Changing from a Manual car to an Automatic after driving manual for around 50 yrs

Most manual cars are capped at 6 gears - normally 5 plus reverse. Modern automatics can have 8, 9, or 10. This is computer controlled in an automatic which saves fuel because it's a case of constantly adjusting. No coasting along in the wrong gear - staying in one gear when another is better.

It used to be true years ago.

JackyB

No one else has mentioned the consumption. So is really now no longer the case that an automatic has a higher consumption?

Ours is a plug in hybrid and far better consumption than our son’s old manual car.

SueDonim

There’s a big space between where the clutch would be and the brake on my car, and anyway, I don’t brake with my left foot.

Even in a foreign hire car the pedals are the same way round, so I don’t know why you’d want to brake with your left foot.

There’s a big space between where the clutch would be and the brake on my car, and anyway, I don’t brake with my left foot.

I drive round & round too till I find a nice wide space. My reverse parking skills have worsened which is why I was thinking of trying to trust the car’s “computer” again.

It's when you go for the clutch with your left foot but catch it on the brake because the brake pedal is wider and stretches across to the left a bit. It's not because you are pressing the accelerator and the brake at the same time.

My DH pressed the brake twice during the first week of using our new car. We came to a very abrupt emergence stop. We were lucky there was nothing behind us, or it could have been nasty. Something to be aware of if you’ve never driven one before.

SueDonim

Oh really? I don’t think it would cross my mind to do that, if I’d never used both feet to operate both brake and accelerator. It sounds dangerous, to me.

It is dangerous, it isn't intentional, just an explanation of Cambia's dilemma when first driving an automatic car after years of driving a manual. I know what she meant. It obviously never happened to you, that's good.

My son has it on his car and uses it. He loves that the car will park itself into a relatively tight spot but says he always has to 're-park' the car closer to the curb. I can parallel park in one go better than his automated system

:35Musky17

Assisted Parking-Has anyone got this feature? Do you use it? I have it in my 8 year old Peugeot but in all that time I have only tried it out twice! You operate accelerator and brake while letting go of the steering wheel. You can take back control of the manoeuvre by grabbing the steering wheel if necessary.

Yes it's in my current car but have never used it and only my experienced it when sitting in the passenger side on the test drive. It felt very odd and I didn't trust it to reverse into the given space .I'd rather drive round and round until I find a space I can park in 'normally,'

Oh really? I don’t think it would cross my mind to do that, if I’d never used both feet to operate both brake and accelerator. It sounds dangerous, to me.

Cambria probably means in a manual car you put your left foot on the clutch and right foot on the brake. In automatics there is no clutch pedal, so at first it's a simple mistake to put your left foot on the brake and right foot on the accelerator. I bet most first time automatic drivers have done it, me included 😳.

Cambia

I changed a few years ago and wouldn’t go back to manual now. Bit of a learning curve at first, I kept stalling it by trying to press the brake and accelerator for the first week! Much much easier to drive now though. Go for it, good for your brain to learn something new too!

I don’t understand that. You never press both brake and accelerator at the same time in a manual car so why would you do that in an auto?

I have assisted parking in my car. It works properly about 50% of the time. It quite often misses that there’s even a space there and goes sailing past. It also parks wonky at times.

I booked a lesson with an automatic before I made the move (at 70).why did I wait so long.Love it.

My present car is an automatic but Paw always had them so I thought I knew what I was doing.
More or less.
But 4 years on, I still occasionally feel my left arm reaching down to a non- existent gear lever or my left foot wiggling around for no reason.
Other than that - brilliant.

Musky17

Assisted Parking-Has anyone got this feature? Do you use it? I have it in my 8 year old Peugeot but in all that time I have only tried it out twice! You operate accelerator and brake while letting go of the steering wheel. You can take back control of the manoeuvre by grabbing the steering wheel if necessary.

My sister in law had this. It got in a mess half in and half out of a space in a busy town centre and refused to continue. Don"'t think she's used it since.

JackyB

No one else has mentioned the consumption. So is really now no longer the case that an automatic has a higher consumption?

Years ago, when I had an automatic, I think it might have used more fuel than the manual I exchanged it for.
Our current automatic uses much less, than the manual I had just before.

Assisted Parking-Has anyone got this feature? Do you use it? I have it in my 8 year old Peugeot but in all that time I have only tried it out twice! You operate accelerator and brake while letting go of the steering wheel. You can take back control of the manoeuvre by grabbing the steering wheel if necessary.

It’s a silly thing, but we had two hybrid cars which were automatic and you couldn’t hear them going up through the gears. When I changed to my current car, a late reg Mini Cooper automatic, I could suddenly hear that shift again - a gentle throaty roar as it moved from one gear to the next - and I was tickled pink! “Daft old woman comin’ through!”

No one else has mentioned the consumption. So is really now no longer the case that an automatic has a higher consumption?

I still drive a manual and have been put off the idea of going electric or hybrid by the necessity for it to be an automatic. I drove an automatic on holiday in the USA so was also coping with driving on the right and all the controls being different which was stressful. The only other time I drove an automatic was when my garage gave me a courtesy car and I only drove a short distance in it. I guess I'll have to change eventually but I do still prefer a manual. At the moment I'm just grateful I can still drive at all as some of my older friends are giving up driving long distaances or driving at night. I still do 200+ drives to visit family but it gets more tiring each time!

I resisted getting an automatic having only ever driven manual for 30 years. But i did get one, it took a few drives to get used to not pressing the clutch (brake!l but i kept practising on quiet roads and I did it. Having made the switch i can now drive both. Feel very proud of myself to have said "i can do thos, I can learn new things"
It's all about muscle memory .keep doing it and it becomes 'automatic' . Good luck x

I changed a few years ago and wouldn’t go back to manual now. Bit of a learning curve at first, I kept stalling it by trying to press the brake and accelerator for the first week! Much much easier to drive now though. Go for it, good for your brain to learn something new too!

I think manual gear boxes will soon be a thing of the past. I drove manual cars for years, but now have a Mini automatic. I didn’t have any trouble adapting to it, but then there’s the usual right-hand/foot bias. I’m left-handed/footed! I suppose the left hand was needed for the gearstick though! I love not having to worry about hill starts.
The only aspect I’ve not mastered is the manual option when tackling steep hills. 🤨

Been driving Automatics for good few years now and would never go back to manual. I have come across some elderly people who have panicked and pressed the accelerator thinking it was the brake (one of which rammed my car!) So I think at a
certain point in life it's better sticking to the car you're comfortable with.