posted
For those of you who think Automatics are junky, you obviously have not seen the modern Automatic transmission. Companies like BMW, Aston Martin, and Ferrari have developed a new style of automatic transmission that uses regular gearing like a manual (instead of the fluid-based transmission of an automatic), but has it controlled by a computer. These systems can switch gears nearly instantaneously, with BMWs system boasting a change of around 1/10th of a second.
In other words, it's a computer controlled manual. But that's not all there is to it, since the system can be overridden by the driver so that he can shift on his own, using two paddles located behind the steering wheel, therefore allowing the driver to keep his hands on the wheel at all times. A flip of the right paddle shifts up one, a flip of the left paddle shifts down one.
The other key thing about these transmissions is that they have no clutch pedal. As soon as either the computer attempts to shift gears, or the driver hits a padel, the computer automatically controls the clutch, allowing for such quick gear changes to be possible.
Another new system developed by Mitsubishi for the DaimlerChrysler Automotive Group (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Maybach, Mitsubishi) is Autostick. Autostick is a regular, fluid-based automatic transmission that features a manual override. With a flick of the floor shifter to either the left or right, one can force the car to shift gears before the computer would normally shift. Again, this is clutchless since it has no real gears, it's merely the change in the fluid transmission. Other Japanese companies like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan have followed Mitsubishi with the Autostick development (although they use a different name for their versions), and they can be found on most of their luxury car lines (Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti). These Autostick systems allow you to have the ease of an automatic, but the sportiness of a manual only when you feel like driving in a sporty fashion.
As for gas mileage, regular manuals are as a standard 1mpg better then an automatic, but as someone already said, that's under ideal conditions.
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
You know, driving a stick is not that difficult. It's very easy, once you learn. And any punk bitch who drives an automatic Wrangler deserves a smack.
quote:Originally posted by Springfield Armory Snay:
quote:And I live in Delaware, where suburbia meets traffic jams. Almost everywhere. Driving a stick shift in traffic would not be my idea of fun.
Oh, please, there are all of like ten people in Deleware. You can't ALL be driving at the same time.
There's not a lot, but most of them are all crammed into the northern county. I take it you've never driven on I-95 through Delaware through rush hour? Granted, it's certainly not as bad as big cities like Washington or Baltimore, but it's still frustrating. That's all I meant.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Deleware doesn't exist. It's a Government conspiracy.
Sadly, the website that spilled the beans no longer works.
I've driven on I-95 through Delaware into NJ only once, and that was two years ago. Usually, if I'm in Deleware, its because I get lost in the Salisbury region. Sounds like you don't live more then an hour or so from me.
Cool! I know one of the dozen or so people residing in Delaware!
posted
English is your second language? Why did I not know that?
And Jeff, no-one ever said that driving a manual transmission was hard. Merely that it was pointless, unless you are Formula 1 driver.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Omega said "Brittain". He took a starship name typo to new heights of sillyness. We laughed at him. And then Jeff raped a dear.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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