These days, there are a wider variety of transmissions than just about any other time in history. There’s standard manual (with some cars offering six rather than five gears), there’s CVT (continuously variable transmission), DSG (a semi automatic double clutch setup) and even automatic cars with 8 forward gears!
My question is then, would you ever consider going for a semi-automatic or fully automatic car? Certain German marques, in particular Mercedes and BMW, have a history of producing quite large engined cars that tend to be supplied in automatic form. Vehicles such as the BMW 330 can quite often be found with an auto box. So, why don’t more people choose it?
Well, I believe in a large part it’s just down to what you get used to. If you drive a manual car for ten years, I’m not sure you’d see or feel the need to go for an automatic. On the other hand, many performance vehicles are now being manufactured with a double clutch system with flappy paddle gears for the simple reason that it can reduce shift times, giving lightning fast gear changes (VW Golf GTi I’m looking at you). But, how much does it take you away from the action?
The more I’m thinking about it at the moment, the more an automatic diesel option seems to make sense, but god it sounds like an awful proposition. So, an automatic petrol then? Not unless it has flappy paddles to play with. I raised the question with the other half. Her response was to kindly remind me that the Mitsubishi Evo X comes with an SST (sport shift transmission) meaning you get slightly better fuel economy and flappy paddles to play with in a car that’s surprisingly practical. I’d better start working more overtime…
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