On Wed, 26 May 2021 14:30:47 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
R D S wrote:
I'm looking for a car, XC60 2.0 D4 if anyone has any opinions on those.

I've never owned an automatic and never wanted one but I test drove one
yesterday and while i'm not going to be buying that particular one
having driven it i'm wondering if i'd actually prefer an auto. It
certainly wasn't like autos of old that i've driven.

But if I come back to the idea i'd prefer a manual I can save a couple
of grand.

Looking for opinions from anyone who's changed sides.

There is little comparison between autos of old and the best modern
ones.

Up until about 40 years ago, they were commonly three speed with a
torque convertor. This slowed the same car down over a manual, and
increased the fuel consumption. Only really reasonably satisfactory in a
large engined car.

There are basically two types today. The same idea epicyclic box with
torque converter but many more ratios. 8 not being uncommon. With the
power lossy TC locked out for much of the time - really just used for
moving off from rest. All computer controlled.

The second one is a robotised manual synchromesh box with a conventional
but automatic clutch. The most efficient in terms of MPG and
performance.
The better versions of this idea use effectively two gearboxes and
clutches. One gearbox has the odd gears, the other the even. And
changing between say 1st to 2nd is done by swapping the clutches. When
the car is in 2nd gear, the other box has selected 3rd, and the process
repeated. This arrangement can give a virtually seamless power flow
under pretty well all conditions.

My Golf R does that.