Do you choose a car with automatic transmission because you want to feel more comfortable behind the steering wheel? It’s much easier to drive a car with automatic gears. Here are a few tips that will make driving even easier.
Manual vs automatic
Cars with automatic transmission are more and more popular these days. Basically, as shown in reports from www.checkcardna.com, in the USA there are much more cars with automatic than manual. It’s not the same everywhere. In most European countries you can pass the driving exam only on cars with manual transmission.
Of course, after that, you can drive a car with a manual but first, you must learn how to operate a manual transmission. And it’s not an easy thing to do.
Driving a car with manual transmission
There is much more work with manual transmission. You must care about pushing pedals in the right sequence and between that change gears. It may look really difficult but after a few months of driving with a manual transmission, most drivers can change gears without any problems. To be honest – driving with manual transmission is much more fun. If you want to feel like a race driver and drive with full power you should buy a car with manual transmission.
Automatic transmission gears
Of course, it doesn’t mean that automatic transmission won’t give you a joy ride. It can also be a very interesting experience. Most people choose automatic transmission because it’s much easier to drive. It also requires a few skills that will make driving more effective and comfortable. Here are a few things that you need to know about cars with automatic transmission.
Disadvantages of automatic gearbox
Why are cars with automatic are unpopular in Europe? There are a few reasons.
First, they give you less precise control over gear selection. It means that in automatic cars the vehicle controls the gears – not you. On one hand, it’s great – you don’t need to worry about changing gears you just need to focus on the road. But on the other hand, automatic transmission makes your ride less dynamic, especially in the city. Automatic cars are the best solution for longer distances, highways, and all the places where you can drive without stopping every few miles.
The second thing is connected with the first one. When you don’t change gears by yourself (which means releasing the gas pedal and stopping accelerating for a few seconds) car consumes more gas. So if you think that gas prices are too high and you worry about each cent spent on the gas you should choose a car with manual transmission. They’re not so comfortable and easy to drive but will help you to save some money on gas. Especially if you’re often driving short distances in the city.
The third reason why automatic cars are not so popular in some parts of the world is that they are much more expensive. And it doesn’t mean only that they are expensive to buy but also to repair. Automatic transmission is much more complicated from a technical point of view.
Basic rules for driving a car with automatic transmission
So if all the above disadvantages still want you to have an automatic car, then you should know some basic rules in driving a car with automatic transmission.
The first is the gear selector. Automatic cars have gear selector that includes these options:
P (park – lock the transmission and should be selected when the car is parked),
R (for reverse driving),
N (neutral position, has the same effect as neutral on the manual gearbox),
D (select when you want to drive forward).
S (sportier drive gear)
B (braking using an electric engine and regenerating power back to it. In some city driving situations it could partially replace the braking pedal)
It looks quite easy, right?
But that’s not all. Some automatic gearboxes include first and second gear. “Why?” you may ask. Well sometimes even in an automatic car’s driver may need to choose a lower gear, for example when you’re driving from the hill. Automatic transmission will try to change it to a higher gear but it’s recommended to choose a lower gear. That’s why second gear on automatic is so important.
What about overtaking? This is a specific situation when you have to fast accelerate and give your car a lot of power. In a manual gearbox, you can control it by changing gears at a specific moment. There is a solution for an automatic gearbox called “kick-down“. If you need to accelerate more quickly kick-down allows you to override the automatic selection of gears and forces the transmission to stay in lower gears for longer. How to activate “kick-down”? You just need to simply push the accelerator down and keep it pressed until you reach the speed you need. If you want to turn it off just release the pedal and the car will start to slow down.
Warning! Driving in difficult conditions with automatic gear
Most drivers using a manual gearbox in their car can’t imagine how you can steer a car with an automatic on ice, snow or wet road surface. When you’re using manual you just choose higher gear and driving is much more easier. But what to do with automatic? Some automatic transmissions have special options for these conditions. When you’ll buying a car ask about this option in a car you want to buy. It’s very helpful, especially if you’re living in northern states where winter can be long and cold.
