Performance Automatics
Discussion
Am I in a small minority, When I see a sports car making lovely noises then as you hear the auto gear change I just cringe. What a waste!
There are some fantastic cars ruined by auto boxes. Biggest crime one here in Australia has to be the V8 Fords and Holdens. Loads of them with awful auto boxes. Heard a toyota Supra today, pulled away lovely then the distictive auto gear change.
makes me sad, I know paddleshift etc have control also but even thats just not the same!
There are some fantastic cars ruined by auto boxes. Biggest crime one here in Australia has to be the V8 Fords and Holdens. Loads of them with awful auto boxes. Heard a toyota Supra today, pulled away lovely then the distictive auto gear change.
makes me sad, I know paddleshift etc have control also but even thats just not the same!
james280779 said:
Am I in a small minority, When I see a sports car making lovely noises then as you hear the auto gear change I just cringe.
Yes, you are in a tiny minority of people who can see sound.Also you are in a tiny minority (I hope) who care what other people's gear changes sound like.
Krikkit said:
Podie said:
Have Jag ever done manual R cars?
There were a few XJ40-R manuals, but not recently. Imo Jag R's are more fast GT's than proper sports cars - like an M5 they waft when needed and set your hair on fire when you fancy it.
littleredrooster said:
Manual boxes are a Victorian relic. My 330d Auto launches quicker on a wet standing start than anything I have driven. And sounds good as it slips almost seamlessly into the next gear.
[/devilsadvocate]
Yep, got a 330i Msport auto and its fantastic. Ok, its not a sports car, but it is smooth, seamless and effortless on the changes and its got paddles and clever programming to give you control too! Its a fantastic gearbox and bloody impressive.[/devilsadvocate]
Slips and slides like a good'un when you want it too - gearbox is not a hindrance there!
To answer the OP though - auto boxes are popular around the world. US loves them and its either the cheapest of the cheap or specific sports cars that are manual, everything else is auto. Japan too - an auto is much more common than a manual, even in smaller cars! Take the FTO, some silly percentage are auto's! And the Supra is another example - never sold in auto form in the UK IIRC, but most imports are auto's, because most Japanese market ones are auto's!
Not sure about Australia, but given their love of V8's I would suggest that they too like the auto too! Even Europe has adopted the auto more than the UK! So I would suggest that its a Euro thing in general, with the UK being a particular stick-in-the-mud with manual gearboxes.
Not sure about Australia, but given their love of V8's I would suggest that they too like the auto too! Even Europe has adopted the auto more than the UK! So I would suggest that its a Euro thing in general, with the UK being a particular stick-in-the-mud with manual gearboxes.
I couldn't care less, I have an auto licence for medical reasons and I'm just glad of the choice I have; mostly, there's still many, many cars I'd love to have but could never drive. If Mazda had gone along with the opinion of some that a proper sports car should only ever have a manual box, I would never have been able to own and enjoy one.
I wouldn't suggest someone who doesn't need it buys one though (i.e. the Americans that want them just because of comuting
). The box in my MX5 is good, but has nothing on my Golf's DSG (despite it's foibles in D, which I never use), I think dual clutch and SMG type boxes have a place in performance cars.
I wouldn't suggest someone who doesn't need it buys one though (i.e. the Americans that want them just because of comuting
). The box in my MX5 is good, but has nothing on my Golf's DSG (despite it's foibles in D, which I never use), I think dual clutch and SMG type boxes have a place in performance cars.Edited by mizx on Friday 20th April 12:02
The issue for me in not the lack of a gearstick persay, but the abscence of a clutch pedal!
Proper manual control of the clutch opens up so many possibilities for varring your driving style that you just can't get in an auto, even a "paddleshift" auto or DCT.
For example, try "rocking your car" to get out of a slippy snow carpark, or perhaps "twanging" the cltuch to get the rear wheels spinning for a bit of drift fun, or the opposite, putting the clutch down to zero rear wheel torque to maximise grip, or select neutral for a bit of hyper mileing, or want a smooth transition between handbrake and footbrake on a steep hill, or thousands of other situations.
Ultimately an auto tranny, however cleverly mapped, must follow it's mapping parameters, if these don't suit the particular way you like to drive, or the driving conditions, then you're stuffed!
Proper manual control of the clutch opens up so many possibilities for varring your driving style that you just can't get in an auto, even a "paddleshift" auto or DCT.
For example, try "rocking your car" to get out of a slippy snow carpark, or perhaps "twanging" the cltuch to get the rear wheels spinning for a bit of drift fun, or the opposite, putting the clutch down to zero rear wheel torque to maximise grip, or select neutral for a bit of hyper mileing, or want a smooth transition between handbrake and footbrake on a steep hill, or thousands of other situations.
Ultimately an auto tranny, however cleverly mapped, must follow it's mapping parameters, if these don't suit the particular way you like to drive, or the driving conditions, then you're stuffed!
Horses for courses, I guess.
I actually can't stand the DSG in the other half's 3.2TT. My R8 was a manual, and I loved it... but my RS6 is obviously pretty much an Auto and although I always thought I'd want a manual gearbox (given the TT/R8 situation) the box in the RS6 suits it perfectly.
I can waft around in "D", with the occasional manual paddleshift, or I can switch to "S", boot it, and ride the power it unleashes.
Less involving than a manual, but I actually can't imagine the RS6 in manual guise!
My main gripe with trying to use an auto box or DSG in "manual mode" all of the time is not actually "knowing" what gear you are in. I can't see the selector indicator on the TT dash, for a start.
With a proper manual, you just know (from instinct) that you've changed from 2nd to 3rd, because you've made a very specific arm movement. But pulling on paddles, all you know is that you have "changed gear" - not necessarily from what to what.
That's my experience, anyway!
I actually can't stand the DSG in the other half's 3.2TT. My R8 was a manual, and I loved it... but my RS6 is obviously pretty much an Auto and although I always thought I'd want a manual gearbox (given the TT/R8 situation) the box in the RS6 suits it perfectly.
I can waft around in "D", with the occasional manual paddleshift, or I can switch to "S", boot it, and ride the power it unleashes.
Less involving than a manual, but I actually can't imagine the RS6 in manual guise!
My main gripe with trying to use an auto box or DSG in "manual mode" all of the time is not actually "knowing" what gear you are in. I can't see the selector indicator on the TT dash, for a start.
With a proper manual, you just know (from instinct) that you've changed from 2nd to 3rd, because you've made a very specific arm movement. But pulling on paddles, all you know is that you have "changed gear" - not necessarily from what to what.
That's my experience, anyway!
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