Well, J. Mileski has given yet another example of my previous view "horses for courses". In his case i can quite easily see that when not at work, the ease of an automatic would be much preferred.

It's interesting to note that every post mentioning military service comments that when serving they learnt to drive manuals. The USA Abrams M1 main battle tank has an X-1100-3B auto transmission with 4 forward and 2 reverse gears, the British Challenger 2 main battle tank has a TN54 auto transmission with 6 forward and 2 reverse gears. Is there a reason why the armed forces appear to use manuals for day to day vehicles?

The change over to automatics in the Fire trucks of the US Airforce started in the early 70's. To many new Fireman never learned to drive standards at home and were destroying the transmissions.
After I left the AF and came back to my local volunteer fire dept. They had swithed to automatics as well.

Yes when a auto tranny goes it costs. But they are very much reliable nowdays. But then again my 1995 saturn had 125,000 miles on its manual tranny. It was the bad arthritus in my knees that made me get rid of it.

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Old James

Back when I had my 1990 Nissan Sentra, I went through 3 cables on the clutch. I never really understood why the cables kept snapping, but a mechanic told me he thought it was bad design in the way the cable made a rather sharp 90 degree angle curve. It was rather annoying, to say the least. My Saturn is a hydraulic clutch, and I haven't any trouble with it.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I've never driven an automatic before, wouldn't know how to...

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

I've never driven an automatic before, wouldn't know how to...

I don't like the fussy new Automatic style on BMW's, nowadays. Instead of a sturdy straightforward shifter, they have a flimsy feeling turn-signal style stalk that is very touchy and silly.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I've never driven an automatic before, wouldn't know how to...

Auto driving

That is so simple that even a 5 year old could do it! No intention to insult your intelligence Julie, you are much cleverer than that, but it was the best I could find with a quick look. Basically stick the thing in Park when you stop and stick it in Drive when you move. For more experienced drivers there are times when it might be clearly desirable to optimise flexibility and control of the vehicle. In many cases this is putting it in 2 or 1 when going downhill, or putting it in 1 or 2 when accelerating uphill if the down shift lags.

Always remember to keep the foot on the brake pedal of have the handbrake on when in Drive at traffic lights, else the car will creep forward. I used to flick mine into Neutral then hit Drive when the lights changed.

*Taking notes for my trip to California in the future* Thanx my friend:)

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

although mum was not too pleased with gearbox bits and oil splashes all over the patio slabs!

Oooh, what a good boy, dismantling and cleaning mechanical bits outside. All teenagers I knew dismantled on the kitchen table and used the sink for cleaning.

although mum was not too pleased with gearbox bits and oil splashes all over the patio slabs!

Oooh, what a good boy, dismantling and cleaning mechanical bits outside. All teenagers I knew dismantled on the kitchen table and used the sink for cleaning.

...followed by the obligatory slap around the head when dinner time approached...

...then another after sticking hands full of oil & grease into the soap powder...

...who needs fairy liquid for soft hands :-)

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I've never driven an automatic before, wouldn't know how to...

You'd be fine Julie... you'd just find yourself waving at your knee every now and again... :)

I've never driven an automatic before, wouldn't know how to...

All you need to know when driving an automatic is put on some toe tapping music to keep the left foot busy and get a fine non alcoholic beverage for the right hand. That way you won't reach for the clutch or the shifter, something most of us do when we haven't driven an automatic in a while.

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I've never driven an automatic before, wouldn't know how to...

All you need to know when driving an automatic is put on some toe tapping music to keep the left foot busy and get a fine non alcoholic beverage for the right hand. That way you won't reach for the clutch or the shifter, something most of us do when we haven't driven an automatic in a while.

*takes further notes* Thanx for the tip Dena:)

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

It does appear from information received via PM that residents in the USA drive automatics differently to us in the UK and Europe. Apparently I wouldn't pass a USA driving test, and neither would they pass a UK one!

vive la différence as they say :-)))

What's the difference??? You take it out of Park and into Reverse to back out of your parking space, you move it to Drive to go forward, you put it back in Park when you get there. If you don't want to hold the brake while stopped for a long red light or at a fast food drive-thru, you put it in neutral (but make sure you don't roll).

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Every once in a while, some genius gets the idea that a hydraulic transmission can be used on a train. It may work in other parts of the world, but it has always been a dismal failure in the US.

Last week, the Nippon Sharyo plant in Rochelle, Ill. finished the first two cars of an order of diesel multiple units (DMUs) for a new airport shuttle service in Toronto. They had the cars towed to Chicago for weekend testing on a Metra line with a stretch of several miles with no road crossings. The engineer running them found that the transmission wouldn't always engage and he would have to go back to neutral, wait a few seconds, and try again. Later, he found that they would even slip out of gear while running and he would have to stop and do the neutral bit. At one point, one of the cars failed entirely, but the other one was able to get them to the shop. And these are brand new cars, still with protective tape and wrapping on a lot of the interior surfaces! When they worked, though, he was impressed with the acceleration, ride, and quietness inside.

I hope the factory techs on board were suitably embarrassed.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

It does appear from information received via PM that residents in the USA drive automatics differently to us in the UK and Europe. Apparently I wouldn't pass a USA driving test, and neither would they pass a UK one!

vive la différence as they say :-)))

What's the difference??? You take it out of Park and into Reverse to back out of your parking space, you move it to Drive to go forward, you put it back in Park when you get there. If you don't want to hold the brake while stopped for a long red light or at a fast food drive-thru, you put it in neutral (but make sure you don't roll).

I've always put My foot on the brake pedal at a stop sign or a stop light, at fast food when I did go there, park was preferred.

Putting it in Park is safer. You can be on a slight incline, and maybe there is a small bump or pebble holding the car. The tires flex a little bit, and you are rolling......

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Putting it in Park is safer. You can be on a slight incline, and maybe there is a small bump or pebble holding the car. The tires flex a little bit, and you are rolling......

When parked, I've never trusted park or the handbrake so if on an upward slope left it in 1st & if a downward, left it in reverse.

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Putting it in Park is safer. You can be on a slight incline, and maybe there is a small bump or pebble holding the car. The tires flex a little bit, and you are rolling......

When parked, I've never trusted park or the handbrake so if on an upward slope left it in 1st & if a downward, left it in reverse.

But you are talking about a manual. We were talking about an automatic. Leaving an automatic in gear does not work, as once the engine stops, there is no hydraulic pressure to engage the gears and it is essentially in neutral.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

True, which is one of the reasons why I disliked automatics.

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It does appear from information received via PM that residents in the USA drive automatics differently to us in the UK and Europe. Apparently I wouldn't pass a USA driving test, and neither would they pass a UK one!

vive la différence as they say :-)))

What's the difference??? You take it out of Park and into Reverse to back out of your parking space, you move it to Drive to go forward, you put it back in Park when you get there. If you don't want to hold the brake while stopped for a long red light or at a fast food drive-thru, you put it in neutral (but make sure you don't roll).

I've always put My foot on the brake pedal at a stop sign or a stop light, at fast food when I did go there, park was preferred.

Yes. After all if your foot isn't on the brake pedal, the idiot behind you slams into you at full speed because your brake lights aren't on.

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It does appear from information received via PM that residents in the USA drive automatics differently to us in the UK and Europe. Apparently I wouldn't pass a USA driving test, and neither would they pass a UK one!

vive la différence as they say :-)))

What's the difference??? You take it out of Park and into Reverse to back out of your parking space, you move it to Drive to go forward, you put it back in Park when you get there. If you don't want to hold the brake while stopped for a long red light or at a fast food drive-thru, you put it in neutral (but make sure you don't roll).

I've always put My foot on the brake pedal at a stop sign or a stop light, at fast food when I did go there, park was preferred.

Yes. After all if your foot isn't on the brake pedal, the idiot behind you slams into you at full speed because your brake lights aren't on.

I consider that and wait until he stops before I take my foot off.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I use three ways of securing the car -- even if not parked on a hill:

1) Put (standard) transmission into reverse gear.

2) Engage emergency brake (some question about this, in very cold weather).

3) "Curb" the front wheels (if curb available).

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Engage emergency brake in very cold weather

My car is now over nine years old and the emergency brake
still works like a charm in all weathers.

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