How not to drive a bus

[Piemaster]

1l engine isn't big enough, even in a Micra

Depends on use and user. Wouldn't be my first choice for motorways, but for just nipping to the shops...

Spoiler

I'd take the bike

Engines are the most reliable, efficient and powerful they've ever been, unfortunately its been offset by cars getting bigger and heavier.

 

[Drago]

Back when my missus still drove she had a Peugeot 107 Tipronic as a courtesy car for a day. Turgid in auto mode and supposedly unreliable to, but in Tiptronic semi auto mode she reckon it was brilliant to us and huge fun.
VW DSG is something I wouldn't consider. To this day they're still plagued with reliability problems, an If it fails just outside warranty VW won't consider any goodwill unless every service was carried out at a VW dealership. You've also got 2 clutches to replace when they wear out, and more than double the Labour to do the job.

 

[GrasB]

Based on recent experience, a 1l engine isn't big enough, even in a Micra. And an auto box really isn't the answer. Unless the question is How can I make this even worse?

Yeah, if you go too small & underpowered you've got problems that no amount of gear changing can get over, I feel a figure of around 50bhp/tonn is around the minimum for modern traffic conditions imo. But if you've a car which is close to this you'll need to be hovering around peek power quite a lot, a well sorted auto box will make it much easier to keep the revs there. That said I'll disagree with that in some regard, once you get over the ECU induced throttle lag (nothing to do with the turbo it's throttle input smoothing) the 1.0 EcoBOOST is more than powerful enough for safe daily driving.

 

[TheDoctor]

I think the Micra didn't have a turbo. It could barely overcome its own inertia!

 

[Archie_tect]

What you need is a DAF 240 variomatic...

 

[Mike_P]

Think this article is more worrying http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ort/11180429/Driverless-buses-on-the-way.html

 

[Over The Hill]

I have owned three automatic cars. The first was a Japanese car, Honda Insight, which was their hybrid and has a1.3 litre petrol linked to an electric motor and a CVT transmission. I never really got on with it, too little power from the engine and a gearbox that had to rev high to get anywhere.

My last car was an American automatic, a Ford Mustang to be precise. This had a three speed auto with overdrive. Ok the gearbox was paired up to a 4+ litre engine with plenty of torque which made it a great combination. Only minor gripe was no engine breaking in overdrive but it was easy enough to switch this off and back of via a button on the shifter.

My current car in German, a Passat Estate with a 2.0 litre turbo diesel engine and DSG transmission which VW bill as semi-automatic.

I'd never go back to a manual but also I'd never so for a small engine / auto box combination again either.

On long journeys I do sometimes find myself looking for somewhere to position my redundant leg left for comfort but I've never stuck it up on the dash

Mercedes have conveniently moved the parking brake from left hand operated to left foot operated (small pedal tucked down in footwell). But then I have know some auto drivers who just leave it in "park" and don't ever bother putting on the parking brake.

 

[Over The Hill]

Nope, the most recent autos I've driven were cars one and three years old respectively (both German). They are all very smooth and competent at wafting from A to B but absolutely dire if you actually want to drive the thing. Dropping a gear for a bend, for example, is just a pain in an auto: even the latest autos do the requested change when and if they feel like it.

I know what you mean but perhaps you are trying to drive it too much like a manual car. Driving a manual we drop the gear early to be ready to power out of the corner without changing gear in the corner. Do we need to do this for an auto? I find that as I am on the way out of the corner and want to put on some power, the car is there and ready with the right gear.
In old autos I tended to keep track of the gear I was in but with this one (Diesel E class merc with a 6 speed auto box) I really find it hard to tell when it changes and only know if the rev counter drops a bit. I find it amazingly responsive and will just drop to the correct gear for whatever I want to do.
Your corner scenario is also a bit like changing down to overtake. End up just trusting it and letting the car sort it out.
I have got a change up/down option on my car but have only ever used it when towing down a really steep hill. But you can drive it to just flick the auto selector left to drop a cog.

 

[GrasB]

Mercedes have conveniently moved the parking brake from left hand operated to left foot operated (small pedal tucked down in footwell). But then I have know some auto drivers who just leave it in "park" and don't ever bother putting on the parking brake.

A good way to break gearboxes on a hill if loaded. It's a fairly small mental pin the weight of the car is being supported by.

 

[Over The Hill]

I had a very old car once which had the headlight dip as a foot-operated button on the floor behind the clutch. I was forever trying to change gear with it when I first got the car.

Rover P6?

 

[GrasB]

Nope, the most recent autos I've driven were cars one and three years old respectively (both German). They are all very smooth and competent at wafting from A to B but absolutely dire if you actually want to drive the thing. Dropping a gear for a bend, for example, is just a pain in an auto: even the latest autos do the requested change when and if they feel like it.

Audi & BMW boxes will only block you if you ask for a change which drops you above the red line. The merc' software will block you for other reasons.

 

[Over The Hill]

A good way to break gearboxes on a hill if loaded. It's a fairly small mental pin the weight of the car is being supported by.

I also was told the parking bake rusts up and fails the MOT if not used.

 

[GrasB]

I know what you mean but perhaps you are trying to drive it too much like a manual car

The problem is the 'box is reactive rather proactive. This means it'll change when the loading of the chassis changes rather than when the car is naturally stable. Fine if you drive expecting that, however if you're driving in such a way that this counters your driving style it irks greatly to have your deliberate settling pause unbalanced by the auto box shifting (even if you can't feel the shift it still leaves the car less settled.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Driving a manual we drop the gear early to be ready to power out of the corner without changing gear in the corner.

It's also about stabilising the car for the corner, and being sure it's not going to change gear halfway round.

Your corner scenario is also a bit like changing down to overtake. End up just trusting it and letting the car sort it out.

Again, kickdown works, but there is a delay - and throttle control is somewhat binary during the overtake. With a manual box, I'm ready to accelerate instantly, and can control my speed the whole way through.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Audi & BMW boxes will only block you if you ask for a change which drops you above the red line. The merc' software will block you for other reasons.

Most recent auto I drove was indeed a Merc, but a BMW also didn't change instantly (and I was at the appropriate revs for the change).