How do you use an automatic car?

kluivert

I have the lend of a 06 BMW 525i on tuesday evening from my uncle.

I have driven everything that has a manual gearbox, but nto an automatic.

P - Park - when do you use this
D - Drive - well i get this one.
N - Neutral - no bother

Is there anything else.

Man am excited, I drive a 99 Opel Astra so am going to enjoy this.

prospect

Just forget about your left leg.

Pretend it doesnt exist.

Mayshine

P - Park - when do you use this

Strangly enough when you park the car and don't plan on moving for a while

Kersh

Except for high speed bends , just tap the brake with your left leg, let the car squat down, and it will be great...;) .
Really though, my car has 1-2-d-n-r-p.
Most of the time i just drive it in D, but this has 2 settings, a 3 speed one, and a 4 speed one by using the O/D button. Sometimes though i go throught he gears, 1-2-O/D off D- O/D on D.... and back down the gears by doing the same, that way i get a little bit of engine braking.
One thing to be aware of is the lack of engine braking in an auto.
Oh and dont hold the brake at the lights with your right foot flat to the floor to get a launch, as you will defo cook the box.

slumped

It's the same as driving a golf buggy. Just tie your left leg to the handbrake. If you foget you don't have a clutch you can brake very drastically.

S

prospect

Thing that confuses alot of people who drive Autos for the first time is a hill start.

If you are stopped temporarily on a hill, just slow down and stop using the brake pedal (funnily enough). The leave the car in 'D' and keep your foot on the brake. When you are ready to drive off, just lift off the brake (the car will not roll back), and drive away again.

If you are stopping for a while, stop, apply handbrake and put gearshift into 'P' (or 'N'). When ready to go, apply the foot brake, put gearshift into 'D' and release handbrake, proceed as above.

kluivert

Cheers guys should be fun. I dont think ill ever get to owe one so driving it will be pleasure enough.

Seth Brundle

I presume it has tiptronic (or whatever its called) where you can knock the gearstick to the left and then use forward or backward shifts to go up/down a gear.
I had my father in laws E60 520i out a week ago and it took a while to get used to having a redundant left leg!

MercMad

I think the most important thing to remember in an auto is that it will "creep" when in gear !

That is you put you foot on the brake pull the lever into D or R and once you let go of the brake it WILL move off ! So whilst parking never fully remove your foot from the brake, just feather it on and off 'till you are used to it !

Also as you got to move off it is not like a manual where you have to rev it a bit before you let out the clutch to avoid stalling. If you give it any throttle it will go immediately !

Enjoy!

dahamsta

Kersh wrote:

let thew cat squat down

That'd be funny if it didn't take all of five seconds to review a post.

jdc78

Remember, when it is in P-Park, you must put your foot on the brake to change it into Reverse or Drive. So many people get caught out by this and can't figure out how come the gear shift won't get out of PARK. Also, try not to move from one Drive gear to the other - i.e. Drive to D1, D2, etc. while moving... I dropped a transmission doing this once... idiot I was but only 19 at the time - that's my excuse! Just keep it in D and you'll be fine... the other Drive gears are either for steep hills, sometimes high speed driving or if you're towing something.

Kersh

@ Ken - its Monday...

ps its fixed...

dahamsta

Never understood the 1 and 2, anyone care to explain?

Gerry

The toughest thing is to avoid mistakenly slamming on the brake pedal, mistaking it for a clutch pedal, when coming up to a junction. Just take it easy and you will be alright.

IDMUD

Gerry wrote:

The toughest thing is to avoid mistakenly slamming on the brake pedal, mistaking it for a clutch pedal, when coming up to a junction. Just take it easy and you will be alright.

A good trick is to keep your left leg behind your right, that way you won't reach for the "clutch"

kluivert

Thanks lads.

I was wondering about the Park I thought that there was a catch to it.

Am not sure what gears there is to select (D1, D2 etc)

Ill just leave it in the first one and see how it goes.

Personally I dont like automatics but then again I have never driven one.

Gerry

Just put it in D, and leave it in D. Don't go shifting through the gears. Gears 1 and 2 are for increased engine braking on long downhill stretches, or for keeping it from changing to top on a hill on a hot day.

Pataman

1 & 2 is also used if towing. There could be a tendancy for the car to keep changing up and down gears if the load is heavy. Put it into 1 & 2 to hold the gears.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

kluivert

Is there anything else i should know.

You have to press the button on the lever to change the settings R-D-N etc yeah.

You put your foot on the brake pedal when your changing from say R to D etc.

Theres no engine brake ok - am normally use the engine brake rather than the brake on some corners.

It will creep forward in D, if say i come to traffic lights ok, the car is in D i just brake as normal stop and then put up the handbrake and take my foot of the brake pedal?

MercMad

Thats about it !

You may have to have the car back in "P" to take the ignition key out, and obviously it needs to be in "P" or "N" to start the engine !

And one other obvious thing, make sure the RPM's are at idle before you select any gear !

This whole thread makes it all sound more complicated than it is !

In real terms you just get in and go !

Esel

The car is an 06. I'm sure it still has a user's handbook. Read it. There are probably features that we don't know about.

jdwals

I'm sure that the car you will be driving and mine will be completly different but for my car - '93 Prelude, 2.2 auto - I would normally just select the highest gear, D4 in my case, and off I go.
This allows the car to use all the gears available to it when it feels it needs them and lets me not think about gears - hence the auto!
The only times I don't are if I am going down steep twisty roads I put the car in D2 which will only allow the car to select 1st or second gear for engine braking reasons or sports mode when I am in twisty turny back roads which as I understand it, stops the car from going into fourth and lengthens the rev range for the three lower gears to give better acceleration down low (well open to correction on that one by the way)!

Seth Brundle

Solitaryman666 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

I have an opposite tale!
I can remember a few years back collecting my sister and her husband from the airport (they live in USA) and they had to collect a car from behind the Coachmans Inn. Although he swears he could drive 'stick', I was embarrased in the car park as the staff looked out the window at the crunching noises.
I decided to follow them to my folks in Clontarf (after a few minutes beside in the nearby ulster bank car park).
As we went down the slip road onto the M1 I saw two reverse lights coming on in front of me. Scared the bejaysus outta me!

jdc78

These threads are making automatic out to be confusing and difficult when it is simple.

P= Park
R= Reverse
N= Neutral
D= Drive

When you park the car you put the gear shift into P
When you want to reverse you put the gear shift into R
When you want to go forward put the gear shift into D

If you want to stop, press the foot brake
If you want to stay stopped, keep the foot brake pressed
If you want to go after stopping, release your foot from the brake

No need for handbrake use except when on a hill or parking. If you want to park, put it in P. Simple.

jdwals

Except not all cars just have a "D".
Some have D1, D2, D3, and even a D4. For most conditions before moving off just select the highest gear option available and then relax - au, autos are bliss!

Rovi

kluivert wrote:

Is there anything else i should know.

You have to press the button on the lever to change the settings R-D-N etc yeah.

Pretty much. There may be a gap in the quadrant (the bit the button engages on) between 3 and D, so you can just move the selector between the two gears without pressing the button. This is to allow you drop a gear quickly for overtaking, etc. The ZF boxes I know have this feature, don't know about others.

kluivert wrote:

You put your foot on the brake pedal when your changing from say R to D etc.

Bring the vehicle to a complete stop before shifting between D and R, or into P. Or at least lock up all the wheels
Modern electronically controlled autoboxes shouldn't allow you to do dumb things (like shifting into reverse while moving forward), but I like to err on the safe side.

kluivert wrote:

Theres no engine brake ok - am normally use the engine brake rather than the brake on some corners.

There is some engine braking, just not what you'd be used to with a manual box. Kind of like the difference between a 2-stroke and a 4-stroke motorbike, if you've ever come across that.

kluivert wrote:

It will creep forward in D, if say i come to traffic lights ok, the car is in D i just brake as normal stop and then put up the handbrake and take my foot of the brake pedal?

Just hold it on the brakes, unless you plan to stop for a significant amount of time, in which case you can put it into N (and apply the handbrake) or P.
You can hold it on the foot brake forever if you like, you won't hurt it, but your brake lights may give rise to palpitations in the car behind you. Your call.

.

_Kaiser_

My Mitsubishi Mirage is an Auto and I wouldn't ever have a manual - it has P R N D 3 2 1.... (gears for every occasion )

For the most part I just leave it in D but then I do a lot of driving on the N3 which is a straight run for the most part. Just remember that it will creep when in gear (moreso if the engine is at higher revs - eg: if you have the heater/aircon on!) and you'll be fine, and that you need to hold in the brake/button to take it in/out of P(ark) or into R(everse).

(I think that's right - it's actually hard when you're thinking about it rather than just doing it).

Side note: I tend to automatically (no pun intended ) put it in N at lights with the handbrake/footbrake on. If I put it in D, I can feel it "bear down" as it tries to move off, and I prefer that little extra bit of control over it personally.

joolsveer

I have had autos for the last 6 years and I would not go back to a manual now. If I stop at traffic lights I generally put the lever into P to ensure that the engine is not labouring against the brakes. It enables you to take your feet off the pedals and thereby not dazzle the driver behind.

milltown

MercMad wrote:

Thats about it !

You may have to have the car back in "P" to take the ignition key out, and obviously it needs to be in "P" or "N" to start the engine !

Reading through this thread I was about to post that very point. I remember years ago my boss getting a lend of a Jeep Cherokee from Rathdown and sitting in the car park of the job for a full half hour trying to figure out why the key wouldn't come out. Eventually he rang them!

My auto Beemer only has P R N D in the normal plane. I put it in D and forget about it normally, use the brakes to hold it at lights etc.

You have to use the kickdown at least once while you have it. When it feels like the accelerator is all the way down press it further, you're pressing a switch under the pedal to force the box to give you the lowest gear that won't over-rev the engine for max acceleration. There's maybe half a second of hesitation while it changes then.....weeeeeeehaaaaaa!

You'll mostly just enjoy the silky smoothness of wafting around trying to find ways to occupy your left hand (without getting into trouble).

You will, at some point, nudge the lever to the left to try out the sport mode and then up and down to change "manually". Then you'll realise that goes against the whole point of driving an auto and you'll leave it in D again.

colm_mcm

Don't worry about D1 D2 and all that, just put it into D and enjoy, Automatics are so good!

AMurphy

I remember my first short drive in an Auto. I must have been....dunno, 16± a few, going down the road on a "Grey Ferguson" and some tourist had parked an auto Rover 3500 (or something of that ilk I think) out on the road.. thus blocking it, but had been considerate enough to leave the keys in it.
So, I moved it about 10 feet in Rev. without incident and carried on with my "Fergie"

Next memorable encounter with an auto was when I was in the US for the first time ever, I rented a manual for myself, however someone in the workgroup asked me to convey their car (some sort of an Opel) for them, sure no problem..except I forgot about the auto bit and changed gears at about 50mph. Locked up the rear wheels in an instant on the highway.... other than a flatspot on the tyres, and an "Oh Sheet" moment, no permanent damage that I could determine.

Fortunately with modern ones, you can shift the lever from D to R, or R to D, but the gears won't change until safe to do so.

I did rent a RHD, Auto in ROI once, but found my left hand is not tuned to shifting Autos, unlike my right hand. Once in a RHD the Left hand wants to change that shifter, whether it is required or not.

Engine braking on an auto; depends on the box, most newer AT have locking torque converters, saves fuel, but can also be employed to provide engine braking. Some of the heavier trucks, Ford 250/350 and Chevvy have "Trailer Tow" settings where this can be selected which will engage engine braking, as well as downshifting, should the load be pushing you downhill.

Some require you to press the brake to shift out of P and be in park to get the key out. and be in P or N to start off the key. or some combinations, depending on year and vehicle.

Some AT will readout the actual gear the AT is in at the time, eg you put it in D, and the dash readout will read off, 1,2,3,4,5 as that gear is selected. (easy to do with an electro-hydraulic box).

When to use 3,2 or L, other than D. When hill climbing and/or towing. In snow and L if your electro-hydraulic suddenly becomes ?-hydraulic due to a blown fuse, ECU, etc
N if you want to tow it on its wheels, eg towing the Samuri behind the Camper.

Autos can be a life saver if you happen to brake an ankle, or two.

Remember, you can use your right, left or both feet on the brake. Enjoy.

Hagar

Am I the only one who thinks that giving driving lessons over the Internet is a bit mad?

kluivert

Hey whats new. With Gay Byrne looking after the road safety we have nothing to worry about. :rolleyes:

AMurphy

kluivert wrote:

Hey whats new. With Gay Byrne looking after the road safety we have nothing to worry about. :rolleyes:

Frankly, I cannot see him do any worse than all those who went before him....

kluivert

Ok so i took the 06 525d for a drive last night.

Wow great drive and lots of power under the hood compared to 99 1.4 Astra.

I really enjoyed the car, very comfortable, felt very safe in the car, i can see why they are so popular. Lots of gadgets but didnt have time to play with them. Big air of quality about the car.

As for the automatic, that was an experience and thanks for all the advice, it paid of very well guys.

The automatic was very sweet, first time driving one and its a big difference to manual, you can focus more on driving the car than looking after the mechanics of the transmission.

When I got back into my own car it actually took a minute or two to adjust back again, drive auto is very easy indeed and very easy to get use to. But i think it would drive me mad if there was an auto in a 1.4. What made it a pleasure to drive was the power of the car.

Now the final verdict on this car is that its a wonderful car, but I wouldn't buy one. 65-70k for this car is incredable as the car, but after driving a new Vectra as well last month I would rather buy the Vectra and keep the other 30k for a holiday or something else.

Again thanks for the advice on driving automatic, it use goes to show that it is possible to give lessons over the net.

MercMad

I would rather buy the Vectra and keep the other 30k for a holiday or something else.

............:rolleyes:

Big Nelly

Kaiser2000 wrote:

My Mitsubishi Mirage is an Auto and I wouldn't ever have a manual - it has P R N D 3 2 1.... (gears for every occasion )

Pity they didnt put an engine in with all those gears. Seen a lawnmower pass you this morning

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Side note: I tend to automatically (no pun intended ) put it in N at lights with the handbrake/footbrake on. If I put it in D, I can feel it "bear down" as it tries to move off, and I prefer that little extra bit of control over it personally.

Best one on this thread yet, Kaiser in control of a car watch out for that railing!!!

kluivert

MercMad wrote:

............:rolleyes:

It was nice to drive, comfort, good performance but it couldn't say to me that parting with 70k was going to be a wise decision.

Am sorry but I was expecting more.

MercMad

No car is worth €70k especially in this country when you have to earn €140k in the first place and the car really should cost €40k !

But hey at least we have green fields !!

prospect

kluivert wrote:

Am sorry but I was expecting more.

I have found that problem with every BMW I have ever driven!

But MercMad makes a good point also.

kluivert

prospect wrote:

I have found that problem with every BMW I have ever driven!

But MercMad makes a good point also.

It was really nice to get the opportunity to drive one especially a new one with 1.5k km on the clock. 5.25D monster. But something was missing.

But the wow factor wasnt there. Really IMO its a badge thing.

I always said that I wouldnt be one to buy a Merc or BMW and then I was swaying towards the idea, but now after driving one for the first time, I can firmly say that I am not a fan.

Now I have driven the new MX-5 2L and I really enjoyed that. That had the wow factor, again its down to personal choice and what the indivdual is looking for. A Roadster might not suit everyone.