Club 80-90 Forums

A colleague of mine with a car with an automatic gearbox said that he didn't see the point of rowing himself along with a gearstick when he had sufficent engine power to do it for him. A valld point I think .
I had both forms in the family all four with Rover 2000's. ( I ran the Club) My only problem was once when I exited a parking place in a field gateway on a blind bend on a steep hill. After looking left and listening for uphill traffic I exited it swiftly downhill in 1st gear and then whipped it smartly into 2nd forgetting that I was in an automatic and reverse was where 2nd would have been in a manual. Wheels locked up in reverse as a ton of metal hurtled downhill and left 30 yards of black tyres marks on the road. Gearbox was fine afterwards. Ho hum !

I have an auto box on my 1980 devon and love it.my astra est has one too.it makes driving so much easier and having some health problems its a godsend.

Horses for courses, but older traditional autos are less fuel efficient than a manual unless the driver doesn't know when to change gear at the correct time in a manual. The newer dual clutch or robotised gearboxes are on a par with manuals for fuel efficiency.
I've only owned one auto and that was only because the car wasn't available in the engine spec as a manual ('94 Jeep Cherokee 4.0). It was a nice car but the gearbox was too dumb and would change into the wrong gear or hunt between gears at inappropriate times, i.e. certain hills but it was easy to fool it (without touching the gear selector) by careful throttle pressure to stay in a higher gear and still keep the speed up.
Overall autos are a more relaxed drive, but for me the older ones are too compromised.

But it all boils down to personal preference or requirement.

Love my 2.1 auto

Me too!

R0B wrote:Love my 2.1 auto

Just got my first automatic (car) and love it.

But can't imagine having one in my camper.

Find it impossible to drive an auto. Manual all the way

Impossible.Please explain.

they're alright as long as you remember the left side of the brake isn't the clutch

Not sure about T25s but my very first automatic vehicle would be 40 years old now and had a three speed box. For an old school "manual must be best" I was smitten, it was beautifully smooth and a joy to drive. No compromise with performance as it did 0-60mph in about 6.5 seconds.

Paul

What was it?

voodoopenguin wrote:...
0-60mph in about 6.5 seconds.

Paul

Nice for a motor 40 yrs ago

At a guess I would have said a V12 E-Type, but I was a little nipper back then.

had an auto volvo v70 t5 that went like a scalded cat was so comfortable too
wife had a auto merc e220 diesel i loved driving that auld tractor could sit back enjoy a latte
and plod along now saying that given the choice in an older car/van i'd pick manual every time

Wish i could have my audi auto box in my van.....best gearbox ever.....with paddle shift if you get bored.

flyinghitop wrote:What was it?

Paul