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Car dilemma. Hoping someone can help!

(63 Posts)
midgey Tue 26-Sept-23 19:58:34

To be honest…..he’s reading to much! After a bit one starts to go mad with all the different advice.

Aveline Tue 26-Sept-23 19:54:34

I don't have an automatic. Lots of torque though. I love my wee car -a VW Up!

crazyH Tue 26-Sept-23 19:21:57

ULEZ? Torque ?
My gosh, you ladies are so knowledgable? I have a 2016 Kia Rio Automatic - 38000 mikes on the clock (had to go out and check this) - no intention of changing it. I use it for shopping and visiting family and friends, locally. That’s it. Sometimes I wonder if it’s cheaper for me to sell it and use the proceeds for taxis, but then …….

ayse Tue 26-Sept-23 18:49:13

We have a Citroen automatic. It’s very easy to drive and I love it. It wouldn’t be ULEZ compliant but I’m sure you can buy more updated models. It’s a Berlingo and has very good driving visibility especially as it’s high up. Good for smaller people.

Caravansera Tue 26-Sept-23 18:43:41

Perhaps read up a bit on the tech yourself to understand how it all works.

Double clutch transmissions are essentially semi automatics.

DCTs can lag when a driver needs another gear other than the one preselected by the transmission. The transmission's software needs time to select the correct gear, resulting in lag.

Read these for starters:

www.hyundai.news/eu/articles/stories/how-dual-clutch-transmission-works.html

www.alltransmissionworld.com/what-you-should-know-about-dual-clutch-transmissionswhat-you-should-know-about-dual-clutch-transmissions

Jaxjacky Tue 26-Sept-23 18:34:52

Sorry Wiser I misread your post.

Wiser Tue 26-Sept-23 18:26:32

Caravansera. I am completely ignorant about cars but he has been driving since 17 and has been involving me as I think he is finding it confusing. He was about to buy a new mg trophy automatic but then on the second test drive it did the lagging thing. Ditto nissan juke and Skoda kamiq. Vw showroom said it would happen with VW's unless he bought a hybrid. Today he read that some dct cars have torque, others not and that dct plus torque might solve it..I have no idea what any of it means. I would be happy for him to go and get whatever he wants. As he is older this will be his last car, he says, and he definitely doesn't want to have the lag thing . I think Hyundai might do the dct plus torque on Tucson but it seems quite large for 2 people

Ashcombe Tue 26-Sept-23 18:25:36

I bought a brand new Ford Fiesta Zetec Ecoboost automatic car in 2016 and I love it. I do town driving and long distance, including regular trips across to France. It even got me through a battle with the Beast from the East en route to Portsmouth!

My husband loves to drive it, even though in 50 years he has never owned an automatic. It's very responsive and has the facility to override the gears with simple plus and minus buttons and a sport setting. Despite being one litre with three cylinders and turbo boost, it has exemplary power delivery according to DH. No road tax for the first year and £35 p.a. ever since.

Thoroughly recommended!! Good luck!

Caravansera Tue 26-Sept-23 18:17:46

All cars have torque. It's the engine's rotational force - the amount of work an engine can exert.

Automatics have a torque converter which takes the place of manual transmission.

If your current car is a double clutch automatic is may not have a torque converter.

Torque works differently in petrol and diesel cars. Petrol cars achived peak torque faster than diesels and why they perform better.

Electric cars reach peak torque instantly as they aren't having to work up through the rev counter.

I agree with other people. Car tech has moved on. Find one where he likes the performance without worrying too much about how and why.

Wiser Tue 26-Sept-23 18:09:37

He has test driven several and some have the time lag surge which is well documented online with recent models. He is worried that the ones which don't do it on a test drive my ght fo it with more driving. I think Cinch would at least give him a bit longer to try the car. The near accidents with our Volvo V50 were scary.What car do you have Nannarose..

Nannarose Tue 26-Sept-23 17:01:48

I think you will find that car technology has moved on a lot, and that is unlikely to be a problem now. I have driven automatics for many years. I won't recommend a make, just suggest that you get test drives.

Jaxjacky Tue 26-Sept-23 17:00:37

I don’t really understand your quandary? Buying a ULEZ compliant automatic would solve the problem surely.

Wiser Tue 26-Sept-23 16:45:23

For 12 years my husband has driven our Volvo automatic diesel car. Due to Ulez it is being scrapped this week. He loves his car but always had a problem since we got it as a two year old car. It has double clutch transmission (dct). Sometimes when going at low speed it judders. Four times coming up to big junctions it has nearly caused an accident. This is something he really wants to avoid. He still prefers automatic.Apparently you can get cars with torque (??) and they may be better. He prefers a petrol car. Any knowledge you might have would be great. I don't drive but am now truly fed up of looking at cars.