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  • LAVA Moderator: Mysterier

Manual or Automatic?

even though your downshifting methods might work okay, its still placing a lot of load on your gearbox. theres two shafts in the gearbox and you gota make sure that theyre going at the right speeds or else your clutch takes the load and creates wear on it. the point in reving the engine while its in neutral is to match the speed of aonther shaft in the gearbox spo the final gear you select goes in easy and with no wear on the clutch.
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I understand. What I outlined was exactly that. The only difference is what I outlined and what you outlined is that I am doing it really fast. Both methods are still doing exactly the same thing. When you hold the clutch in, it is the same as being in neutral. Double clutching is just redundant.
 
TheodoreRoosevelt said:
I understand. What I outlined was exactly that. The only difference is what I outlined and what you outlined is that I am doing it really fast. Both methods are still doing exactly the same thing. When you hold the clutch in, it is the same as being in neutral. Double clutching is just redundant.
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I don't think it is the same thing. I am probably wrong, but even if you have disengaged the clutch from the engine by pressing the clutch pedal down, the gears in the box are still going to be 'connected'. Bringing it into neutral separates the gears so the next one can be connected smoothly.

Your 'method' just sounds like regualr gear shifing to me! :p

I still maintain engine braking is stupid, even if your just trying to "control your speed" down a hill.
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If you say so... I personally think it's safer than using and cooking your brakes on long / steep hills.
 
I don't think it is the same thing. I am probably wrong, but even if you have disengaged the clutch from the engine by pressing the clutch pedal down, the gears in the box are still going to be 'connected'. Bringing it into neutral separates the gears so the next one can be connected smoothly.
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No, the gears disconnect when you change gears. You still go into neutral when you change gears. There are two ways to make a smooth gear change, you either release the clutch very slowly so the small amount of friction will match the engine to the clutch with ease, or you add alot of gas to the engine so the transition is smooth because the cluth and engine match. Double clutching and adding lots of gas at the right time when you shift both do the same thing, the only difference is that double clutching takes longer.

If you say so... I personally think it's safer than using and cooking your brakes on long / steep hills.
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I check my car regularly so I'll know in advance if my brakes are less than perfect. It doesn't take long to realize your brakes are screwed up, and if that situation arises I would use the emergency brake and engine braking (the same strategy is also used for automatics). I find the emergency brake very handy, and comfortable using it - experience with drifting and certain stick shift tricks :)
 
what is this emergency brake you speak of? or is it just the regular parking/hand brake? good luck if planning to use that in an emergency, imho its only good for taking corners WRC style rather than serious stopping! the "emergency" brake is only connected to the rear wheels which arent really any good for stopping the car, also it by passes any abs you car might have had so it most likely just gonna stop lock up the rear wheels which will probably start a spin.

I check my car regularly so I'll know in advance if my brakes are less than perfect. It doesn't take long to realize your brakes are screwed up
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that has nothing to do with it! when braking for long periods of time ie downhill the brakes generate lots of heat, if you heat the brakes too much then the brake fluid boils and become useless!
 
Bingo! Sooooo many people fail to realize this, even though it's in most states drivers license study manual. Excessive heat + Brakes = REALLY bad news.

The handbrake *will* stop the vehicle if you lose braking power, but not in an emergency situation. It;s more or less for that halcion dream situation that some engineer came up with with the absolute perfect driving conditions in mind. ie - you are the only car on the road, and a straightaway. And even then it's going to take a LONG distance. If you just yank up on it you're going to lose control. It has to be done in spurts.

detonater said:
what is this emergency brake you speak of? or is it just the regular parking/hand brake? good luck if planning to use that in an emergency, imho its only good for taking corners WRC style rather than serious stopping!



that has nothing to do with it! when braking for long periods of time ie downhill the brakes generate lots of heat, if you heat the brakes too much then the brake fluid boils and become useless!
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I prefer automatics. Less distracting, less annoying. I CAN drive a manual decently, I just find it irritating as hell.
 
Lol yes ali, I mean when you push the car so it's moving at a decent clip and pop the clutch...bypassing the need for the battery or another car.

The one thing (and only thing really, I can handle traffic) that I hate about manuals? Driving in a really hilly area such as SF. If you have to stop or park on a hill (going up), it's pure hell and people come right up on your tail and don't seem to understand that the minute you take your foot off the brake you're going to roll back...it scares the fuck out of me!
 
^ if you are in control of your car and can hill start correctly, you will never roll back.

in the uk, starting on a hill (hill start) is in the driving test. if you roll back, even and inch, they'll fail you as you are not in control of your car.

alasdair
 
Driving in a really hilly area such as SF. If you have to stop or park on a hill (going up), it's pure hell and people come right up on your tail and don't seem to understand that the minute you take your foot off the brake you're going to roll back...it scares the fuck out of me!
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thats what the parking/hand/"emergency" brake is for, so you can balance the clutch and power and just take off the hand brake and pull away smoothly!
 
MANUAL all the way, automatic takes the fun out of driving,

automatics are like go - carts.
 
Maybe so, buut driving in bumper to bumper NYC rush hour traffic will change your opinion on that REAL quick.
 
^ not really, i did a lot of driving in london (before congestion charging) just stay in 2nd and try not to come to a complete halt. Plus as soon as you get a bit of open road you can nail it past all the slow autos
 
^ NYC + rush hour = no open roads. It can literally take a half hour to travel from 8th Ave to the FDR drive (just east of 1st ave). I am sooooooo glad that NYC taxi's are automatics just for that reason.

Traffic is so bad in the city that people will get in your cab wanting to go 10-12 blocks, just to jump out four blocks later and hoof it the rest of the way.

But on a lighter note, i only deal with the rush hour for a short period of time when i work. Seeing that I inherited my cab/medallion, I'm free to drive when I want--just so long as I don't violate the 12 hour service rules. So I can start at lets say 5 or 6pm, head straight to the airport, and if I pick up a fare going into Manhattan I basically miss the rush, or just catch the tail end of it. The one advantage to not being a fleet driver where I would have to hustle to earn my 12 hour lease fee before I started making any money.

But on the downside, ALL costs come out of my pocket. Car washes (every day--sometimes more than once if some fuck pukes all over it), maintenance (thank lord I'm an ASE certified auto tech from way back when), quarterly inspections by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Comission on top of the yearly NYS inspection, etc, etc, etc. But on a brighter side, when I work, I can earn a decent amount of coin. BUT being an owner/operator I'm basically forced to report my income. But if I drove for a fleet part time......even though I'd have to pay lease fees and gas, any money/tips left after expenses would be all mine.....cash money that Uncle Sam doesn't know about.

Oh--and as for the slow automatics............NYC cabs for the most part are Ford Crown Victorias with a 4.6ltr V8 under the hood. Mine being a 2004 wth about 60k on the clock, and VERY well maintained since my uncle bought it. So much for slow ;-)
 
Yep. I have a v8 inifinti q45 with around 300hp. I love automatic cars. I mean damn, how else you gonna drive at 3am after drinking a pint of vodka?
 
^ NYC + rush hour = no open roads. It can literally take a half hour to travel from 8th Ave to the FDR drive (just east of 1st ave). I am sooooooo glad that NYC taxi's are automatics just for that reason.

Traffic is so bad in the city that people will get in your cab wanting to go 10-12 blocks, just to jump out four blocks later and hoof it the rest of the way.

But on a lighter note, i only deal with the rush hour for a short period of time when i work. Seeing that I inherited my cab/medallion, I'm free to drive when I want--just so long as I don't violate the 12 hour service rules. So I can start at lets say 5 or 6pm, head straight to the airport, and if I pick up a fare going into Manhattan I basically miss the rush, or just catch the tail end of it. The one advantage to not being a fleet driver where I would have to hustle to earn my 12 hour lease fee before I started making any money.

But on the downside, ALL costs come out of my pocket. Car washes (every day--sometimes more than once if some fuck pukes all over it), maintenance (thank lord I'm an ASE certified auto tech from way back when), quarterly inspections by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Comission on top of the yearly NYS inspection, etc, etc, etc. But on a brighter side, when I work, I can earn a decent amount of coin. BUT being an owner/operator I'm basically forced to report my income (but of course I have a memory lapse when it comes to some of my tips......). But if I drove for a fleet part time......even though I'd have to pay lease fees and gas, any money/tips left after expenses would be all mine.....cash money that Uncle Sam doesn't know about.

Oh--and as for the slow automatics............NYC cabs for the most part are Ford Crown Victorias with a 4.6ltr V8 under the hood. Mine being a 2004 wth about 60k on the clock, and VERY well maintained since my uncle bought it. So much for slow ;-)
 
Kilgore said:
I mean damn, how else you gonna drive at 3am after drinking a pint of vodka?
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nobody laughed the first time either :\

alasdair
 
^The banana boat.

The most regulated and enforced industry in NYC. Beilieve it or not. I do plan on switivhing to black car as soon as financial means permit, as ther is big $$$$ to be made driving those.
 
Oh--and as for the slow automatics............NYC cabs for the most part are Ford Crown Victorias with a 4.6ltr V8 under the hood. Mine being a 2004 wth about 60k on the clock, and VERY well maintained since my uncle bought it. So much for slow ;-)
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i wonder which genius thought that was a good idea, to have massive V8's wasting fuel sat in traffic all the time! Last time i was in nyc tho i did see a london black cab, was it just a novelty thing or are people starting to use them as cabs? Sorry maybe i should clarrify what i ment by slow, im sure that given a blast on an interstate or freeway it could accerate pretty quick but any kind of corner is gonna give all sorts of handeling issues. It also doesnt help that most american auto makers are encouraged to use loads of steel/cast iron so they're cars weigh 2k kg so that they produce 150bhp per ton which isnt exactly alot. iirc most european car makers aim for about 100bhp per liter from the engines while keeping the kreb weight as low as possible.
As soon as americans catch on that diesels will work better for your motoring needs the better. imho diesel works better with the big heavy cars you drive and auto box's everybody seems to use over there and still gets good mpg (my old 2ltr 125bhp diesel used to do 50mpg with no problems at all in the city)
 
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