Right after I got my current car with automatic transmission and manual/paddle shifters, I tried the paddle shifters a few times within the first couple hundred miles just to see if there was anything to it. There wasn’t. It’s now 7 years later with over 137,000 miles on it and I never use it. Haven’t even thought about it in years.
My car is a Volt, so I don’t have the options. When I rent cars I often have that feature available and never used it.
Yes, on occasion for snow, engine breaking, occasionally to pass, and the mistaken belief that it was more efficient*.
Now to pass I typically just put it into sports shifting mode, ‘blip’ the gas peddle and the AT does downshift and hold the lower gear for quite a while. I found out due to something called like a variable vain torque converter, the AT has more options then my manual shifting does.
- After carefully measuring fuel consumption during LD driving I have not noticed a positive gain in MPG using manual mode (just keeping it on the final gear), actually if anything a very slight decrease.
In conclusion my car likes to shift itself, but is OK if I want to do it, so I let the car do it.
The Prius only has D, R and B (for braking). I use the braking feature on downgrades when I don’t wish to ride the brakes. It’s surprisingly effective. The RV has the standard PRD21, and has overdrive. I’ve occasionally used a lower gear on steep downgrades, as it can pick up speed quickly.
I read this thread, hoping that, by the end, I’d have an understanding of why these exist. I’m saddened to report that I still have no idea why you would want an auto-manual in your car. Either drive a stick or an automatic. I don’t get it.
I also see that it appears the vast majority of people in this thread who use this feature are using it in snow. This helps to explain why I don’t get it. I live in a place where it doesn’t snow. I haven’t driven in snow in at least 20 years. I’m still not sure why you wouldn’t just put your automatic in a lower gear and shift up as necessary. I mean, when I was taught to drive (in a snow state), I was taught that lower gear = better traction. So I still don’t really understand the point of a clutchless “manual” that’s really just an automatic.
Many new automatics don’t have the ability to select lower gears. Some have up to 8 gears, meaning it would be difficult to design a shifter that gave you that many options. Besides snow, it’s important for going down long hills so you don’t overheat the brakes.
I think you were taught wrong.
Starting in 2nd is helpful over 1st in some snowy conditions + up-shifting early may also help. Less torque to the wheels, less chance of them spinning, more even and slow delivery of power = less chance of losing traction.
The point is that with a A/T is it helpful to have the ability to override it under certain circumstances. In the past this has been done with D,2,1 gears, or some permutation of that. Now the trend is the manumatic mode (which allows a better sales appeal), but basically it is there because there are times that manual gear selection is needed.
It’s much more likely that I am remembering wrong, not that I was taught wrong.
My Legacy changes shift points to redline and throttle response when it’s in manu-matic mode, so on those occasions where I want to drive a little more…sporty…it makes sense. otherwise it stays in D, although I will second that you can use the downshift to slow your descent in slippery/snowy conditions without touching the brakes, like on downhill sections. In fairness, AWD makes a difference here vice RWD but I’ve done it with both types of vehicles without mishap.
The only automatic I ever owned that wouldn’t let me choose to run through all the forward speeds manually was a three-speed Borg-Warner Flight-o-Matic. Its shift quadrant was labeled P-N-D-L-R, and drive gave a second-gear start. First gear could be obtained by flooring the accelerator in D or by choosing L manually.
All the others were p-n-r-d-2-1, or p-n-r-d-l. I never bothered to shift through the gears manually, unless I was in a drag racy mood.
In most common cars, it exists because it’s a marketing point, while technology trickles downward to be profitable. A brand is able to sell people on the perception of a sporty car, which descends from actual higher-end performance cars. From a practical point, with many of these now existing as steering-wheel mounted paddles (even on a Prius), they don’t require your hands to leave the wheel. So whether they are used or not, there’s little harm to adding them, but you’ve expanded your potential for appeal.
In actual performance cars, the big push is to make them both daily driveable, as well as track terrors. Manually shifting and a greater degree of control is preferred there, while day-to-day traffic can favor a more relaxed, composed, fuel-efficient auto program. Overlap is the name of the game, and more is coming.
Every now and then. My new Mazda3 has that feature, and I’ve played with it. But it’s harder to pretend you’re a racecar driver when your clicking a lever rather than mashing a pedal and shifting a stick. Plus I always worry that I’m revving the engine too high or to low when I switch to manual. I’d probably use it more if I were a more skilled driver. As it is, I stick it in “D” and let the car do the thinking for me.
This probably doesn’t apply in America, but in some markets like Germany manual is still the default. Although it is changing slowly, automatics have a rather unsexy reputation - much more so than is justified with modern cars. Because of that it can make sense to go out of your way to assure buyers that they are not giving anything up if they go for the “grandma” version.
On my pickup truck, I use it when towing my trailer on the highway and hills. There seems to be a sweet spot somewhere around 50-60 in 6th gear (overdrive) where the transmission won’t downshift on a hill. I will typically manually drop gears into 5th gear to downshift and maintain speed going up the hill. Once it downshifts, I can put it back into automatic mode where it will maintain the 5th gear until I crest the hill and then will go back into 6th. Other than that, I never use it.
I meant to when I bought this car. But I never do.
Both vehicles I drive have CVTs so there is no “lower gear” to shift up from. I use manual mode in the snow or when towing.