371–380 of 893 posts
In Germany more than 80% still buy cars with manual transmissions: https://presse.adac.de/meldungen/technik/maenner-fahren-auto...
This is very different from the sedated "keep your lane", slow speeds and wide roads everywhere traffic in the US.
regardless of claims, I am very convinced that you can achieve the best mileage with a manual transmission and one reason for that is because you can predict your needs based on what you see and no automatic will do that.
of course with EVs this is all out the window but I am always curious as to why so many EVs focus on raw power instead of gearing a lower powered motor ?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In modern cars, disengaging the clutch (or using neutral) when coasting (toward a stop or down a hill) is less efficient than staying in gear. This is because it takes some fuel to keep the engine idling, where staying in gear allows the computer to completely cut fuel flow, as long as the forward motion is keeping the engine turning.
This used to be the case with fuel injected engines from 80's to 00's but because of new regulations current ECUs might, again, inject fuel while coasting just to keep the catalytic converter warm and operational. The amount is obviously negligible but it's quite crazy to spend more fuel in order to reduce emissions :)
That is what Volkswagen are being forced to do.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lock-up torque converters don't waste power. They started to become popular in the 1970s, and are pretty much universal now.
The lock-up only locks up in very limited conditions, especially older ones. There's basically a few specific speeds with a 10km/h margin that locks up.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Coasting in neutral or with the clutch disengaged is both more dangerous and less efficient then engine braking. In the UK you will fail your driving test if you coast, and in some countries / states it is illegal - with good reason. Just google it - not a single article supporting your argument.
But if you're coasting down a hill and not braking, your engine is idling and you're making use of gravity. The engine will be turning over at ~1000rpm instead of 2000rpm in my diesel. Understandably it is dangerous as you are not in control of the transmission and therefore the wheels, hence the failure in the UK. But I got through some incredibly scarce times by coasting a bit on the commute to work... With automat…
Most automatic transmissions (or at least the ones I've driven, which arguably is not more recent than late 90s) have low ranges where there is engine braking. That's the exact use case for them. Automatic doesn't (or didn't) mean that you must never shift manually.
Automatic transmissions in large vehicles like trucks and buses usually don't have freewheels either, so there is always engine braking.
I never understood how to use automatic transmission in snowy/icy conditions. To me it's basically a lottery. With manual transmission and clutch I can actually recover from a slide almost immediately (the moment you start sliding you disengage transmission right away with clutch and do initial correcting maneuver which you cut short the moment you feel any kind of traction in order not to oversteer; it takes some pr…
I never understood how to use automatic transmission in snowy/icy conditions. To me it's basically a lottery. With manual transmission and clutch I can actually recover from a slide almost immediately (the moment you start sliding you disengage transmission right away with clutch and do initial correcting maneuver which you cut short the moment you feel any kind of traction in order not to oversteer; it takes some pr…
The second part of your statement I quoted above is how. Recovering is identical except for the declutching (instead, if it is a power generated skid the reaction should be to reduce power). But the true part of the recovery (be it with a manual or automatic tranny) is performing the correct wheel turn in the correct direction and amount to recover. And getting that down requires enough practice so that the reaction becomes muscle memory habitual. Once that is done, recovery in an automatic is just as trivial.
You'd be amazed how many people, who never had any training and have never practiced skid recovery, have the initial reaction of turning the wheel the wrong direction (hint: almost everyone who has not ever practiced the maneuver will do this) - which of course simply makes the skid worse.
I got my driver's license in Sweden, and the official driving handbook completely worships manual transmissions, and makes several untrue claims about how much better they are than automatics. You can choose to do your road test in an automatic, but that'll earn you a restriction on your license, barring you from driving a manual. It's probably fair, but almost everyone (myself included) chooses to practice in manual…
But the car market is also changing. We are (regarding cars) a diesel country but as the government want to promote (as they are less polluting) petrol and electric cars, the taxes are becoming a lot higher for those who want to drive with diesel.
If I'm not mistaken (not a car enthousiast) diesel cars with automatic shifters are rare. So when diesel is out, it may also change in this department.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is a bonus! Similar story: My father (and now, my brother) had a 1963 pickup truck that he always left unlocked. He said he never worried about anyone stealing it because he figured most folks couldn't drive it. Not only was it a manual, but it was a 3-speed manual you shifted from the column, so it looked like an automatic inside but yet very much wasn't.
this is called a three-on-the-tree car. as opposed to a four-on-the-floor.