My car has a 7-speed DSG gearbox (which is broadly similar to PDK). And the parking brake applies automatically when it comes to a complete stop. So I don't think about keeping my foot on the brake pedal, nor do I apply the parking brake. But nor do I even consider knocking it out of drive under normal circumstances.
very true...
Mine is an older version with no auto parking brake. Just a conventional handbrake.
But could you clarify? It applies the parking brake as soon as you come to a complete stop? So no need to keep the footbrake applied at a red traffic light etc? And disengages the clutch totally?
Automatically drives itself onto the recovery vehicle when it goes wrong ??.
There is a Land Rover dealer locally and new-ish Range rovers being unloaded from recovery vehicles on the forecourt is a regular occurence.
The car stops, and within probably some fraction of a second, the parking brake applies and the clutch seems to totally disengage.
When I want to move off again, I gently press the accelerator, which then uses the clutch and starts moving - releasing the parking brake at the right moment. It also has hill start assist.
Mind, sometimes I do feel it doesn't do quite such a good job as it should with a little bit of a jerk as it starts/releases parking brake.
(Bloomin' confusing going back to the other car I regularly drive which, whilst auto, is entirely different.)
Yes. I like to control when the car changes gear so I don't get a sudden surge of power if the car changes down when I wasn't expecting it - eg in response to a slight increase in throttle where I'd stay in the same gear in a manual.
DSGs are great for *performing* the gear change with a smoothness that most manual drivers (me included) cannot always achieve. But I would want to remain in control of *when* the gearchange occurred.
I've driven autos and found them difficult to predict - I find myself
*fighting* a gearbox that changes down to readily, so I back off the power if it changes down unexpectedly, and the damn thing changes back up - hitting the happy medium of moderate, controlled acceleration can be difficult. Most of my auto experience was a long time ago in the 1980s, on my Dad's Ford Sierra and various Honda Accords, but I have driven a few Ford Fiesta-size auto loan cars when my car has been in the garage. .Which is why I would always put an auto into neutral if I was stopped for more than a few seconds - exactly as for a manual - so I can come off the footbrake and use the handbrake. I might even use park, but only if I was stuck in a traffic jam with no chance of setting off in the next five minutes - and only if the brief flash of the reversing lights as I moved from park to drive wasn't going to scare the car behind ;-)
You'll probably say that I'm trying to drive an auto too much as I'd drive a manual, as regards neutral and handbrake when stopped ;-)
Can always choose the manual mode - at least, on my DSG I have the choice. Including flippers on steering wheel.
Man in dealer when I was looking around (a few years ago now), said that most people play with the flippers a few times when they first drive a DSG car. Then never use them again.
Ah - right. I have to apply the foot brake to engage drive, so after that all I have to do is release the footbrake for it to move off slowly, as in creeping in a traffic jam.
Seems there is no 100% perfect solution if you don't want the brake lights on all the time you're stopped. ;-)
I think creep is, by (informal) definition, uncommanded.
I think what you do is exactly the right thing to do with torque converter transmission. I've no idea about the newer systems. Perhaps if they disengage completely when stopped there is no reason to take them out of "drive".
A decent auto only changes down when you demand more acceleration from it than it can provide in that gear. Not really come across one which does as you've described.
DSG to me is a single clutch box. They are anything but smooth changing. The PDK (twin clutch) is as smooth as any auto - except if you kick it down several gears. And if in that sort of hurry, smoothness likely doesn't matter so much.
Autos have come on a long way from those 3 speed days. And small modern autos tend not to be state of the art. Being for a basically cheap car.
The first pretty decent auto I drove was the ZF 5 speed which arrived in an early 90s BMW 5 Series. Modern TC autos for a similar cost car have even more gears.
My PDK has 7. Seems enough. Very tall gearing for restful cruise and best enonomy, and a low enough first for crawling in traffic and fast take off from rest.
A similar TC box would likely be more refined for actually moving off from rest - but with a slight MPG penalty. Only you can decide which you prefer. But what the maker offers can make that decision for you. ;-)
The reverse lights on mine have a slight delay. They don't flash when going from park to drive. Using park simply saves the extra operation of applying the handbrake. As on most cars you have to apply the footbrake before you can select drive anyway.
And some modern manuals have auto parking brakes too. Not driven one, though.
I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by a decent modern auto.
Quite. Mine as well as the steering wheel shifters allows you to move the gearlever back or forward against a spring to change gear - like on a motorbike. In manual mode I actually prefer that to the steering wheel buttons. Later versions have paddles.
But other than playing with it, the auto generally works just fine.
You control it with the brakes.
There's generally no need to put a TC transmission in neutral under heavy traffic conditions, as the TC is designed to handle vastly more heat than this generates. Like when going up hill, etc.
With a conventional clutch type, the clutch only 'slips' when moving off from rest. With idling in a traffic jam in drive, it is slightly engaged to provide the creep function. And since many are multi plate wet types, may also drag slightly at all times when nominally disengaged, generating some heat. But in neutral or park, any drag will simply spin the layshaft(s)
Who cares? I never ever use mine. They look like brake lights. So when you brake, the person behind doesn't know and slams into you. A very dangerous invention. Tail lights are enough for the following car to see you. If they aren't, they're driving too fast for the conditions and it's their problem.
Towns have more, as they're full of council estates.
Auto headlights are crazy, they turn on when you drive through a slightly shaded area of trees, then off again after 5 seconds.
But the worst thing is the always on EU daytime running lights fiasco. First thing I do is to disconnect them. You don't needs lights to see something when the sun is out!
If you can't see through rain, go to specsavers or replace your windscreen wipers.
You know what would really help in heavy rain? The re-invention of mudguards. Why do cars not have them anymore? They should be a legal requirement.
In article snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk>, "Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> writes
"Normal" autos should not be held in drive with brake on for long periods esp. on a hot day - hydraulic fluid overheats.
Oh no much simpler than that. It would insist telling me that the washer bottle needed filling - even though the Dealer staff had just filled it!!
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