any distinct steps. They must have had really bad efficiency though....

In my DD I am perfectly ok with a slush box. Still not sold on it in a toy car, but I'd give a 991 with DSG a of that's for sure. ;)

I know what you mean by the 6-speed feeling like you have too many. My 350Z is a 6-speed, and in my town (it's small; we don't have any real "traffic" to speak of), most speed limits are 35. So, I rarely get above 3rd gear.

The only automatics I own are the minivan (that I pretty much never drive) and my Audi A8. I just picked up the Audi a couple weeks ago, and I like it (except for the fact that my window regulator just died a couple days ago...), but I keep finding myself reaching to downshift.

The 6 speed in my Miata feels like it needs another cog. Either that or a less ridiculous rear end ratio. An automatic in an underpowered 4 cylinder car? No thanks

Right now my daughter's nissan sentra is getting it's third automatic transmission in 65,000 miles installed at the dealer.
I like conventional automatic transmissions, but that CVT crap needs to be shoved up some mentally challenged engineer's rear-end with no gear lube. Sideways.

The only saving grace is that nissan knows they're selling complete junk to the public and are replacing these transmissions free of charge regardless of warranty or mileage.
They know the public backlash would sink them if they didn't. The problem is, they're replacing junk with junk. I bet they're getting good at it though.

No one in my family will ever buy another nissan if I have anything to do with it.

I've never had a problem with nissans, and I've owned several. Though, I don't believe any were ever automatics...

Yes but . . . not on a mind-numbing freeway for hours & certainly not in an extended stop n go parking lot. For both an auto is best.

Ian

I don't know what is in my 08 Camry Hybrid, but it doesn't seem to shift, it just goes. In bumper-to-bumper LA traffic, its great. I drove the Targa back from TRE on Friday at rush hour up the 405 freeway and there was an accident. Over an hour of clutching in first gear to go about three miles kind of sucked.

I like automatics for my DDs. I even have an automatic in my 4x4 pickup.
The worst application of an automatic transmission was an early 70s Toyota Corolla with a Powerglide clone. I don't know who couldn't foresee that putting a two speed automatic behind a 1200cc engine was a really, really bad idea.

Growing up, Mom & Dad had nothing but Chevys with slush boxes. Us kids shared a Caprice station wagon when we got to driving age. The ultimate in boring.

That's gotta be why I enjoy driving manual trannys so much.

I had a he!! of a time convincing anyone that a Sportomatic is the best way to go if you want to use your Porsche to commute.

Sometimes I drive a friend's Tiguan with AT, of course. Really comfortable to drive in city traffic an lot of pick up. Quite a difference to my '79SC and '82 Landcruiser. In marginal conditions, deep snow, dirt, or sand or diving the twisties with the SC I still prefer the direct control of the stick shift.

Having driven a tiguan 4motion in deep snow around Tahoe, I can say the tippy does just fine, and its actually a fun little SUV in the snow. :D

Sir, please step over to the clerk and hand in your Man Card.

Different horses for different courses.
If I lived in an urban area, I would probably have an auto in my DD. I found the constant clutch work while we were in Toronto last spring to be not to my liking.
My cars have 5 speeds as did my previous truck. Unfortunately that particular F150 was light duty and I was concerned about slipping/burning the clutch on the few occasions when it was heavily loaded. The current F150 is auto (and much heavier in spec), so I don't have to worry about that.
I do however have the Pavlovian urge to push a non-existant clutch pedal when coming to a stop. :rolleyes:

I do like working the gearbox and the comment above about an automatic transmission allowing the driver to concentrate on their driving instead of shifting is indeed true for some. I find after over 40 years of driving manual transmission vehicles I always seem to know where I am in the gearbox and the motor control is almost unconscious. All the thinking about whether the shifter is moving to the right or left, forward or back, where the clutch pedal engagement point is, all that is in muscle memory.

When I drive in the UK, it is interesting how much of that has to be re-learned simply because it is the left hand doing the honors.

Best
Les

If you like fast take-offs, don't discount DSGs. Most have launch control - it's huge fun.

DSGs are best of both worlds, a clutch feel at traffic speeds, lightning fast shifts when you thrash it.

I held off until 2011. But once I started gigging a lot and was in situations where I *had* to be somewhere in LA at a specific time, and easily spending an hour + in stop-and-go traffic, I switched. The last straw was a gig with a 7:30 downbeat at a club less than 9 miles from my house. I left at 5pm to give "plenty of time." I arrived at 7:25pm. My left leg was about to fall off from working the clutch.

I still find myself instinctively moving my left foot and grabbing for the shift knob from time to time...

When I worked at GM developing lock-up torque converters we beat the heck out of Chevy T350 transmissions. We ran them through a test protocol that included running up and down through the gears continually for 17 hours a day. The engine would hit 4000 RPM at every shift. A single T350 would outlast 4 or 5 700R4s. When you look at how small some of the gears are it's hard to believe they could withstand it. We ran them behind 350 V8s that were fairly bulletproof themselves.

There is no doubt that DSG is the future. They are just flat out faster, and in full auto mode, smarter than drivers.

I bemoan the loss of the skill in driving a manual, but the numbers speak for themselves.....as the old motorsport saying goes...'when the flag drops, the bull**** stops...."

I like automatics for long daily commutes with lots of stop and go traffic. For a spirited weekend drive I still like the tactile feel of a manual... Haven't driven a PDK or DSG ever so can't comment on that.

I dislike automatics but they are so much better in traffic that they serve a purpose.

I like the flexibility of the SMG in my dad's M3.

I test drove and 05 911S and a 2011 Boxster last weekend. The 911 was amazing, but the clutch is heavy enough that I don't know if I could daily drive one in Chicago.

The Boxster had the PDK and felt like the perfect day to day car. Now I need to find a way to put one in my parking spot in the next 12 months.

I've only driven on double clutch, the VW DSG. It was brilliant at speed. But in low speed situations like parking lots, it did some very odd 'feathering'. A subtle but rapid, jerky engagement/disengagement of the clutch.

Yeah, it just needs a slightly different approach than a normal auto, but you get used to it pretty quickly. My GTI has a hill-hold feature, too which is neat.

New Porsche 991 GT3. First Drive. - /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS - YouTube

Chris Harris on the GT3....nails it, I think.....talks about the DSG at about 9mins. Great watch.

I feel like a passenger when I drive an automatic. I also feel like I'm not in control of the vehicle. How can you be in control when there is no solid connection to the wheels.

I recently drove a very fast DSG equipped car. It is an amazing piece of equipment and is worlds away faster than a manual. Its also what I would call a real gearbox and not at all a rubber band. However, it did get boring in about ten minutes. Which was disappointing. There was nothing to do. Just point and squirt. The whole car was flawless and left nothing for me to think about. No wheel spin, no skids, no shifting, it even blipped the throttle when it knew you would change down. Super cool but not for me.

I just watched that. That's what I was trying to say.

Round my parts, the fastest modern cars in Tarmac Rally are the Lambo Gallardo, the Audi TTRS and Godzilla. All of them are semi autos. Talking to the guys running those cars, most of them just stick it 'auto' and let the car do the thinking, especially in the wet. Watching them launch is amazing. They gently roll forward, like theyre in carpark at the supermarket, then poof, theyre gone....

Modern autos get better MPG than manuals, DSGs shift faster, but I think manuals are more fun. For me that's what it's all about, fun. Every automatic I've owned has bored me to tears, I just enjoy shifting.

Automatics have their place. i've driven all sorts of automatic and manual cars. I haven't driven an automatic equipped car that had what I would call a slushbox in a long time. Most of them these days work pretty well. i suspect in certain situations, I would prefer an automatic, but fortunately for me, those situations are rare and I drive a manual most of the time.

Yeah, it's a real shame that they dropped the redline of the MSM from 7000 to 6500. That extra 500 rpm would help a lot. Lot's of the guys that do the common upgrades end up going to a 3.67 rear from the stock 4.30 rear. Our transmission ratios are nice and tight, but it's a bit much that our gears only give about 20mph over the next lower gear. I think our cars hit around 25 in 1st, 45 in 2nd, 65 in 3rd, 85 in 4th, 105 in 5th and then top out at 130 at redline.

I don't plan on ever buying another manual.

I bought my DD with it being an only car in mind, so I got a manual. Now that I'm a 2 car operation it's honestly getting a little annoying to deal with. With the Porsche I couldn't see owning anything other than a manual, but I don't plan on selling it or buying another.

I need a manual shifter. Modern cars shift so nice and the clutches are light, it'd be a shame to have a slushbox. On my TDI the DSG also wasn't an option. Just read about them ...

Soon it will be over, I am afraid. I read that only 2 or 3 percent of US new cars are sold with a manual. Having a Euro car may delay things a little but ... :(

G

I do not mind them if "made" correctly and not prone to failure .
Not long ago it was not "if" but just "when" they would take a dump.
So i have always subscribed to the manual . If driven right they will go a million of miles.
With the auto they are divided into soft parts and hard parts.
The 1st being "O" rings, clutches and such.
All it takes is a ripped "O" ring and now there will be no pressure to a clutch pack.
Most shops have no clue what sun gear is or how to pressure test a auto with air pressure .
But they will sell you a rebuild rather then a simple fix. (usually)

Agreed, someday our cars with three pedals will be a quaint historical artifact. "Look kids, here's a car that you had to shift yourself."

The last car I had was an automatic Acura Integra. "It won't be so bad," I told myself. "It's just your DD, it'll be fine."

That car was god awful. Had it less than a year. Good riddance. Never again will I voluntarily buy a slushbox behind a weak four banger.

There seem to be some variations in the VW DSG transmission cars I have driven.
One, in a 2006 TDi Jetta the garage loaned me was an amazing piece of gear. It had been "rode hard and put away wet" for 6 years and had about 250K km (~150K miles) and it was smooth and responsive. I would have swapped it for my 5 speed it need be.
Another DSG was in a 2012 Passat TDi and I couldn't believe how ill-mannered it was at parking lot speeds.
Maybe it needed a good thrashing. :D

Best
Les