Having owned an Auto Rover SDI in the early 80 and had a company auto Mondeo, I have always liked them. As we are in the earliest possible process of starting to ponder if and when we should change vehicles I will be looking for an auto.

There's a world of difference between a DSG type auto and an old style - what I will call a - torque converter box. Indeed the DSGs did develop a reputation for flywheel problems as I recall. Apart from a semi-automatic 1968 Beetle my first auto was a Deawoo Leganza back in 2002 - after a painful 3 hour clutch pumping session on the M3. Had a brief enforced sojurn in stick wiggling land, other than that it's been 2 pedals ever since. One of the advantages with a DSG is that you get away from the 'perpetual slipping clutch' sound of the old style box. On the other hand I do love that feeling when you put your foot down and while the engine note never changes you just keep accelerating.
On the down side - my KIa Sportage 2wd diesel auto 9old style TC box returns around 35mpg local running - towing?????? less I suspect...........

no extra cooling on the transmission here. I think many of us grew up in the era of the 3 speed auto boxes, now all long gone, thank goodness. As with everything else, the technology has improved beyond recognition in recent years. I hardly notice the gear changes and only sense them when the rev counter drops..

Quote: rambling robin wrote in post #17

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On the down side - my KIa Sportage 2wd diesel auto 9old style TC box returns around 35mpg local running - towing?????? less I suspect...........

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We had a BMW 320d tourer manual when we had the Troll, used to get 700 miles to a tankful (like Deeps, brim to brim) which equated to 50 mpg ish solo, towing it dropped to between 32 - 35 mpg.

We now have a 520d saloon, 8 speed autobox, I have paddles on the steering wheel and can also stick shift sequentially if I choose to, still get 700 miles to a tankful despite it being heavier and an auto, sublime gearbox!!

I remember Brian calling me a luddite once before about what I cannot remember as it was inconsequential (see what I did there)maybe it's time for the word to be used again? Not by me though I'm all for advances in technology

I have never liked automatic cars and this was confirmed when I test drove the new Land Rover Discovery Sport. I suppose I am old fashioned and like to be in control of gear changes when I drive. Some autos have a manual overide but are more expensive. Judging by the comments most folk now favour automatics and I haven't heared of towing problems, so I guess it is just down to personal preference. My next car will be a manual though.

I wouldn't consider a manual for anything other than classic cars and museum pieces.
I currently have 2 automatics bought new, a 2015 wrangler with old fashioned torque converter which is able to be manually overidden and a 2016 6 speed Peugeot robotised manual which is essentially a dry clutch manual with the clutch operated by a linear actuator and a computer.
Both are fabulous. I've had over a dozen autos Including an Octavia vrs DSG. So, I've had all types from DSG to torque converter and it is still the case that the torque converter is king as far as I'm concerned. However, these modern dry clutch robotised manual units are fabulous as is the DSG and I've done 40,000 miles a year in all types.

The downside as mentioned with a Torque converter is it reduces mpg by virtue of the drag, it's essentially stirring up the fluid and trying to drive forwards even sat at the lights. I wouldn't buy such a car if I was concerned about MPG. However, the mpg of wrangler doesn't change when towing, it's so heavy itself that putting an 850 KG on the back made absolutely no difference to the MPG on first tow I did which was 96 miles.

The wrangler gets around 29 mpg
The Peugeot gets anything from 55 to 60. It's only a month old but already has 3500 miles on the clock and can be driven as a semi auto with the paddle shifters. The average mpg over the 3500 miles is 54.5 but climbing each time I use it as it is now properly run-in. I haven't towed with it but i fit tow bars to all my cars so I will do so soon I expect.

Automatic is the way...

Al
Ps, I have 2 manuals that are just playthings, both Morris minors one of which I'm converting to 2 litre automatic over the winter the other I will sell.

I've done nearly 800,000 miles in this job almost all of it in automatics. I've never had a single problem with any of them.
My cars do 120,000 in 3 years and then go to auction to become taxis

Al

Indeed I do a lot of motorway cruising, but my normal day takes me for example from home in North Yorkshire, up the A19 and A1 to Grangemouth, then the next day may be a crawl through Edinburgh and Glasgow at 5 mph average nose to tail traffic and back via the A66 from the M6 in the west back to the A1 in the east and home. The 66 can be anything from free running to a gridlock for miles and miles.

Today I drove from thirsk to cramlington and back with a couple of minor detours, did 210 miles and returned 60.1 MPG on a 1600 dry plate clutch robotised manual. Left it in full,auto the whole time and only occasionally nudged it down a gear or 2 on the paddles to assist deceleration on approach to roundabouts.

Things have moved on a great deal in auto box land.

But I still prefer a fluid drive torque converter Like the wrangler has. That is a fun car though, not a motorway mile muncher.

I shall be changing my tow car later this year or early next year and at moment tit's an Automatic Cmax. However I was going to go to a manual. When away to Dorset recently the winding roads and hills made the gearbox go up and down and it made me really think if wise to go back to a manual. I did think it would be fine as most driving so far has been motorway but now I am beginning to wonder. If automatic then I may have to rethink my next vehicle and change to what I was planning.