Drivers who are new to automatics

[danny la rouge]

My new (to me) car is a true hybrid and therefore automatic. (Honda Jazz, fyi).

I know, I know. We need to move away from reliance on cars. But I’m a blue badge holder and cities are going to have to change a lot before I can give up my car without being housebound. So can we park (lol) that detail for now?

I’ve driven manuals all my life. So it’s taking a bit of getting used to putting my left leg out of the way and not reaching for the gear stick every time I think I’m going to need it. And going down hills is weird.

But this is a thread to journal my transition, and for your experiences if you have any.

 

[cesare]

My parents gave me their automatic when they were no longer able to drive. That was 6 years ago and even now I occasionally absentmindedly try and put my left foot down to change gear.

 

[danski]

I assume you have a box of tissues on the parcel shelf?

 

[High Voltage]

Tuck your left foot behind your right foot for a goodly while

 

[danny la rouge]

I assume you have a box of tissues on the parcel shelf?

I’m not an Uber, if that’s what you mean?

 

[prunus]

Watch out for the accidentally stamping on the brake with your left foot as if it was a clutch. This can be quite a shock. You learn what a real emergency stop feels like!

 

[Elpenor]

My car has a nice slope for the left foot to rest on, so no temptation to touch any pedals

 

[danny la rouge]

Parallel parking is very odd. Getting used to “engine creep” rather than clutch control.

 

[marty21]

I've never driven an automatic in 28 years of driving , I may have to eventually.

 

[Spymaster]

My parents gave me their automatic when they were no longer able to drive. That was 6 years ago and even now I occasionally absentmindedly try and put my left foot down to change gear.

I’ve been driving autos for years now so I occasionally have the opposite problem in manuals and come close to stalling the car at junctions because I forget to depress the clutch and change down.

 

[Griff]

Never really found it a problem going from manual to auto and back again. Just get used to your left foot not doing anything and it comes quite easily.

Think my Jag XJS was my favourite automatic.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

i've never driven a full automatic, but yes, i'm not sure how you do things like hill starts with them.

Getting used to “engine creep” rather than clutch control.

i've (briefly) driven a bus with 'pre-select' where you have a third pedal to activate the gear change, but it's not a clutch - and the thing i liked least about it all was moving at low speed - you're holding it back with the brake rather than being fully in control...

 

[Looby]

i've never driven a full automatic, but yes, i'm not sure how you do things like hill starts with them.



i've (briefly) driven a bus with 'pre-select' where you have a third pedal to activate the gear change, but it's not a clutch - and the thing i liked least about it all was moving at low speed - you're holding it back with the brake rather than being fully in control...

On a hill, they just stay there, it’s brilliant. No clutch control needed.
I have a brake hold thing on my car where you can brake and then take your foot off completely but it freaks me out so I don’t use it.

My last 3 cars have been autos and I absolutely love it. They’re so easy to drive and I’ve never had a situation where I’ve missed the control of a manual. Never driven in snow or ice though and will continue to avoid that.

 

[MickiQ]

I bought my first automatic (also an hybrid) at the start of last Dec after 45 yrs of only owning manuals. That's it I am never going back to a manual ever again. One of many reasons I bought it was that Mrs Q bought a hybrid in May and had completely forgotten how to drive a manual in that time and kept stalling the Audi all the time.
You will get used to it very quickly and will soon swear off manual transmissions for ever.
Before I bought it I said many times manuals were better than autos now I realise I was totally wrong and that statement is complete rubbish

 

[cesare]

I feel as though I have more control over a manual though.

 

[MickiQ]

Watch out for the accidentally stamping on the brake with your left foot as if it was a clutch. This can be quite a shock. You learn what a real emergency stop feels like!

The first time I did that it cured me of doing it

 

[StoneRoad]

The first automatic that I was conned into driving belonged to my boss.
Talk about a shock to the system. I drive using what is best described as gear control.
Not only that a new one of that model / spec would have cost North of £75,000.00 ...
... which I only found out several months later.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I bought my first automatic (also an hybrid) at the start of last Dec after 45 yrs of only owning manuals. That's it I am never going back to a manual ever again. One of many reasons I bought it was that Mrs Q bought a hybrid in May and had completely forgotten how to drive a manual in that time and kept stalling the Audi all the time.
You will get used to it very quickly and will soon swear off manual transmissions for ever.
Before I bought it I said many times manuals were better than autos now I realise I was totally wrong and that statement is complete rubbish

My brother in law bangs on that he needs a manual to drive it ‘properly’. I forgot he had a choice between being a World Rally Championship driver or an admin clerk at a courier company in Shepperton.

 

[danski]

I’m not an Uber, if that’s what you mean?

Sorry, it was a cheeky generalisation of the ageing driver

 

[bellaozzydog]

Reverse is the killer for the uninitiated loads of people stamp on the accelerator looking for the brake when the reverse pulls them a bit too fast

Or you can do what I did in my new (20 year old) Mercedes

Pulled up in carpark to meet a guy I was selling a surf board to, swapped board and money, got back in my car, put it into reverse then decided to fiddle with some thing in the glove compartment and when I looked up I was half way across the car park about to reverse over my newly sold surfboard. Fortunately the row of cars normally in the middle of the car park weren’t there or I’d have crunched a couple of them on my unaware way across the CP

 

[quimcunx]

I passed my test in a manual but haven't driven one since. I had barely driven at all since. Luckily my dad changed to an automatic shortly before breaking his foot a couple years ago resulting in me going there to look after them and having to get into driving again. I have zero interest in driving a manual again. I'd struggle I think.

 

[danny la rouge]

Sorry, it was a cheeky generalisation of the ageing driver

There’s no way I could reach the back parcel shelf, mate!

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

There’s no way I could reach the back parcel shelf, mate!

Surely you could get someone to pop a Panama hat on it for you?

 

[Elpenor]

I originally got an automatic as my wife couldn’t drive manuals - they’re not very common in some parts of the world. Piece of piss to drive, for those who say “it’s not proper driving” well why make life harder for yourself than it has to be.

Not having to worry about hill starts for example makes everyone’s life easier. I wouldn’t go back. Only time I’ve driven a manual since 2017 is when I hired a van a few years ago. Stalled it the first time I started it but fine after that

 

[weltweit]

I have only driven automatics when hiring cars in America.

Initially I did have that issue with my left foot trying to press the clutch, which isn't funny.

Then I had an issue with not understanding P mode. I came to a stop in D, came to a complete stop, pulled the handbrake on and leaving the engine ticking over in D I got out, the door closed behind me and locked itself - with me locked out of the car. That was quite a pain.

 

[MickiQ]

My brother in law bangs on that he needs a manual to drive it ‘properly’. I forgot he had a choice between being a World Rally Championship driver or an admin clerk at a courier company in Shepperton.

if I ever find myself needing to drive at 80mph along muddy tracks around a snowy Bavarian hillside I 'might' appreciate a manual gearbox too however for driving in a tailback alongst the A50 as I often find myself doing, an automatic has it beat hands down.

 

[T & P]

I’ve always loved manuals. Back when I first became of driving age in the early 90s, automatic cars were the rarest of things in Spain and to the best of my knowledge most of Continental Europe. I remember when I first visited England, when my older sister was living here and years before I took the plunge myself, I was astonished to see how common automatics were here. I genuinely reckon most non-premium brands weren’t available even if you wanted one.

The first time I drove one it felt weird of course, but frankly I adapted to it ten minutes into my very first drive of one. Never been an issue since, and switching between manuals and autos whenever I use one or the other is a complete non-issue.

Similarly, a great many people in Spain ask me how weird it might feel to switch between left hand and right hand drives when driving a manual. Again, not an issue for me at all.

 

[planetgeli]

Used to be snooty, drove one abroad for a week which involved a lot of going up and down a steep mountain with no road. Like driving a dodgem. Loved it. Next car will be an automatic and I've driven manual for 30 years.

 

[A380]

Swapped to automatics (hybrids) some years ago. Tucked my left leg back for the first week or so. ten years on I can jump between my hybrids and A319's manual MX5 and hire manual vans without even thinking. As long as you don't think about it its fine...

 

[Spymaster]

Similarly, a great many people in Spain ask me how weird it might feel to switch between left hand and right hand drives when driving a manual. Again, not an issue for me at all.

People who haven't done this often think it'll cause problems but it's surprisingly easy. Your brain figures it out very quickly and after a minute or two it's pretty much the same as you're used to. However, almost every time I hire a left hand drive car, at some point I'll find myself approaching the wrong side to get in, or trying to change gear with the wrong hand and punching the door.