Sure I get to my destination, it is just no fun.
I thought maybe it was just my ineptitude in driving with automatic transmissions. But apparently it is just a feature of them.
I think you need smaller gears for more engine braking.
(3rd gear is the largest in a “standard” automatic?)
Modern automatics will have as many as 10 speeds. Aids in acceleration and fuel economy. Most if not all modern automatics have “lock up” capability which allows engine braking in the lower gears. There’s also other types of transmissions like CVTs and Dual Clutch designs which muddle the picture.
I’m a luddite who likes manuals. Going down hill in an automatic transmission car finds me using the manual selector to get lower gears and more braking. It just seems “out of control” to my lizard brain.
This vehicle has 6 normal forward gears.
At 75 mph, the engine RPM is well over 3K in 3rd gear. Going into a lower gear would put the engine over redline.
It’s designed as an off-road vehicle, so it is geared fairly low. Redline is around 25 mph in 1st gear.
BTW, in case you were interested, it has a “secret” 7th gear which will allow travel at 2 mph with the engine RPM at 2K.
::swoon::
My first car was a '75 microbus! In canary yellow, to boot! 4-speed manual, for reverse you had to push the gearshift into the floor. It had curtains and a Deadhead sticker on the back window from a previous owner. It was straight and clean and in excellent shape. Of all the cars I’ve had over the years I miss that one the most.
All the automatics my wife has had since 2005 have been at least 4-speed. The current is 6-speed. The last one was 6-speed as well. I’m not sure when the last time I saw a 3-speed auto was. 1990s?
Even four-speeds are pretty much obsolete now – critics panned the Dodge Journey because among other things it still used a four-speed automatic all the way until it was discontinued in 2020. Nowadays they’re all either dual-clutch autos with anywhere from 6 to 10 gears, or continuously variable transmissions (CVT) with effectively an infinite number of “gears”.
My 2016 diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee’s tranny has 8 speeds. And paddle shifters at the wheel. Its compression braking is pretty good too, and I often use it.
This blog post might be of interest to readers of the thread – the author searches for surviving examples of the last full-size American cars with manual transmissions, the 1970s being the waning days of the “three on the tree”.
I learned on a three on the tree.
My cousin had her 2001 CRV stolen (again) and she’s going to be mad at the limited choices of cars with a manual tranny. She much prefers a manual. I don’t really care.
Most of those high gear count transmissions are not DCT, but conventional automatics. The DCT is on its way out and even in its heyday was primarily used mostly in high performance cars as it can be an abrupt, jerky experience at low speeds, and mild throttle use.
What a total bummer! My last car was a 2001 CRV and that car just ran and ran and ran. It had a 5-speed manual, too. It was a great car.
Yeah, she loves that car and I think that this time it’s gone for good. It was perfect for her. It’s name is Guido. Scum sucking thieves probably took it for the cat converter. That had already been stolen twice.
I drove manuals until 2007. I changed because my town has stop signs every 100 feet*. I happened to look up Hondas yesterday and discovered that, for the Civic hatchback that might interest me (since they have ended the Fit), the manual costs $100 more than the automatic.
My son tried to teach his kids to drive his manual. One of them took to it well, two more tried it and quit. I am nor sure about #4.
*Ok, I exaggerate. But it is really true that, with the exception of a few through streets, every. single. intersection is a four-way stop. And even the “through streets” will have a stop every 3-4 blocks.
You will soon get round-abouts. Some are good, some are stupid beyond belief.
That is another issue lately. In the US market autos have become so pervasive that it’s the manual that has to be a special consideration.
Though now I am wondering if there is a difference in that sense between the models who have gone CVT and the ones that have stuck with geared autos – as in if CVT are much cheaper than advanced geared automatics.
I feel I waited too long for trying to learn to drive stick – at some point I figured, nah, try it now I’ll be replacing clutches at every regular service, nobody got time for that.
My 2020 Jeep Wrangler Sport is a 6 speed manual, which is standard. At the time the automatic was $2500 more. I just checked and that has dropped to $2000 for the automatic.
I’ve driven a manual for 38 years now, don’t even think about it.
In my particular vehicle, a 6-speed manual is standard. Auto will run you 1500 clams. ( I have the manual, by “cost no object” preference )
The other thing about manual transmissions. They used to get better gas mileage. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.
The engine and transmission act as one now for best MPG. Hard to do with a manual. **
Correct me if I’m wrong of course.
** Side note… I have a cousin that would cruise down the road in a manual in 2nd gear at 5500 rpm - She didn’t understand why she should be in 5th gear. Since it wasn’t ‘red lined’ she though it was fine.
She does not drive anymore, thank god.
No.
I never learned to drive one and don’t have any desire to do so at this late stage in the game.
I am going to buy a new car in about a year or two right after I retire. It should last me the rest of my life barring any accidents.