Auto gearbox question

There are a few variations out there now, many of them are similar in operation to each other, but with different names - which one you go for depends on a number of factors, the first one being the car itself, after all there is no point buying a car for its super-duper gearbox when you actually don't like the car itself. The other thing to consider is what sort of drive/feel you are expecting from your car, and of course what age of car you are looking for?

Personally, I am not a fan of CVT transmissions, purely because any I have driven just don't feel 'right' to me.

The DSG (multi-clutch) gearboxes from the Volkswagen/Audi/Skoda/Seat camp are impressive beasts, as they can be used as a flappy paddle semi-auto, or a full auto depending on your whim at the time; their gearchanges are remarkably quick and smooth, which mean that they are less likely to blunt the performance of the car as some auto's can. However, they are fickle when it comes to servicing, and regular fluid changes are an absolute must, as failure to do so will see the box fail, and the expense of repair/replacement is massive. These are also appearing from other manufacturers in slightly different guises, however the principles are similar.

Tipronic or multi-tronic sort of sit in between a standard slush box and the DSG - - they are effectively a more sophisticated version of a slush box that has an electronic 'brain' controlling the changes for you. Reliability wise, they seem to be fine - again, servicing is the key though, as failures will cost you a packet. Also worth bearing in mind that performance loss and fuel economy loss is likely to be higher on these boxes in comparison to the DSG style.

That leaves the traditional slush box auto, which are something of a rarity on more modern cars, simply because most have been fitted with the electronically controlled units for the sake of emissions etc

Is there any particular style/model of car you are interested in?

 

To be fair @pete, all of our buses & coaches at work have automatic gearboxes, predominantly ZF, but the odd Allison or Voith also. Given the stop/start work that they do day in and day out in London traffic, they hold up reasonably well, to the point that it is still a fairly notable event if one goes west.

I think part of the problem with car gearboxes is that we as consumers expect more and more features for the money we are prepared to pay. A typical bus/coach gearbox is anything from £7000 to £12000, and although they are obviously a lot larger etc, that price of a whole new car in comparison should give an idea of the money being spent on the gearbox in a car.

The other thing that we are pretty bad at in this country, is taking care of our vehicles properly, and people tend to sit in one of two types; there is the type like me, who will be whipping the spanners out or going to the garage if I as much as feel that something isn't quite right. Then there are the others who will only go to a garage for an MOT, or if something actually goes bang in a big way.

The way that most automatic gearboxes work (oil under high pressure all the time) means that having the gearbox oil changed at or before the correct interval, and using the correct grade of quality oil is absolutely critical; we are a nation of spendthrifts on stuff like this, and if their mate 'Fred' down the local pub says 'Nah, no need to change the fluid, its just the dealer skinning your wallet', then it doesn't get done - - - after all, Fred knows one end of a spanner from another, and has kept his Vauxhall Chevette alive for years all by himself........

And, there is a degree of us preferring to be in control over here - think it harks back to the days of the MGB etc and the seat of the pants, down a country road thing.

 

Also worthy of note (as we are perhaps unintentionally painting a bit of a grim picture of auto boxes), modern manual cars also cost a packet if they go wrong - - take my A4 for example, clutch and dual mass flywheel £1400 (or £1900 from and Audi dealer); thankfully mine was under warranty, but I think we all have to accept that modern vehicles are complex beasties and are not easy nor cheap to fix should they go wrong.

 

Synthetic oils are not cheap - four litres of engine oil for mine is around £50

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

Possibly, but we have to remember that the engineering tolerances are so fine nowadays that components such as valves and pistons fit very snugly indeed into their respective bores - that means any expansion due to warmth has to be more closely controlled than ever before, therefore the oil has to be capable of withstanding very high pressure as well as being thin enough to squeeze into the tiny spaces left

The upside, generally, is reliability - think of older engines for example; a rebore or rebuild at less than 100k miles was common, piston slap in the cold weather or smoking heavily due to worn valve guides or knackered piston rings was equally common, requiring major surgery

Modern engines will easily do 150k upwards with no major work, gearboxes being the same, and all the while being faster and quieter than ever - 100 quid for oil every 75k is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new engine or gearbox

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

We have just bought a new car for Mrs JWK who only likes driving autos. She did have a Ford previously with a traditional automatic gearbox, this time we've gone for a Peugeot with a semi-automatic gearbox called an ECG or something like that. Basically it's a normal gearbox with an automatic clutch. We've only test-driven it so far and it is quite a lot different to the traditional auto, there didn't seem to be a kick down and you have to ease off the throttle to help it change. It was fairly simple to get used to, it also had flappy paddles on the steering column if you want to put it into manual mode.

Strangely you need a full manual driving licence to drive it as it's classed as a manual car, even though there are only two pedals - stop and go.

Personally I'd stick with a manual. Mostly they are more economical. If you do lots of city driving then an auto is simpler though.

 

I have driven CVTs in the past and didn't like the experience at all. The engine stays at the same revs regardless of speed so it's a bit odd when you put your foot down, the engine doesn't speed up but there are lots of odd whirring noises.

Some of the machinery on the farm were CVTs and the variable pully and belts were always going wrong. Maybe they have improved in recent years but I would never consider one.