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Why do British people have such a dim view of Automatic cars? (feddit.uk)

submitted 7 months ago by Oneeightnine@feddit.uk to c/askuk@feddit.uk

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I've been driving an automatic since I passed nearly a decade ago. In that time whenever I tell anyone I drive auto, it's usually met with some level of derision. I think that attitude is changing, but I'm still kind of confused by it in the first place.

Why?

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[–] dragontamer@lemmy.world 19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (12 children)

American manual/stick driver here.

Manuals are cheaper, more responsive, lower maintenance than wet-automatics. So even here where automatics are common, knowing that my skill gap vs you is literally saving me thousands in maintenance costs is definitely a big portion of my superiority complex.

However, with the dawn of CVT automatics, this is no longer true. CVTs are nearly maintenance free, have instant response, ideal power delivery.

So technology has changed, but not everyone recognizes the new era of advanced automatic transmissions.

But I'll absolutely still look down on any old-style wet clutch / torque converter based automatic.

[–] synapse3252@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Even the zf8?

[–] dragontamer@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I can't say I'm a car buff unfortunately, so I can't say I've experienced that particular transmission yet.

Reading up on the transmission: it sounds like the torque converter could be replaced with mild-hybrid electric engines to help kickstart the transmission. This is very interesting to me, and I think that's a great way around the problems of traditional torque-converters.

I'd imagine that Mild-Hybrid ZF8 (torque converter replaced with electric motor) would be a serious contender in feel and response.

There's too many different cars with the ZF8 and too many different configurations to generalize. It seems like a promising design, but I'm going to bet that mild-hybrid ZF8 is the best feel. There's just a lot of downsides to the traditional wet-clutch / torque-converter frontend of transmissions IMO.

[–] synapse3252@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I don't personally have experience with a diverse multitude of cars (and transmissions) as a whole either, but i've heard plenty of good things online about the zf8 as probably one of the best torque converter automatics on the market for sporty driving (e.g. having very responsive shifts). It supposedly does not feel like a "slush box" which i'm assuming exhibits many of the behaviors that you're describing for a typical torque converter automatic.

In terms of drivetrain choices for daily driving, fully electric bevs seem to be the best fit. Instant torque, lots of torque, probably lower maintenance(?). And i say this as a lover of manual transmissions (my miata is currently in the shop though 😢)

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