mackinnon

Does your Australian car have an automactic or manual gearbox?

I'm looking at a used car website for Tasmania at the moment, and every car I like the look of has an automatic gearbox

Hutch

Automatic is the favoured format, probably because of the distances driven and the need for cruise control. What's your hostility towards them? I was quite anti-automatic until I drove several different cars extensively in Oz and found the modern boxes a huge improvement on the clunky ones I remember in my mum's old Volvo.

mackinnon

I only passed my test last February at the advanced age of 29.

Since then I have had two Rovers with manual gearboxes, and have to say that I actually LOVE driving.

It's not that I have actually driven an automatic and didn't like it, it's just that it would take half the fun out of it for me.

I mean, what do you do in an automatic if you're cruising along at say, 55mph, and you need to get more acceleration, when in a manual you would drop down a gear or double-declutch?

tabby

I thought I would hate driving a auto but had no choice as when I came on hol's it's all they had but can know say I would always look for a car with it cruise control is great . We have found since being here that they are very hot on sticking to the speed limit (the first time wife drove the car when we arrive she got fined $100 for 5 k over the speed) as for dropping gears and stuff I'm not sure about if I want to go faster I put my foot on the gas or press the plus button on the c/control I have also noticed that most cars here are 4ltr so like s**t of a shovel anyway.

Vash the Stampede

In my home state (Western Australia) manuals were favoured by the average punter on the street, while automatics were favoured by taxi drivers and businessmen.

I personally can't stand autos, and have always driven a manual for this reason. (More efficient, more power, and more control over the engine.)

sean trethewey

Don't worry auto's have a kick down system where when you push the pedal to the floor the car gains rev's faster and rev's higher so the car goes faster.
As for the cruise control you can get cruise control with manual and auto g/boxes.
Also if you like man g/boxes then buy one as there not that hard to find and are normally cheaper to buy.

Hutch

It depends on the car of course, but in the Falcon and the Commodore I drove, they both had these sporty automatic boxes where you nudge the gearstick over to the left and get pseudo-manual so you can go up and down gears at the revs you choose, not the box. I'll definitely be going automatic because I'm one of natures speeders and pegging it back to the speed limit on cruise control will help me keep my licence.

thebears

Why have local Ford, Holden, Toyota, still only using 4 speed auto boxes?
Do any Makes have a 5 speed auto box? any advantage or disadvantages between them?

Whats the Ford Auto like? The recent Holden rental was rough.

Wifes car always Auto, Family car tends to be Auto as we do a lot of city driving (sitting in slow traffic not much fun in a manual).
4x4 always a manual.

Hutch

I reckon that's one of the main reasons they're so much nicer to use than manuals. I'll hopefully be doing a fair bit of driving and the constant gear changing in slow traffic is not only mind-bogglingly tedious but I'm always wondering what it's doing to the clutch. That said my BiL has a nice new Imprezza WRX and he gets full enjoyment(!!) out of it on the (very English) country lanes round where he lives in the Southern Highlands in NSW.

232Bar

Both our cars are manual with cruise control (both Subaru Imprezas) and my company car is an auto. The auto is ok in stop/go traffic, but it is only a 1.6 engine so in general it's crap. I reckon it should be illegal to fit auto boxes to anything less than at least 2.5 ltr as otherwise you end up revving the t*ts off it and going nowhere.

Amazulu

I hate automatics, I prefer the 'feel' of a manual gearbox. Cruise control is available on manual cars. My Golf has a manual DSG 'predictive' gearbox, after you've driven one you'll never go back to a normal manual. There are loads of manual cars here, so no problem getting one.

wmoore

Before I came here I had never driven an automatic. We had use of a Nissan for our first month - auto - and after driving that, and being the lazy git I am, I vowed never to drive a manual ever again

thebears

Had a 1.2 Corsa Semi Auto. It wasn't as bad as I thought (didn't need to exceed 3000 and handled a weekly commute from Putney(London) to Bath.

I was against the decision but wife can only drive Auto and nothing bigger would fit down our previous london street. This was also before the birth of our daughter and subsequent logistical requirements

Common reason used to be you lost so much power through the auto box anything less than 2.0 was a waste of time. Modern box has significantly changed that powerloss - but old sentiment still remains in line with 232Bar if you have the option to be Manual or Auto - only choose Auto with a decent sized motor.

Any body played with any rotary's? - Have had a RX2, RX4, and RX7 - before the Subaru and Evo these were great fun.

Hutch

You lived in London and worked in Bath? Very strange. I lived in Bath for 10 years... I can see how you'd mistake it for a suburb of London though.

thebears

Did an Executive MBA at Bath over 2 years part time.
Drove down Thursday PM or Friday AM came back Saturday night.