Why do people like driving an automatic?

[as141]

Waited a long time due to the pandemic for my new car to arrive and I'm not loving the automatic driving experience ☹️

Please try and sell it to me? Spent a lot of money and waited close to a year, really really want to like it

I have an auto car and a manual car. They’re different but each has its benefits

Auto is great when you’re in traffic, or just anting to get from a to b, a bit like you say the car is driving you. It’s not engaging but it’s relaxing and easier

Manual is fun, engaging, great for country lanes. Yes more in control but you do more of the work

Stick with it, it’s different but much easier. Does it have a way you can shift manually (with the lever or with paddles), that can make it more engaging

I don't like automatics either

The idea that autos are less efficient is outdated. It was true last century. The classic USA autoglide stuff was horrible. The German DSG type autos are as efficient as the average driver.

I’ve recently changed to an automatic for the first time after 25 years of driving manual and I’m struggling to get used to it. I’m ok until someone pulls in front of me and I have to brake suddenly, and then I find myself diving for pedals and gear sticks which don’t exist! I changed for health reasons - very dodgy back and problems with my left side - so no going back really, but it’s taking some getting used to!

I find I drive slower and get less angry in an auto, all that gear changing lark stresses me out 😂 now I'm a chilled automatic driver

I hate them personally. However, one did enable my mum to drive probably for another three or four years more given her particular back condition.

@MarceyMc It's confidence. I passed with a manual at 17 and I'm mid 40s. I have not driven a manual car since I got my licence. I actually passed after 10 hours of lessons. More guts than skills. I was fearless then. I don't think I can drive a manual car now and I won't hire one to try. I still have a manual license however.

My dh has a dodgy knee. Long time in the past rugby injury. Driving in city with lots of clutch changes hurts his knee.

My driving routes are a bit stop start and roundabouts on hills etc and worming my way through town during school rush so it's just easier/lazier!

I drove a stick for years though.

I had 40 hours of lessons in a manual but I have autism and ADHD and I just could not get to grips with it. I’d have panic attacks before my lessons. I now have an auto licence and I truly don’t care - I just need to get from A to B and I feel lucky that I have a car to do that in. I have no desire to make thing complicated when there’s an easier way

I’ll admit it was a nightmare in the snow and ice at the start of the year; my car slid all over the shop and it was terrifying. I can put it into manual, though I’ve never done it before. I might take the advice from a pp and try that next time it’s cold because I basically avoided going out at all for ten days until the snow was gone, as my car (Suzuki Ignis) couldn’t handle even a smattering of the stuff without the back end sliding around.

@activitythree

It's an audi a3, it also driving me mad that I can't seem to figure out how to display the speed limit on screen - someone please tell me this is possible and how? Because at the moment I am using the navigation on my phone simultaneously.

You are supposed to use the road signs for this, not your cars display and certainly not your phone!

Yet lots of cars have speed limit sign recognition, very useful in new locations. I love manual for performance cars and auto for everything else.

I have an old automatic Audi A3, I bloody love it. My commute (back when that was a thing!) was a 16 mile stop start journey from hell and an auto made it so much better. I’d never go back to manual. It makes journeys so much more pleasant for me, and I have a turbo so plenty of power when it’s needed.

I used to hate auto as I didn't feel in control. Then I bought one as it was too good a deal not to and now I haven't driven a manual for 2 years. I had a loan car for a day recently and I got really fucked off with having to change gears and with other cunts drivers making me slow down and switch bastard gear again. God it gave me the rage.

That said, even when I was a member of the clutch appreciation society, I really hated Audis. I drove two and I hated them with a vengeance. The bite was too low, they handled like the Titanic, the seat was too buckety. Even the noise of the indicators did my head in. Maybe that's why Audi drivers don't indicate!

Hope this thread isn't old enough to count as a zombie....

This has been interesting. We are about to change one of ours to a hybrid so it comes as an automatic. I'm still really nervous about driving it. The stop/start go-kart aspect of it doesn't make me feel any more confident that I will actually feel fully in control of it and that it is a real car but there have been some interesting opinions.

OP, how are you finding it now?

I'm going to have to get DH to take me out so I can practice in it before I go anywhere on my own. Any other tips about how to get used to it?

If you enjoy driving you probably won’t like an automatic.
If you enjoy the freedom / travel that driving gives you, you’ll probably like an automatic.

I don't get this, I enjoy both. I love the freedom to go where ever I want under my own steam and I enjoy the process of it at the same time. So I think from this I am going to take a while to get on board with the idea of an automatic.

You’ve a bit naive to expect an Audi to be the same standard as a merc, dh worked for mercs and he wouldn’t have compare the two favourably. Especially if your dh has a C class or the E class.

It’s a VW with a different badge.

Depends on the car, there's a huge amount of variety.

Drove manuals since I passed my test, pinto, avensis, cmax, all were fine, had a zafira auto courtesy car, which was hellish, long pauses before shifting, no control on when the power comes, now have a tesla, incredible linear power, no pauses jumps or delays.

I live in a hilly area and I love the automatic for that reason. I don't tend to be parked on hills often as the school/work/shops areas are flatter, but many side roads slope up to join main roads here, and I really like how much easier it is to be hovering at the top of the slope before joining when a space appears.

My husbands barge is automatic. Handles like a bullock cart. Personally I prefer my Lotus.

I've been behind the wheel of a manual once or twice and hated every minute. I knew I could waste months and £££s having a crack at learning in one, or just learn in an automatic.
I don't exactly love it - people can say 'it's like a go-cart!' all they like, but they didn't actually loom large in my childhood either, so I'd obviously be shit at those, too - but as it takes every ounce of my concentration to drive an auto, I couldn't be doing with gears and a clutch. No way. And after four hours, I drove to the nearest (county) town and back, and it was ok. In an auto, I'd still be kangaroo-hopping ten 100 yards from my house.

I'm left handed and struggle with having more strength in my left hand and having to take it off the wheel to change gears which means I'm only confident in autos or left hand drive.
Odd I know but it's just how I am.

I’m too clumsy and uncoordinated to cope with the clutch and gears. Probably dyspraxic but this wasn’t often diagnosed when I was a kid.

My car is a manual and I prefer it, it’s more fun to drive and I feel more in control. Dh’s car is an automatic and although I prefer driving my car I don’t hate his. It’s easy and nicer to cruise around in. I just have to be careful which way I put the lever!! Up and not down (or the other way around!) as I could end up going forwards and not back or vice versa, which is just bloomin confusing sometimes because I’m not used to his car and it scares the beejeezus out of me when I’m parking or reversing out of a space

I prefer manuals as I always think they're 'proper' driving.

That said I don't mind having an automatic hire car or whatever for a couple of days, it's a bit of a treat

If I had a Ferrari I would definitely enjoy it being a manual and making big noisy gear changes.

But, back in the real world, I have a sensible estate car. It's automatic and has 9 gears so is much more responsive and smooth than I could ever be with a manual.