Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 55 total)
  • Anyone regularly jump between a manual and an auto?
  • nickewen
    Free Member

    I’ve always had manual cars but went to test drive one of these flappy paddle dual clutch boxes on a car at the weekend and it was brilliant!

    Problem is that the missus has a manual car and I’m worried we might both struggle switching between the two… Does anyone switch between a manual and an auto on a regular basis?

    I managed to get through a lengthy test drive and only went for the imaginary clutch once at the end of the test drive, catching the brake pedal with my left foot.. and inadvertently tested the seatbelt tensioners for all occupants!

    What is more difficult; primarily driving a manual and occasionally driving an auto? Or vice versa?

    Any thoughts most appreciated, cheers.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I did for a while. You don’t forget how to drive a manual any more than you forget how to ride a bike or roller skate.

    SkillWill
    Free Member

    Yes. I find it a problem the other way round, I occasionally get in the manual car, start it and then try and put it in gear without pressing the clutch.

    It’s quite rare though, somehow the brain adjusts. It’s really not an issue.

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    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Modern autos are great for the driving we do these days. Biggest problem you will have is not going full auto…

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    We have two cars of the same model in different variations- a diesel manual and the sporty DSG 7 speed flappy paddle automatic. I switch between them and drive each a couple of times a week. Occasionally if I’ve not driven the manual for a week I’ll forget to change gear for the first 100 yards but generally it’s not a problem. I suspect this wouldn’t happen if they didn’t have exactly the same interiors- if you jumped in a completely different car your brain would tell you what to do straight away if it looked different. My dad’s done it for the past 15 years in different cars and been fine.

    parkesie
    Free Member

    I dont find it a problem switching between the 2 as i drive both regularly its as you say just remembering left foot lives on the rest and use that as the imaginary clutch. Electronic handbrake to manual can get confusing.

    peterfile
    Free Member

    I did it for the past 3 years without problem.

    Currently in a manual and regret the decision not to buy another auto/dsg every single day 🙁

    Cougar
    Full Member

    I found the best way of avoiding left-foot braking was to consciously tuck your foot up near the seat rather than having it resting next to the pedals like you would normally.

    nickewen
    Free Member

    Thanks all, some interesting points there. Both cars would have traditional handbrakes which should help and both cars are pretty different so that should help re-adjust the owld grey matter as to which one you’re driving! The car I test drove had full auto and manual override via the paddles although I imagine it will spend most of it’s life in full auto.

    Cheers

    soma_rich
    Free Member

    I do, no problem with clutching or not, more annoying is the indicators are on different sides in each car 🙁

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    It’s been a year or so since I drove a manual and it took about 10mins to remember how to change gears at the right moment.

    chewkw
    Free Member

    Mate does that with no problem with three different type of gearing system. Manual (his Hilux), traditional torque converter (Prado) and his latest flappy paddle dual clutch gearing toy (some far east Lotus “made” car).

    I have no problem switching between the first two, i.e. Manual and traditional torque converter automatic.

    However, I have read people having to re-learn a bit to get use to flappy paddle system as it is not exactly like traditional torque converter and you need to drive a bit like manual and auto. i.e. off the accelerator when you use the paddle to change gear but with no clutch. I was told by my mate that once first gear is engaged you can drive it like auto provided you don’t mess around with the paddle.

    I was thinking of upgrading my car from traditional automatic gear to paddle type but then I give up as I think I want the system to mature a bit more before I get one. I am talking about Toyota btw.

    😀

    dragon
    Free Member

    I did, going manual to auto was fine, going back to the manual first junction and it stalled as I forgot the clutch, didn’t do it again though.

    It is far worse swapping between a ‘normal’ car and one with Stop/Start IMO.

    NB: some manuals now need the clutch in to start also.

    cheekymonkey888
    Free Member

    Paddles to manual wasnt a problem. Going from auto clutch to manual again took a few trips. The temptation was to try and change without the clutch. Then again its the same feeling I have for a split second when sticking it in reverse in different cars half expecting it to be in first.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    The car I test drove had full auto and manual override via the paddles although I imagine it will spend most of it’s life in full auto.

    Almost certainly. I was always convinced that if I had an auto I’d want to keep control of the gears. Once I actually had one I’d resigned it to full auto inside of the first week, the only time I ever touched it was to toggle between Performance and Economy gearing.

    NB: some manuals now need the clutch in to start also.

    I don’t think I’ve ever started a manual vehicle any other way.

    hanchurch
    Free Member

    Yep mine is an auto and mrs Hanchurch has a manual, both become natural after a while.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Yep manual diesel van with about 80bhp and DSG/paddle shift option 247BHP Golf………like others have found bizarrely enough I will once in a blue moon forget about dipping the clutch when rolling towards a junction in the diesel van at which point the anti stall reminds me 😆

    robinlaidlaw
    Free Member

    Another +1 for no real problems between my full slushbox Subaru Outback and my wife’s manual Panda. Same for my wife. We both very occasionally mess up but it’s almost always in the manual, not the Auto, by braking to a halt without dipping the clutch, or by reaching the end of our short street, still in second, braking to a near halt without dipping the clutch to check it’s clear then simply planting your foot back onto the throttle. Sudden stall in both cases and you don’t do it again for weeks.
    The situation you mentioned where you “dip the clutch” in the auto is something that I’ve found that you simply stop doing once you’ve had a few hours practise in the auto but as mentioned, it’s a good plan to be very deliberate about tucking your left foot onto the foot rest or up by the seat until you learn.

    br
    Free Member

    The car I test drove had full auto and manual override via the paddles although I imagine it will spend most of it’s life in full auto.

    Yep.

    tbh Many years ago I choose a auto company car and my Missus gave me no end of grief over my ‘old man’ car, and how she liked to ‘drive’ a car. Her next car was an auto and she’s (and I) have had them ever since. 🙂

    SaxonRider
    Full Member

    molgrips – Member
    I did for a while. You don’t forget how to drive a manual any more than you forget how to ride a bike or roller skate.

    This. In 16 years of driving in Canada, where we regularly switch between the two, and half of my vehicles were either/or, it made no difference. You just got in and drove.

    I always found it strange that in the UK, the distinction was made so hard and fast.

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    Yep, mine C4 Picasso is semi auto with auto handbrake etc and Mrs Danny’s is a manual Honda Jazz. Plus the vans I gave started driving are generally manual too.

    Had no problems adjusting to the C4 and only occasionally wonder why the manuals aren’t going anywhere!!

    wilburt
    Free Member

    Yep swap all the time, different car every couple of weeks. Occasionally forget to press the clutch when coming to a stop in a manual and I mean occaionally maybe three times in as many years.

    legend
    Free Member

    Drove the ultimate STW dream car the other day…. Octavia VRS with flappy paddles! Been wanting to drive a DSG car for ages – hated it 🙁 Felt like I was just pushing buttons for the hell of it. Would be of use when really making progress, otherwise I just didn’t see the point when the car could just do the gear changing instead.

    Looks like I’ll be sticking with manuals for a while

    onandon
    Free Member

    I have a DSG and a manual car. I swap between to two all the time. I can’t stand the DSG and would quite happily get rid but my wife likes it.

    paladin
    Full Member

    Manual vectra and auto Mazda bongo here. I struggle far more with the indicator sticks being on opposite sides than I do with gears!

    Stainypants
    Full Member

    I struggle but I struggled far more having rapid rise on one bike and normal gears on my other.

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    I will add that I find it more difficult switching from work’s van with the handbrake on the right of the driver (WTF Peugeot???) to my cars than between my auto and manual.

    andyl
    Free Member

    I keep forgetting to change down to first at junctions in my manual after driving the auto for a while so either get bogged down and sit there waiting for the engine revs to pick up or change quickly depending on how fast I need to move. I think I did the left foot brake once when I first drove an auto, only a wally would keep doing it 😉

    Like the auto when when I driving it but love the manual when back on country lanes.

    iolo
    Free Member

    I have a manual Duster and mrs iolo has automatic Discovery.
    I drive both and have no problem switching. I’ve never even thought about it being a possible problem.

    mynamesnotbob
    Free Member

    No problem, could be if you passed your test then drove an auto for years, then bought a manual I suppose.

    I left foot brake in both cars, it’s just a habit, so easy enough to train your left foot if you want to

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    I had a Passat DSG hire car for a fortnight. I didn’t like the paddles at all, seemed pointless. I also didn’t like the (perceived) lack of fine control that you get in a manual, adjusting speed with the throttle ahead of hazards/corners and so on. I wonder if that is more a case of getting used to it though, or related to the coasting thing where it decouples the engine if you lift of the throttle gently? I didn’t like the way it changed gear in corners either, but again, maybe it needs a different driving style? I think I’d be quite happy to buy one despite all that, it’s not exactly difficult, just a bit different in my limited experience of them.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    or related to the coasting thing where it decouples the engine if you lift of the throttle gently?

    It doesn’t, or it shouldn’t. Only at trundling car park speeds. Mine is far less likely to change in corners after a software upgrade, but even then its no biggie because it will change down again if it needs to seamlessly.

    Better than having to faff about with a gearstick constantly. If the corner thing bothers you use manual mode. Mine has no paddles, but you can change with the selector instead.

    bamboo
    Free Member

    Molgrips – some of the newer models do have ‘coasting’ which yours won’t as its an older model

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    You get used to it really quickly. The wife’s just got a new auto car which I drive too. Love the auto box, I’ll never buy a manual again. Not sure why people winge about modern auto’s. I like to “make progress” as much as the next guy, and have done loads of track days in my time so am obviously a driving God, but these modern autos are great. In ‘comfort mode’ it can be a bit sluggish, but so am I when I’m in comfort mode, who the hell does racing changes and heal and toe all the time anyway? the clue is in the name…..comfort. But put it in sport mode and the box is sharp as a tack, changes quicker than I could – not without knackering the synchromesh at least. Not sure I’d want to manually change an 8 speed box anyway, it’d be like continually stirring porridge. The auto box keeps the engine in the power band all the time when in sports mode, and in the most economical gear all the time in comfort mode.

    Drac
    Full Member

    Yup me.

    My car is a manual and some works vehicles autos. Dead easy to switch between the 2 and can’t say I’ve left foot braked unintentionally, I have purposefully and not put anyone through the screen.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Yes all the time over the last 10 years. Occasionally when driving the manual you forget to change down as you approach a stop/give way expecting it to all happen automatically and very rarely a left foot brake but overall no real issues.

    porter_jamie
    Full Member

    mrs car is auto, my van is manual and i soooo wish my vehicle was auto. changing gear by yourself is for poor people :). we both drive either vehicle all the time and don’t ever get confused, as far as i can remember. main criteria for my next vehicle is: must be auto, must have AC.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Would be of use when really making progress, otherwise I just didn’t see the point when the car could just do the gear changing instead.

    So you bought a manual, which does neither? I leave mine in auto 90% of the time and either override it to overtake, or use the paddles as you suggest, when I’m really ‘driving’, rather than blindly following the car in front at 30mph.

    No issues changing between the two, I don’t do it often either, and it’s still fine.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Constantly swap between the two (30 years a manual driver, switched to auto flappy DSG Audi malarky two years ago) but my wife still has a manual – neither of us ever has any problems with switching.

    The only time I ever had an issue was a few years earlier when I drove an auto (as a one-off) in America for three weeks then totally forgot (probably due to sleep depravation) as I drove back up from Heathrow. Pulled onto a slip-road and slowed down until my car just stalled. Panic set in as a lorry was hurtling up behind me! Fortunately I got it started again in time 😯

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    Been driving my new to me auto for a month and switched to my wife’s manual for a short drive last night. I remembered what all the pedals did and didn’t stall it. I prefer the auto now though.

    My car has a ‘manual override’ but I’ve not used it. Maybe it’s ‘cos it’s got 370lb of torque but acceleration doesn’t really seem to be an issue regardless of the gear it’s in.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 55 total)

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