|
Jun 2019
7:46am, 19 Jun 2019
18,115 posts
|
ChrisHB
Drive for an hour on the A74/M74 without touching the pedals!
|
|
Jun 2019
8:05am, 19 Jun 2019
32,314 posts
|
Derby Tup
Cruise control isn’t for me
|
|
Jun 2019
8:05am, 19 Jun 2019
32,315 posts
|
Derby Tup
It’s the driving equivalent of a pair of slippers
|
|
Jun 2019
8:18am, 19 Jun 2019
4,657 posts
|
jda
I hesitate to suggest...those complaining that autos do it all wrong, maybe should have more belief in the ability of engineers with (collectively) thousands of years of experience and optimised algorithms, over the handful of lessons in the dim distant past on an 80s car followed by a couple of decades of muddling through. I know we are all better than average drivers, but average is pretty piss-poor so that's not saying much.
Not that I have an auto or cruise control but am happy to use when hiring (USA trips usually).
|
|
Jun 2019
8:23am, 19 Jun 2019
15,263 posts
|
Angus Clydesdale
My Discovery with auto box is great for towing and off road. Having done both of those things in manual, I’m very happy with the improvement auto brings.
As for cruise control, as Chris says, we can cruise for more than an hour through the Borders without touching a pedal!
Then when we hit gridlocked England the automatic is much easier to drive in the stop/start conditions of English motorways.
I’m very much looking forward to F1 style automation when I get my new VW transporter. 
|
|
Jun 2019
8:28am, 19 Jun 2019
10,590 posts
|
Garfield
Thanks jda, auto cars work much better now than they did in the 80s. Back then, the timing had to be well adjusted or it would be a pain in the butt.
|
|
Jun 2019
8:39am, 19 Jun 2019
31,824 posts
|
HappyG(rrr)
So, now that I'm officially qualified to take part in this thread, it's just become a car discussion forum?!
Good autos (modern, with variable gear pre selection) are more fuel efficient that manuals Dv. So no, we auto drivers are no more planet destroying that manual drivers. Everyone who puts their foot down hard, or takes a (fossil fuelled) car when they shouldn't (including me!) is a planet destroyer though!
I got an auto because of running. I was convinced my left leg Achilles, calf, knee and hip niggles were made worse by the clutch (pretty heavy in BMW). I love the auto now! G
|
|
Jun 2019
8:39am, 19 Jun 2019
1,044 posts
|
um
Cruise control is great - for long motorway trips and especially for the increasing 50mph average speed sections.
Automatic (having probably driven more miles in the US then UK in the last 10 years) is very different what it was - you are just as much in control as manual, as long as you set the car the way you want (eco, sports, old fart etc etc). And paddles for gears are also great.
|
|
Jun 2019
8:51am, 19 Jun 2019
9,587 posts
|
SarahWoo
The automatic gearbox in Mr Woo's company Lexus is light-years away (performance-wise) from the Dolomite Sprint auto that my Dad had when I first passed my test. I'm still not comfortable with it though.
|
|
Jun 2019
5:14pm, 19 Jun 2019
4,311 posts
|
quimby
G, my change was due to BMW clutch. The number of times I've had wobbly clutch leg in heavy traffic was becoming embarrassing. The new one seems somehow less "diesely" too, it warms up quicker, doesn't labour up the hill out of our estate like the last one. I am still getting to know the bells and whistles, I have unlocked it using a phone app (this seemed pointless and slower than using the key) and apparently I can set the aircon to come on and cool it down before I get in it (might be more useful, wish I'd remembered this today as the car was a bit hot when I got in it to drive home).
|
