Won't be driving the Citroén much anymore... :(

Post by **CitroJim** » 02 Sep 2010, 17:38

Citroenmad wrote: I enjoy not having a clutch when stuck in crawling traffic.

Absolutely

One of the good reasons for having an automatic. Unbeatable when struggling through traffic and these days, it's a increasingly common thing.

Horses for courses of course but I personally love my autobox... I have a manual car as well and it's good to drive it for fun at weekends but for the day in, day out stuff an auto reigns supreme for me...

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 02 Sep 2010, 17:46

autos are far too complicated for me to get on with

Post by **myglaren** » 02 Sep 2010, 17:51

Only driven three but I'm sure I could get used to an auto C6, having scared myself rigid in Trainman's.

Post by **CitroJim** » 02 Sep 2010, 18:23

Xac wrote:autos are far too complicated for me to get on with

???!!!??

Now what's complicated about P for parked., R to go backwards, N for neutral and D to go forwards?

Seems pretty straightforward to me.

A Daf variomatic was even simpler than that....

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 02 Sep 2010, 18:38

I just don't get on with them. If god intended us to drive automatics, he wouldn't have given us two legs

They encourage bad habbits in drivers, sitting on the brake pedal rather than using the hand brake and so blinding drivers behind you, leaving the car in D rather than P when turning the engine off, and what's with the extra wide brake pedal if you're still supposed to use your right foot for that?

Having driven several from astras to bmws I've never been impressed, although I'd expect to be from your V6 Jim from what you've told me.
The astra was the worst, unless you were going downhill on a motorway it wouldn't stay in top gear, instead you'd get to 67ish, it'd change gear, lose power and change down, and you'd bounce along like that unless you could get it over 70!

Post by **CitroJim** » 02 Sep 2010, 19:00

I agree on the bad habits

I mean, what sort of effort does it take to pop the selector from D to N and pop the handbrake on when sitting at the lights..

Truth is, little autos are indeed rubbish. If you are going to have an auto it must have a biggish engine behind it. A 3.0 V6 is just about big enough...

Also, the electronic 'boxes (AL4 and 4HP20 etc.) with "fuzzy" logic have transformed how an auto feels and behaves.

It also gives you a magical button that looks innocent enough and just has a little S engraved on it.

Press it, unleash the fun and press on

addo · Post by **addo** » 02 Sep 2010, 23:28

Yes, when pedalled hard in "S" I have had the Xantia's front almost leap into the air and twitch hard to the right.

When driving a manual after a spell (of less sporty driving) in an auto, you also want to mimic the smoothness of shifts.

Interestingly I was told that "stalling up" newer C5 models upset the engine ECU or brakes.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 03 Sep 2010, 08:01

As i say, id prefer a manual over an auto if i had to make a choice. But since part of my daily commute is getting into the City Centre of Newcastle at peak times, which can often take an hour or more of crawling stop start traffic, i have often thought about getting an auto just for that. Im sure my cars clutch would appreciate it.

Im not hard on clutches, but the constant on off or crawling will have its effect and increase wear and tear on the clutch. It drives me mad when im sat in said traffic when people around me are holding their cars on the clutch, since its such a long crawl i usually have the smell of someone elses clutch burning coming into my car before i get to my destination. Those are the people who really need an auto, people without a clue.

This recently aquired Peugeot is a semi-auto, ive been wanting to try this gearbox for a while, i didnt think id like it but its actually quite good once you get used to it. Though as its a manual box with controlled auto change it still must have a clutch. And since it doesnt creep the clutch will be used as in a manual car. Though that does mean the handbrake can be used at junctions as the car is not wanting to drive away.

Its reasonably lively with 110bhp and makes very light work of motorway driving. I might keep it for my commute!

Ive been using it all week and ive enjoyed being lazy, not having a clutch to operate in the traffic, its great!

If i had my choice, id probably have an auto and a manual car.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 03 Sep 2010, 11:43

You shouldn't get very much wear on a diesel clutch driving in traffic as you don't need to rev the engine to pull away, there is ver little slip at tickover, I can understand though the preference for an auto if you continually drive in traffic.

Peter