Comparison: Manual v/s Automatic Transmission

[Neil.Bhujbal]

Following are the different types of Automatic transmissions & a little of how they work -

1) Automatic transmission (normal) -

This is the one 350z was talking about.
It has *Park(P) *Reverse(R) *Neutral(N) *Drive(D) *Second(S or 2).

This transmission does not have a clutch.I am not talking about the clutch pedal here,what i mean is there is no clutch plate in the transmission.It uses torque converter instead.Now the gears are changed by hydraulics depending on the oil pressure exerted inside the gearbox.

Hence - The shifts are slow,mileage is less & car is slow compared to Manual Transmission & other automatic transmission.

This type of gearbox is found on i10,verna,etc

2) Automatic with paddle shifters (Triptronic/semi automatic) -

These are same as automatic transmission(above) & have (P)(R)(N)(D)(2) with a additional (S) mode in which every gear is held until redline before shifting to next gear irrespective of what is the oil pressure in the gearbox.

Now all they have done is added a small micro chip & paddle shifters to this setup so that you can change to next gear when you press the paddle irrespective of the oil pressure inside the gearbox.

Even this is slower when compared to manual transmission,but faster than the Automatic transmission.

Cars which have this gearbox is the civic automatic.

Now there are some manufacturers whho have this Triptronic gearbox but they don't give paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Instead they give this + & - ing of gears on the gear knob. You have to push the gear knob in a certain slot (this is when the gearbox goes in semi automatic mode) & the just press the gear knob in front to Up shift & at back to Down shift.

This type of Automatic transmission,where the gear knob itself is the shifter instead of paddles on steering wheel is found on cars like Sonata diesel,etc.

3) DSG Transmission with triptroni gearbox -

Now this is the fastest gearbox,faster than the Manual transmission.It changes gears with in seconds.This is the tech used in F1 cars. This gearbox has two clutch plates.

This gearbox can be used as normal Automatic Transmission with (P)(R)(N)(D)(2) & with Paddle shifters in S mode.

But these paddle shifters are far more faster than the normal triptronic gearbox just because these have two clutches.When you are in 3rd gear the next clutch plate automatically mates with 2nd or 4th gear depending on engine load & hence the shifts are super fast,with in milli seconds.

This type of gearboxes are found on Laura,Superb,etc.

Hope all the doubts are cleared now

 

[cooldhaya]

Hey Neil thanks for the detailed explanation!!

Zinam thanks for the picture!

 

[Aditya]

Thanks, Neil, that was a very good summary of the status of ATs today!!

 

[Umang]

Nice explanation, DSG is direct shift gear box and I've heard about other gearbox as well like Multi tronic, CVT, G-Tronic etc, what all is it?

 

[Neil.Bhujbal]

4) CVT -

Its Continuous Variable Transmission. Is gets engaged after a certain RPM & remains engaged until you go below that RPM range.It uses a Centrifugal clucth & has no different gears like all other gearboxes.Instead it uses belts & pulleys which change their diameters & act like gears to give different speeds.

Mostly used on Moped's. (I have broke my activas belt while trying to check the Top Speeds) & so you can guess why it is not found on car's. Its too week to handle all that power.

5) 7G Tronic -

Again a normal automatic gearbox (With 7 different gear) but it comes with a clutch plate instead of a torque converter & has loads of electronics which allow the gearbox to down-shift 2 gears at a time to give instant pickup. It can also start moving directly in second gear depending of conditions. It also has two reveres gears which are selected according to which mode we choose. The older 7G tronic gearboxes which used the torque converter used "TORQUE CONVERTER" locks to avoid transmission loss.



You were the only one to reply the last 25 Topics (when i checked the new Posts) & this being one of the Topic - I please request you to ask questions genuinely & only if your really have doubts.

It looks really odd when you are the only person who replied to last 25 topics. So its just either to increase the posts or to revamp the forum.

 

[cooldhaya]

Hey good explanation Neil! So in which cars are these AT'S found??

 

[350Z]

Hey good explanation Neil! So in which cars are these AT'S found??

The Honda City has the CVT Transmission and G-tronic is available in Mercedes.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Neil.Bhujbal]

CVT is found on mopeds Activa,dio,scooty,etc.
It was used on some cars long time ago but they used steel belts instead of rubber belts & it had too many flaws due to which it is now found only on small cc engines.

G Tronic is developed by Mercedes & found on few of their cars.

-----

There was also another G Tronic transmission which was found by Audi and used on their vehicle.This used to function like the "CVT transmission" on mopeds and had loads of electronics added to it to make it work efficiently.

The Honda City has the CVT Transmission and G-tronic is available in Mercedes.

Drive Safe,
350Z

Again here CVT on mopeds is the one which used belts & pulleys & CVT on cars is the one which uses "cones" or "discs" instead of a pulley system gear system.

 

[Umang]

neil thanks for clarification and hope there shouldn't be any problem from my postings.

 

[icecool2010]

I will go for the Automatic with my eyes closed. Simply because of ease of driving. The pleasure of drinking a hot cup of coffee while driving is simply a pleasure not to be missed! More car makers are introducing an auto version and it will only be a matter of time that we have more choices on the auto tranny.

 

[racerdabba]

I will go for the Automatic with my eyes closed. Simply because of ease of driving. The pleasure of drinking a hot cup of coffee while driving is simply a pleasure not to be missed! More car makers are introducing an auto version and it will only be a matter of time that we have more choices on the auto tranny.

However many autos may come in, I'll never get go of the faithful Manual.
It takes off the Driver in you. In every auto i drove, all i had to do is sit and press down the accelerator.
I dont care if 10 microsecond shifting Dual Clutch Sequential beats me Down, I'll still have a Shifter in my hands.

BTW
Nice post Niel.

 

[jayadev]

aye,
+1 to that

riding in malmakes me feel handicapped. i love to drive my engine in my own way which is impossible in auto.for some sedate and joyful riding auto is big put-off

 

[amiti]

Good explaination Neil. I own a normal automatic i10 as Neil Explained.

After driving many cars abroad, I bought auto i10. I really like its auto tranny and IMHO, your mind needs to be synchronized with auto unit. If it does then any auto will be better to drive and you wont feel the slowness.

In fact it has got many +ve's like,
1. car doesnt come back while climbing hill
2. Car can only be started in parking or neutral position.
3. Left hand and leg become free, hence less fatigue

-ve is less mileage and manufacturer's charge premium on auto boxes.

 

[anthakan]

Thanks to all for the detailed information provided.

I have a 14 year old Zen Automatic (110000 kms done) at home( Owned by my dad). You can imagine the driving comfort when Zen's superb handling combines with a automatic gear box. From my experience I would like to list the Pros and Cons.

Pros.

• It is a real pleasure to drive in city traffic. You can zip through the traffic when others struggle with gears and clutch.
• While climbing slopes you need not worry about half clutch. Be confident.
• You can only start your car in Neutral or Park position.
• Your left leg and left hand would love you more for the extra comfort.
• I feel when you drive an automatic you can concentrate better on road than manual. I am saying better and is only relative.
• Overall Confidence inspiring.

Cons.

• Any automatic will drain 1 to 2 lakhs more from your pocket, provided both manual and automatic are having the same engine.
• Automatic option normally comes in the top end model only.
• You will struggle to get a consistent mileage in city drives. My Zen used to give 6 to 10 kmpl in city and 13 to 14 in highway. (Nowadays it is even less due to some old age problems. I will come to it later)
• Maintenance cost is too high. ( I have spend 35k for correcting a problem 2 years back and one month in service center. I could not get the original transmission fluid also)
• It is very difficult to find skilled people who can repair automatic transmissions. (I struggled and fought a lot to get it repaired from an authorized service center like Popular)
• Overtake only if you are 110 % confident, because you won't be able to shift down and push the car at the last moment. The response will be sluggish.( I think it should be better in modern paddle shifts).
• Over straining will wear out the transmission much faster and it will result it very high costs.
• You will miss a lot of fun.
• Can make humans more technically challenged!

Nowadays the transmission has developed a morning sickness and it requires a oil seal change inside the transmission. I don't want to approach Popular Service again due to various reasons ( I will post the whole story later). If anybody knows a good mechanic who can repair automatic gear box in South Kerala, please suggest. It would be a great help.

 

[jayadev]

anthakan..,why dont you start a new ownership thread for your zen ,would love to hear about it.14 years is just incredible...