Automatics

J J

johnmc

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 Jun 2007
Messages
26,284
Location
Manchester. Always will be.
Does anyone drive an automatic car out of choice? Ive had a few as hire cars through work, nice motors as well, but having an automatic just takes any enjoyment away.
 
I need one because of disability but i love it,stick it in drive and off you go.I can see your point about it being less exciting to drive.I also have one of the steering knobs(no jokes required,heard them all)that rally drivers have,everyone should have one of those,parking is easy
 
I know a rather successful IT entrepenuer ,through my old ex pat football team; and when he sold his company he bought an Aston Martin and had them convert it to an automatic,sacrilige.
My wife has an automatic ,as she suffers from frozen shoulder and in my opinion they make you lazy.
 
I haven't drove a manual car since getting back from Australia 30 years ago (its like the USA manual transmissions are not the norm) and hope I never will. All of this handbrake / clutch / accelerator nonsense!
if you want to enjoy driving then the only way to go is with an automatic.
And yes I do drive with my slippers on whilst smoking a pipe and wearing a trilby ;-)
 
I've driven automatics over here now for 7 years. There are very few cars you can buy here that have manual transmissions, and I hate driving them now when I go back home to visit. Will always buy automatic from now on.
 
Dubai Blue said:
I've driven automatics over here now for 7 years. There are very few cars you can buy here that have manual transmissions, and I hate driving them now when I go back home to visit. Will always buy automatic from now on.
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yeah mainly auto's here in Oz, my last 5 or 6 cars have been auto's...I drove my sons manual recently and hit some traffic, what a pain in the arse all that clutching in and out shit is when your crawling along and constantly stopping.
Id never go back to manual.
 
Both mine and my wife's cars are automatics with the ability to drive in manual, but never do.
My company van is manual, and it's a ball ache to keep changing gear in traffic jams :(
 
after many years preferring the "driving experience" with various boy racer then sports cars, I had kids and got a 4x4. Automatic with sports box and manual (up and down) option. Only ever tried the manual a couple of times. Now have a stupid van thing, same box, only ever drive on auto - soooo easy.
If and when my midlife crisis allows a sports/classic car I will go for gears but won't drive it all the time...
 
I drive a manual, but I've had automatics in the past. Long time ago mind, it was only a three speed box. I think today's 6 and 7 geared auto boxes would be a lot better.
If I could afford one I think I'd like one, on account of being inherently fucking idle. Changing gear is overrated, and unless you're on the track, racing, then I think an auto is definitely preferable.
I'd have to have more money than I'm on now though, autos are generally thirstier, and they get through brakes a lot quicker too.
I dislike driving these days, so anything that makes life easier please.
 
TGR said:
I haven't drove a manual car since getting back from Australia 30 years ago (its like the USA manual transmissions are not the norm) and hope I never will. All of this handbrake / clutch / accelerator nonsense!
if you want to enjoy driving then the only way to go is with an automatic.
And yes I do drive with my slippers on whilst smoking a pipe and wearing a trilby ;-)
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NO!!

Tell me where you live, so I can avoid the area.

I quite like the Aston automatics. I've driven (very briefly) the Rapide and the Vantage, but you don't have a gear selector, but buttons on the dashboard. (All right, I must be honest, I was moving them in a store and had to move them from one end to the other, reversing into a new parking bay. In the same way, I've driven Porsches and an AC Cobra!)
 
All my vehicles are automatic if I can help it, and the manuals don't last long once I hit rush hour traffic and remember why they're a proper ballache.

Modern auto's are fantastic, some you can't even tell if they're changing gear, they're so smooth (Lexus LS400), some have really sporty gear changes like the S class Jag I test drove once, and most have a sport setting anyway for more spirited driving - there's nothing you can't do in an auto that you can do in a manual, and once you get the feel for the particular car you're driving you can drive like a nutter if you want to.

All those captains of industry that drive the big mercs, Jags, Beemers, Lexiii (if that's a word!) all have the auto boxes for a reason - they're better than the old stick shifts, more reliable, no clutch to go wrong, a no-brainer, unless you're 19 and are bothered about what your mates will think :)
 
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