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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 17 August 2006, 20:12:41 »
Stairs? Too much like hard work,i bought a bungalow! 
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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 17 August 2006, 18:55:58 »
What a great thread to contibrute to for my first postings on this super forum.I think I'm going to like it on here.Thanks everyone for the debate,it makes a change to discuss something other than the depressing mechanical maladies of our favourite marque.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 17 August 2006, 11:06:17 »
Oh, and a seven speed gearbox
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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 17 August 2006, 11:03:30 »
You're right about spec affecting values of executive cars,Andy B,a manual S class Merc or 7series BMW is virtually unsellable as a used vehicle.
The whole auto vs manual thing IMHO boils down to horses for courses.A track day car,a Sunday toy or a tiny hatchback should of course be manual ,but an everyday big engined car like the Omega shuld be automatic,it suits the character of the car.
Of course ,if you actually relish changing gear ,why not go the whole hog and have manual window winders,non-powered steering,no syncromesh,cable brakes ,no heating and an opening windscreen for ventilation!
The whole auto vs manual thing IMHO boils down to horses for courses.A track day car,a Sunday toy or a tiny hatchback should of course be manual ,but an everyday big engined car like the Omega shuld be automatic,it suits the character of the car.
Of course ,if you actually relish changing gear ,why not go the whole hog and have manual window winders,non-powered steering,no syncromesh,cable brakes ,no heating and an opening windscreen for ventilation!
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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 17 August 2006, 00:10:00 »
Maybe I gave the wrong impression about my driving style.Just to clarify, my motoring experience includes competing in countless road and special stage rallies,short circuit racing ,hillclimbs,and autotests quite successfully in the 60's and 70's,before a wife and kids stopped play .I have also driven over 2million road miles on three different continents during the course of my career without major incident.I can change gear without thinking like any experienced driver-but why should I?
No,I was talking about real world motoring,and in the the real world an average driver in an auto will outdrag an average driver in a manual-power and weight being more or less equal.
As for needing a manual to have control over a car,todays vehicles have huge reserves of roadholding and braking ability that needing to change down to 'steady the ship'as it were is an archaic old wives tale.
Manuals have their uses,all my competition cars were manual as were all the commercial vehicles I owned for business use.In fact my first truck was ex WW2 with a crash gearbox which took some mastering!
BTW,I passed my Advanced Driving test in 1981.
No,I was talking about real world motoring,and in the the real world an average driver in an auto will outdrag an average driver in a manual-power and weight being more or less equal.
As for needing a manual to have control over a car,todays vehicles have huge reserves of roadholding and braking ability that needing to change down to 'steady the ship'as it were is an archaic old wives tale.
Manuals have their uses,all my competition cars were manual as were all the commercial vehicles I owned for business use.In fact my first truck was ex WW2 with a crash gearbox which took some mastering!
BTW,I passed my Advanced Driving test in 1981.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 16 August 2006, 22:16:39 »
Most modern autos are of the tiptronic type which can be driven like a manual on the twisty bits when you're in the mood and you still get to relax in crawling trafic.However,steer clear of the 'Selespeed' system as fitted to Alfas and Fiats,it's very jerky and unreliable. My girlfriend's Alfa 156 at 60k is on it's third gearbox ! No wonder they are worthless.....the cars I mean,not girlfriends. 
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General Discussion Area / Re: Auto v Manual
« on: 16 August 2006, 20:59:54 »
Yes,in everyday driving an auto will usually leave for dead a similarly powered manual without trying,IMHO,unless the manual driver powershifts with no regard for the life of the clutch and gearbox.
I cannot fathom the British obsession with changing gear countless times on every journey,what a waste of effort when a modern auto will always be in the right gear. A guy was boasting the other day that his new diesel eurobox had a six speed gearbox! He was upset when it was pointed out that the six speeds were needed to keep the horribly peaky engine on the boil.Car makers are clever(or at least their marketing departments are) making the hinderence of an extra gearchange every timeyou want to reach cruising speed into a selling point!
When asked,most people who detest autos have never driven one for any length of time,citing 'lack of engine braking' or feeling'less in control' as the reason they would never buy an auto.Speaking personally, I wouldn't buy a manual for everyday motoring,I hate wasting time and energy on doing unneccesary chores.
BTW does anybody else use their left foot for braking when driving an auto ?I dont mean when just parking or low speed manouvering,but exclusively.I picked up this wierd habit in the sixties whilst running a mk2 Ford Zodiac auto with a tendency to stall when braking,hence the need to brake with the left foot whilst keeping the engine running with the right foot! It was suprisingly easy to learn how to modulate my braking with my left foot,even in a emergency situation.Yet when a drive a manual I automatically(no pun intended) brake with my right foot.
Still ,if it's good enough for F1 drivers its good enough for me,although,apparantly I would fail a drivng test nowadays for doing what comes naturally-left foot braking!
I cannot fathom the British obsession with changing gear countless times on every journey,what a waste of effort when a modern auto will always be in the right gear. A guy was boasting the other day that his new diesel eurobox had a six speed gearbox! He was upset when it was pointed out that the six speeds were needed to keep the horribly peaky engine on the boil.Car makers are clever(or at least their marketing departments are) making the hinderence of an extra gearchange every timeyou want to reach cruising speed into a selling point!
When asked,most people who detest autos have never driven one for any length of time,citing 'lack of engine braking' or feeling'less in control' as the reason they would never buy an auto.Speaking personally, I wouldn't buy a manual for everyday motoring,I hate wasting time and energy on doing unneccesary chores.
BTW does anybody else use their left foot for braking when driving an auto ?I dont mean when just parking or low speed manouvering,but exclusively.I picked up this wierd habit in the sixties whilst running a mk2 Ford Zodiac auto with a tendency to stall when braking,hence the need to brake with the left foot whilst keeping the engine running with the right foot! It was suprisingly easy to learn how to modulate my braking with my left foot,even in a emergency situation.Yet when a drive a manual I automatically(no pun intended) brake with my right foot.
Still ,if it's good enough for F1 drivers its good enough for me,although,apparantly I would fail a drivng test nowadays for doing what comes naturally-left foot braking!
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General Discussion Area / Re: Mmmmm if only
« on: 20 June 2007, 13:58:44 »
Mega desirable car with unbelievablely high prices for the Lotus only spares.Plus they rust through just as easily as any other GM car of that era.
The prices bottomed out a while ago, and good ones are now appreciating.
The prices bottomed out a while ago, and good ones are now appreciating.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Anyone fancy this for £1,000,000
« on: 01 June 2007, 01:07:01 »
Starting bid £1 million? A trifle ambitious, methinks. 
I'd think twice even if she came with three nyphomaniac sisters, a castle, a Ferrari in the garage and a chain of pubs. :-/ :-/
I'd think twice even if she came with three nyphomaniac sisters, a castle, a Ferrari in the garage and a chain of pubs. :-/ :-/10
General Discussion Area / Re: Confused by specs
« on: 31 May 2007, 01:27:22 »
Ive got a Philips system in my Astra CDX daily driver.Supurb sound and no problems at all in 7 years and 130k miles.
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General Discussion Area / Re: I always wondered what happened with this . .
« on: 30 May 2007, 00:31:56 »
Yeah,sorry about that. Not the place to moan about the quality of todays TV programing. 
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General Discussion Area / Re: I always wondered what happened with this . .
« on: 29 May 2007, 23:24:40 »
A prial of 24 carat gold plated numbnut plonkers. Makes me sad that people get finacially rewarded for broadcasting to the world about how stupid they are. And that the people who invested millions in this POS programme actually thought it was a good idea. So-called 'reality TV' is IMO the lowest form of entertainment, aimed at and willingly embraced by the tabloid reading, semi-literate underclass who actually admire and envy the attention seeking dullard contestants! Some viewers actually spend hundreds of pounds voting for some moronic racist or prancing queen, lining the pockets of the avaricious producing company and producing yet another terminally boring 'CELEBRITY' for the rest of us to endure listening to on every chat show, at least while their 15 minutes last.
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General Discussion Area / Re: My MV6 SORTED!!!! Thanks to JamesV6CDX!!
« on: 25 May 2007, 13:50:03 »
How about a new avatar for James ? 
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General Discussion Area / Re: Ugly cars
« on: 22 May 2007, 01:38:59 »
His ability to ruin cars is equalled by his ability to murder the Queens English.
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General Discussion Area / Re: you couldn't make it up !!
« on: 15 May 2007, 00:20:01 »
Yeah,heel & toeing, another lost art .I learnt that technique in the sixties when I owned a 1958 Thames 4D 3 ton van,powered by a sidevalve V8 with a 4 speed crash gearbox without any form of syncromesh on any gears. If you fluffed a downchange on a steep hill you had to stop and start again in first.I soon became expert at timing the changes, eventually I became able to do totally clutchless changes once the gearbox oil was hot. The technique was also invaluble when I started competing in rallies a few years later.