Driving an automatic

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[vonhosen]

In gear, handbrake on, off foot brake.

[cornishgirl]

I have to drive my my employers cars - one of which is a rangerover automatic.

I had not had an automatic before and my employer gave me tips on how to drive one, like only using my right foot for brake and gas, and to hold my foot on the brake at lights to stop it creeping forward. She said that there was no need to use the handbrake as there was no clutch to worry about so the car would never roll backwards when stopping up hill.

I was stopped at the lights in Penzance a few weeks ago, it was getting dark and drizzly, typical winter's evening.

I was sitting waiting for the lights to change and there was a tap my window and there was an old guy standing looking a bit annoyed. When I wound the window down he very politely told me that he was being blinded by my brake lights and did I realise how annoying and potentially dangerous it was. He said that as it was dark and wet the dazzle was even worse than in the daytime. I couldn't even see his car in my mirror (it was a Lotus I think, anyway it was very low pretty sports car) but he must have been staring straight into the lights from a few feet! I apologised because I had never thought of that.

I now do as you do and put it into neutral and put on the handbrake. Bit of a chore sometimes but I think it is a good idea.

Edited by cornishgirl on Saturday 26th April 16:13

[henrycrun]

Well done, I wish all autobox drivers would use the handbrake

[driverrob]

Anything against using 'Park' instead of neutral + handbrake?

[Pentoman]

Ah, this thread makes me miss my 190E automatic :/

[Daschund]

driverrob said:

Anything against using 'Park' instead of neutral + handbrake?

Two reasons immediately come to mind.

1. When going into park, there is a flash of reverse lights, which can confuse/scare the sheeple behind you.

2. Park is quite far away from Drive. Plus, some autoboxes take a second or two to pick up the drive once 'D' has been selected.

3. (OK, OK, I said two reasons, I lied) if someone hits you, your car is in effect held in place by the parking prawl - a thin piece of metal in the gearbox that locks the transmission (hence why it stops you from moving). This = very expensive.

When stopped, keep your foot on the footbrake, apply handbrake + release footbrake if you are stopped for more than a few seconds. When a stop becomes a wait, slip the box into neutral.

When I am commuting in my automatic, there is a fairly steep hill. The autobox will hold itself stationary when going up (forawrd creep motion of the box is equaling gravitys pull = stationary), I merely apply the handbrake for added security.

When going down hill, make use of the lower gear hold positions/sport mode/manual gear selection. This will give the driver more engine braking, and thus more control of the vehicle on the decent. Saves on riding the brakes down a hill.

Utilize the lower gear holds (i.e. 2 on the selector), or use a manual gear selection (if such function is available), when navigating large roundabouts, driving through town/city traffic of varying densities and when plotting overtaking - the reasoning is that it offers you far better flexibility (engine braking, can make minor speed adjustments through acceleration sense, nice acceleration curve when overtaking, no sudden upchange when cornering etc, feels more natural in traffic instead of leaving the box in D and find yourself overrunning towards the car in front).

That's my take from my daily driver. I am, however, not a professional in any sense of the word.

Edited by Daschund on Saturday 26th April 21:16

[Vipers]

vonhosen said:

In gear, handbrake on, off foot brake.

After reading previous posts on foot on foot brake blinding drivers behind, I now use the handbrake, leaving gear in "D", I find its also a tad quicker when the lights change. As the other lights go from green to amber, my foot moves to hover over the accelerator, and my hand is ready on the handbrake.

One problem I see is that, my self included, when changing car from manual to auto, I found nothing in the handbook about this situation, and therefore I just found it easier to keep foot on brake, whereas (I assume) if one learns in an auto, the correct procedure would be taught.

[Daschund]

Driving an automatic is much like operating a games console - after you've fked about with all the twiddly bits for a few minutes, you know how it all works.

Most people, whether taught on automatics or not, just sit with their foot on the footbrake when stationary. Then again, a lot of manual drivers do this as well - which is certainly NOT taught on the driving tests.

[stefan1]

vonhosen said:

In gear, handbrake on, off foot brake.

Agreed, but some cars have so much torque even at idle that the handbrake will not hold the car. My Alpina B5 for instance. So for me it is, handbrake, neutral, and then off footbrake, and then slip back into D at amber.

Edited by stefan1 on Saturday 26th April 22:33

[p1esk]

stefan1 said:

vonhosen said:

In gear, handbrake on, off foot brake.

Agreed, but some cars have so much torque even at idle that the handbrake will not hold the car. My Alpina B5 for instance. So for me it is, handbrake, neutral, and then off footbrake, and then slip back into D at amber.

Edited by stefan1 on Saturday 26th April 22:33

I'm glad you mentioned the idling torque versus handbrake thing, Steve, and I was thinking the same. This could be especially relevant if the car is on a slight downward slope, or the handbrake is a bit weak, or not applied firmly enough - and the driver is talent spotting, rather than noticing that the car is edging forward.

Another point that has been made previously is that unless the wait is quite long, the transmission suffers less wear by being kept in D than it does by being switched in and out of neutral.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[cornishgirl]

Daschund said:

driverrob said:

Anything against using 'Park' instead of neutral + handbrake?

When going down hill, make use of the lower gear hold positions/sport mode/manual gear selection. This will give the driver more engine braking, and thus more control of the vehicle on the decent. Saves on riding the brakes down a hill.

Edited by Daschund on Saturday 26th April 21:16

Thats a good idea, the hill down to Sennen is very steep and the car always seems to feel as if it wanted to accelerate downhill. I shall use '2' in future - thanks.

[Daschund]

cornishgirl said:

Daschund said:

driverrob said:

Anything against using 'Park' instead of neutral + handbrake?

When going down hill, make use of the lower gear hold positions/sport mode/manual gear selection. This will give the driver more engine braking, and thus more control of the vehicle on the decent. Saves on riding the brakes down a hill.

Edited by Daschund on Saturday 26th April 21:16

Thats a good idea, the hill down to Sennen is very steep and the car always seems to feel as if it wanted to accelerate downhill. I shall use '2' in future - thanks.

It will, of course, depend on your specific car and its transmission as to what works best.

You could even try leaving it in drive and just flicking the box into sport mode (if your box has this feature - most do). This will pretty much achieve the same thing - holding a lower gear.

Also try the same when going UP hill. What you will find is the automatic transmission shifting up as you relax pressure on the gas pedal, and when the demands on the engine becomes greater (i.e. you're traveling up a hill) the box will invariably shift down again.

The reasons for this is simple - the 'brains' of the gearbox is trying to give you the best balance of performance vs economy. Most autoboxes will try to drive as economically as possible (i.e. ride in higher gears), yet will change down as soon as the 'brain' decides that greater performance is needed.

The issue here is this: the box will invariabally be hunting between gears. When it changes up it'll leave you without power. You add gas, it changes down again. Constant changing up, down, up, down, up, down causes undue wear and tear on the gubbins in the box.

So manually select/hold a lower gear in the box when going up hills too.

Obviously choosing to leave it in D or manually selecting a gear when going up a hill depends on the type of hill, the steepness, your 'entrance' speed onto the hill and traffic on the hill itself.

There is one hill I normally drive over that is about 20% on each side. I stick to a lower gear going down, and when it levels off, but before the climb up the second equally steep hill, I stick the box in D and use a slightly firmer pressure on the gas pedal to 'hold' a lower gear (i.e. because I haven't lifted, the box won't shift up to 4th). In other words, I "sling shot" up the second hill, using momentum built up from the downhill section.

Lots of fun, I can tell you

[WhoseGeneration]

vonhosen said:

handbrake on, off foot brake.

Applies to manual too?.
If so, why do those of your occupation round my way, not do this?.

[vonhosen]

WhoseGeneration said:

vonhosen said:

handbrake on, off foot brake.

Applies to manual too?.

Yes.

WhoseGeneration said:

If so, why do those of your occupation round my my way, not do this?.

Depends on what their role is & reasoning.
There are reasons for other ways than what I said, though I can't speak for those who you observe.
My advice above was for normal day to day driving.

Edited by vonhosen on Sunday 27th April 20:47

[WhoseGeneration]

vonhosen said:

WhoseGeneration said:

vonhosen said:

handbrake on, off foot brake.

Applies to manual too?.

Yes.

WhoseGeneration said:

If so, why do those of your occupation round my my way, not do this?.

Depends on what their role is & reasoning.
There are reasons for other ways than what I said, though I can't speak for those who you observe.
My advice above was for normal day to day driving.

Sorry for triple post, 'site seems slow in posting replies, so one thinks one's reply hasn't gone, so tries again!.
I do understand your not being able to speak for others.
I'm perhaps thinking back to older days, when it was considered that all Police Drivers should, as part of their role, exhibit exemplary driving.
Now, of course, most other drivers are not aware of what such driving might entail.
To those of us who do, it is somewhat sad.
Of course, when on a check drive, I suspect standards improve.
Sloppiness, a danger even for those supposed to be above such.
Just for me, emphasise to your students that they are always "on show".

Edited by vonhosen on Sunday 27th April 20:47

[GreenV8S]

WhoseGeneration said:

vonhosen said:

handbrake on, off foot brake.

Applies to manual too?.

I prefer to taper the braking off as the car slows to a standstill rather than let it rock back on its springs, so on a level road I'll come to a stop with no foot braking applied and snick the handbrake on as it comes to rest.

The equivalent in an auto would need to keep enough braking applied to overcome the drive at tickover.

[slowinfastout]

I understand autos have a lower accident rate regarding being hit from behind when stationary. This maybe due to the brake lights being on?
However in standing traffic with somthing 'parked' behind you it makes some sence to get those lights off in the best appropriate manner according to the car.
Maybe you can think of it the other way around. If your 1st in line at a traffic light and due to arrangement / type of car or road geography your lights are beaming into the other guys eyes stationary at the lights comming the other way, we may consider dimming our headlights...

[Daschund]

slowinfastout said:

I understand autos have a lower accident rate regarding being hit from behind when stationary. This maybe due to the brake lights being on?
However in standing traffic with somthing 'parked' behind you it makes some sence to get those lights off in the best appropriate manner according to the car.
Maybe you can think of it the other way around. If your 1st in line at a traffic light and due to arrangement / type of car or road geography your lights are beaming into the other guys eyes stationary at the lights comming the other way, we may consider dimming our headlights...

I believe the whole "automatics cause less accidents when stopped at lights/when stationary" is an American thing. I don't believe there is any such correlation between rear-ending accidents and transmisson types here in the UK.

The general accepted way of driving is to come to a halt, then apply handbrake if a brief stop becomes a wait. This not only extinguishes the brakelights, but also removes the need for the driver to secure the vehicle by means of holding the footbrake.

The problem in American came about because people were expecting brakelights to be lit on a stationary car (most cars are autos, most drivers just sit with their feet on the footbrake) and those drivers who chose manuals would secure with the handbrake, thus no brakelights.

The safest thing to do, with either transmission, is toonly extinguish your brakelights once a car has came to a stop behind you. Keep the lights lit long enough until the driver behind has read your brakelights and reacted (i.e. started to slow down).

Remember brakelights are tools for giving information to other road users. Use them as such.

[waremark]

Pentoman said:

Ah, this thread makes me miss my 190E automatic :/

Most Mercedes have inconvenient and noisy foot operated parking brakes - I don't find these suitable for brief waits. However, newer ones have a 'brake hold' function which holds the footbrake on and releases it when you press either brake pedal (again) or accelerator. I use this function except when I think the driver behind may be dazzled by my brake lights.