"Rod" wrote in message
...
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Autos are great for traffic. And a lot better for the average driver to
whom any gear change is a constant challenge, and clutch control means
how to avoid getting pawed in a nightclub.


gr, hwh

Agreed. I see little advantage to manual in 0-30 mph traffic. And not much
more between 30 and 50. Nor at a constant 70. As almost all roads I travel
are limited to 50 or lower - or are motorways - little point in manual.

I loathe automatics: they change gear at the wrong time and are far too
inclined to change down in situations where I would hold onto a higher gear
and apply a bit more power. Negotiating roundabouts in an automatic is no
fun: I find that I either get too little acceleration in a high gear or
else, for just a tiny bit more power, the transmission changes right down
into first gear (well that's what it feels like) and I get far too much
acceleration. Nothing is worse than a car which changes gear by itself in
the middle of a manoeuvre when you're not expecting it.

I had a very bad experience with an automatic Ford Focus that was hired for
me to make a business trip: it had an aversion to going over 50 mph: the
more power I applied, the further it changed down - I could have 50 in any
of 5th, 4th, 3rd or 2nd gear! On the M25, every time I got the car up to 70,
some poxy HGV would pull out in front of me, requiring me to brake to 50 and
then take several miles to coax the car back up to 70 without provoking it
to change down.