OT: Manual or automatic gearbox? and XC60 opinion...

Are you sure it isn't an automatic parking brake? That releases itself as you accelerate off from stopped.

On my car, with DSG, I just take my foot off the brake when it has stopped. Parking brake will have applied itself. Then onto accelerator to move off again.

When I first drove automatic, it was switching back to manual after a few months that got me. I simply forgot you need to depress the clutch as you stop!

My only niggle with that, using the electric handbrake, is that the car squats down a little with brakes just on the rear, while the hold assist uses all 4 brakes and sets of again without squatting down.

That?s mad when finely adjusting the position of the car like when parking in a very tight spot.

My first automatic didn't have handbrake. It had a parking brake which was operated by foot. (The manual version was foul to drive.)

This. My ZF 8 speed auto is stunningly clever at getting the right ratio and the TC to locks up very quickly. It's an absolute joy to drive. I was reluctant at first having had 3 old 3 speed auto cars in the past (VP Princess R, Rover P5B and a Rover 3500 SD1). It took about 30mins of driving to make me realise how naff it is having to change gear yourself and how awful old auto 3 speed boxes were.

I occasionally drive other peoples' manual cars, don't want to train my feet that way ...

If you put the handbrake on in drive, yes.

Otherwise you cant shift the stick back to drive until you've released it.

Using your right foot only is no more work for your right foot than driving a manual. I work on the principle that you should drive an automatic as much like a manual as possible, omitting the tasks like changing gear and using the clutch, but not changing or adding anything else. Having to adjust between right-foot braking for manual and left-foot for auto is something I would find very difficult. I'm used to braking with my right foot. Why would I want *not* to do that in an auto - apart from the "because you can" factor ;-)

I suspect much of both.

As explained, my car is designed to keep brake lights on whenever it's stopped in gear, and I don't shift into neutral just for creeping forwards/stopping in traffic.

That's what I do.

What I don't want to do is train my left foot to do braking, too much potential for f*ck-up.

I found it really rather easy

I've not found it a problem. At worst, you'll use both feet on the brake in a panic.

Sounds like you've never learned how. There are lots of practical advantages using both feet in an auto. But if you've decided it's not for you, fairy nuff. But not having tried it hardly in a position to be definitive?

Oddly, when most first try it, they find they start off braking too hard. Because with a clutch you slap it down and release gently - rather the reverse of braking.

In the same way that my fingers remember all my complex passwords, but my brain doesn't, my feet know how to do emergency braking, without any input from my brain .. ok clearly not ... but that's how it feels.

Yes, whenever I've tried left foot braking, I've made friends with the windscreen.

I don't see what's to gain by left-foot breaking, once you have hold assist available?

OK, you *do* need to apply the brake with your left foot to make use of launch control ...

Auto, DSG.

I have a car that does everything to not get involved with the drudgery of driving.

I like it, it's a motorised armchair pulling me from A to B with automatic gears and brakes. I just point it, and switch on the radar equipped cruise control. Automatic handbrake when it comes to a stop. Automatic crawl in traffic if the car in front decides to move forward in the queue. A camera recognises speed signs.

Not autopilot on the steering yet, but given that's electric - a few GPIO pins on a raspberry pi should be easy to interface.... (just kiddin')

If I feel a bit bored and can afford the fuel, I have a few button options to go manual, wreak the comfort, and enjoy the 'die trying hit'.

But then there's the downsides, that all of this is software driven, and there is an AI somewhere. Ye have to be be aware second guessing what it could do next.

So my car looks for things in front, and stays a configured distance behind them. Collision avoidance.

If the car in front stupidly hits the speed limit and afterwards careers into the suddenly braked car car in front of it, my car gently puts the brakes on, checks if I'm awake, and if not, then slams on the anchors in the middle of the road. Then I presumably get gently awoken to being rear ended by the car behind, while being surrounded by exploding pillows.

Nice attention to detail... the next release of the model is said to be much improved, by steering the car to near the pavement.

Some people don't like tech - this car would be the source of a million questions "why on earth did it do that?"

Mine doesn't have radar cruise control, but it does have a front facing camera under the rear view mirror that looks out for "hazards"

When it spots a "hazard" it goes BONG! and flashes up a distracting message on the screen, it has never managed to spot one of these hazards before I did, and the other day as I was pulling around a bend over a humpback bridge, it noticed that I was momentarily aimed towards some pedestrians walking the other way round the bend, so it did a full-on application of ABS, f****ng thing!