Oh no! It's an automatic!

cormie

So I'm doing a friend a favour and driving his car to England for him, ferry leaves first thing in the morning. I only find out tonight it's an automatic! Quick lesson please!

What's "2" for? Do I put it in D (drive) for ALL driving or just up to a certain speed and then pop it into 2?

Should I put it in neutral every time I stop like I would in my manual?

Will it ever stall? How?

Other than that, it's actually pretty nice and simple to drive

astraboy

Just pop it in D my son! Do NOT POP IT BACK INTO 2 from D! 2 is basically for towing, the gearbox will only use the 1st and 2nd gears as such. D for all forward driving for any speeds, R to back into a car space, P when its parked up right before you pull up the handbrake. Autos are very easy to drive, far easier in traffic. Also, car will not stall. Just apply the brake when you need to stop. Leave the car in D. Basically once you have the car in D you do not need to take it out of D until you park the car up.

Wishbone Ash

cormie wrote: »

So I'm doing a friend a favour and driving his car to England for him, ferry leaves first thing in the morning. I only find out tonight it's an automatic! Quick lesson please!

What's "2" for? Do I put it in D (drive) for ALL driving or just up to a certain speed and then pop it into 2?

Should I put it in neutral every time I stop like I would in my manual?

Will it ever stall? How?

Other than that, it's actually pretty nice and simple to drive

Don't worry about the '2'. Just put it in Drive and leave it there.

crosstownk

Just pop it into D and leave your left foot alone. Forget about the 1, 2, 3 etc. Leave it in D even when stopped in traffic. If you're stopped in traffic for lengthy periods then select N. You'll need to have it in P or N to start it and some (nearly all) models require your foot to be on the brake to take the lever out of P and to select R. Once you're in D its accelerator to go, and brake to stop - it's really that simple.

No - it won't stall.

fabsoul

cormie wrote: »

So I'm doing a friend a favour and driving his car to England for him, ferry leaves first thing in the morning. I only find out tonight it's an automatic! Quick lesson please!

What's "2" for? Do I put it in D (drive) for ALL driving or just up to a certain speed and then pop it into 2?

Should I put it in neutral every time I stop like I would in my manual?

Will it ever stall? How?

Other than that, it's actually pretty nice and simple to drive

just put in D and drive it won't stall it that easy

colm_mcm

don't use your left foot to brake either. you'll end up stuck to the windscreen.

cormie

10 minutes and 5 great replies, thanks a lot folks 6 hour journey with it tomorrow, should be fun

Max_Damage

Flooring the accelerator while moving will initiate 'kickdown', which is when the gearbox automatically shifts down for better acceleration. It's handy for overtaking.

Wishbone Ash

Just to explain that the 1,2, etc are for limiting the engine to that particular gear.

If for example, you were descending very narrow, bendy and steep terrain with a trailer on tow it may be necessary to keep the box from climbing to a higher gear.

mick.fr

I don't have 1 and 2
I have P, R, N, D in this order.
And manual when I push the stick to the left.

peasant

Can only repeat the advice about the left foot.

Tuck it away somewhere !


I always drove manuals, but briefly had an autmatic (lovely!). During that time I had to go on a lot of business trips and always had manual rental cars ...no problem.

But EVERY SINGLE TIME when I cam back from a business trip late at night and just wanted to go home ...guess what happened at the crossroads outside the long-term carpark? ...yepp ...you guessed it ...out of habit I stomped on the "clutch" with my left foot.


The nice "thump" sound as the the body hits the safety belt at full whack would then gently remind me that I was back in my automatic again

seamus

peasant wrote: »

Can only repeat the advice about the left foot.

Tuck it away somewhere !

lol. That's all I was going to say too.

And yet for the first mile, he *will* stamp down with his left foot at least five times.

Fey!

One thing not mentioned, don't go for the gears whilst moving. I accidentally went to gear down when driving a friends automatic (forgot I wasn't in a manual), and knocked it into Park - the bloody Range Rover I was in stuck to the ground and I nearly got strangled by the seatbelt!!!

E92

Autos should never stall. I can't remember the reason why, but I think it is something to do with the way the tranny itself is designed but I'm not sure.

I've never driven a slushbox. For those who've driven both, how do they compare to manuals?

From what I've seen they slow you down and waste more fuel while they're at it. And of course you keep your foot on the brakes even when the car has stopped, as they creep forward if you don't(is it this property of Autos that prevents them from stalling?)On the upside you don't have to worry about pulling off on hills etc, just put the foot down and go! It's probably because I've never done it, but I quite like having the liberty to choose what gear I'm in!

Most Autos have a lockup type feature, which makes it impossible to put the tranny in neutral when they're being driven AFAIK.

unkel

seamus wrote: »

And yet for the first mile, he *will* stamp down with his left foot at least five times.

I've noticed this in some of the people around me who have switched to A/T over the last decade or so. Some were way worse than others

I can honestly say it didn't happen to me though. Anyway, I love autos

ninty9er

unkel wrote: »

I've noticed this in some of the people around me who have switched to A/T over the last decade or so. Some were way worse than others

I can honestly say it didn't happen to me though. Anyway, I love autos

Ditto :D

I went looking for one recently but got impatient and bought a manual, mainly because it was good value, but also because the garage was willing to take what I had.

You may even come home "converted"

Esel

An auto Transit?

cantdecide

I taught my Dad to drive auto by telling him put his left hand on his left leg so that the leg will remind the hand not to shift and the hand will remind the leg not to clutch. Worked for him.

Y2J_MUFC

lol, nice idea...

Esel

cantdecide wrote: »

I taught my Dad to drive auto by telling him put his left hand on his left leg so that the leg will remind the hand not to shift and the hand will remind the leg not to clutch. Worked for him.

He is losing the advantage of having both hands on the wheel.

WhiteWashMan

most important lesson!!!!!

you only use 1 foot.

first time i used an auto, i nearly put myself through the windshield and then gave myself whiplash trying to work out the brake and accelerate with 2 different feet!

cut off your left leg. you'll never need it to drive again

tk123

Guys can I ask - if I'm in P at lights etc do I need to have the handbrake on?

Max_Damage

tk123 wrote: »

Guys can I ask - if I'm in P at lights etc do I need to have the handbrake on?

'Park' should only be engaged when you're actually parked, not at the lights. Shifting from 'Drive' to 'Park' will cause unnecessary wear to the 'box.

cantdecide

I have a habit of keeping my foot on the brake and knocking the car into N at traffic lights. Is this a waste of time?? (I usually pull the handbrake in a manual to prevent people behind going blind but most of the auto cars I've driven have a foot-handbrake).

Tails142

The car is essentially driven by fluid being pushed past an impeller (think: backwards propeller); so no significant wear will occur by leaving the car in drive at lights and having your foot on the brake.


Been driving an auto 528i for the past few months now and love it - plenty of power; fuel economy is a little worse though but nothing that'll keep me awake at night. I do find it a little more difficult to drive a manual though now that I've adjusted. Started a manual car in gear and nearly jumped into the back of my car :eek: and also stalled on a hill start the other night which my gf found very amusing :mad:

cantdecide

Tails142 wrote: »

The car is essentially driven by fluid being pushed past an impeller

Can you point me in the direction of any reading material about auto boxes? I'm really in the dark as to how they work:o

Max_Damage

That 'impeller' is called a torque converter.

Anyway, this should explain the internal workings of a auto 'box:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/automatic-transmission.htm/printable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission

cormie

I made it anyway

I nearly had a slam on the brake moment thinking of clutching, but luckily I just whacked the floor instead.

The private car park I brought it to had 2 Ferraris and a Lamborghini:eek: and that was just the first few spaces!

Max_Damage

What car were you driving anyway?

colm_mcm

E92 wrote: »

Most Autos have a lockup type feature, which makes it impossible to put the tranny in neutral when they're being driven AFAIK.

I've never come across this on an auto, and I've driven loads of them.

cormie

Max_Damage wrote: »

What car were you driving anyway?

Bigato Veron or something? Not too familiar with cars:o It was pretty nice to drive compared to the van

peasant

cormie wrote: »

Bigato Veron or something?

...as if ...