Automatic or Manual gear?

[Sxotty]

I disagree. If your at the speed limit and unable to move over then to hell with the guy behind. He has no right to get past you and you have no obligation to let him.

When people do that to me, I slow down more. And if I really take a disliking to the idiot, then when he pulls out to get past me, I speed up so he can't

EDIT: Lol, I didn't realise the post I was responding too was 2 years old! I voted manual anyway. Automatics are boring.

That is really a jerky thing to do. And two wrongs do not make a right. I hate driving behind people who will not pull over especially when I lived in TX and driving on the shoulder was legal. In many states you must pull over if you have a certain number of cars behind you regardless of your speed. This is b/c it is obviously dangerous if somebody is being a pain in the but and making a bunch of cars behind all try to jockey for position to pass.

 

[pjbliverpool]

That is really a jerky thing to do. And two wrongs do not make a right. I hate driving behind people who will not pull over especially when I lived in TX and driving on the shoulder was legal. In many states you must pull over if you have a certain number of cars behind you regardless of your speed. This is b/c it is obviously dangerous if somebody is being a pain in the but and making a bunch of cars behind all try to jockey for position to pass.

So your saying the law supports people driving faster than the legal speed limit in TX?

What a weird place!

If your doing less than the limit, or your hogging a lane when you don't have to then fair enough, you should get the hell out of the way. But if your going as fast as the law allows and you have nowhere else to go then some kn0b driving up my ass should count himself lucky that all I do is slow down to piss him off.

He's endangering both my car and potentially even my life to do something that is illegal.

 

[Sxotty]

So your saying the law supports people driving faster than the legal speed limit in TX?

What a weird place!

If your doing less than the limit, or your hogging a lane when you don't have to then fair enough, you should get the hell out of the way. But if your going as fast as the law allows and you have nowhere else to go then some kn0b driving up my ass should count himself lucky that all I do is slow down to piss him off.

He's endangering both my car and potentially even my life to do something that is illegal.

And if your tires are under inflated or your speedo is miscalibrated or his is then you can have that situation arise with no one trying to be a jerk. Furthermore it isn't just TX in many states as I said there are such laws. It endangers others when you decide that you want to be indignant and hold a bunch of people up who may be speeding 5mph over or whatever.

Why should he count himself lucky that you slow down? Then you are holding up traffic and should get the hell out of the way like you said. What else would you do? Behave childishly? Yell invectives?

edit:

And yes it can be annoying, but the real question is what you mean by it. If someone comes up on you quickly and then slows down leaving a reasonable space then I hope you reward such behavior. Otherwise it is not surprising that people get on your tail if you blithely ignore them and try to make it more difficult to pass.

 

[Davros]

semi auto with paddle shifters

 

[pjbliverpool]

If someone comes up on you quickly and then slows down leaving a reasonable space then I hope you reward such behavior.

Yep I do. If its clear they want to get past but wait a respectful distance behind then i'll do what I can to get out of the way. If on the other hand they try to intimidate me to get out of the way by driving up my ass then they deserve whatevers coming to them and I take great pleasure in driving them mad by slowing down and then speeding up when they try to get past.

But one thing is completely out of the question and thats expecting someone to actually endanger their license (and even lives) by driving over the speed limit just because the jerk behind can't obey the law. If they can move, they should, if the can't, and their already at the limit, the idiot behond should back off.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

To bad there are so little cars that seem to have decent paddle shifters. I never driven a car with them but what I heard of it they are either so slow they work rubbish, the robo ones are complete crap (manual converted to paddle) and the ones on cars like Ferrari are either to slow like the old models or they give a kick in the back giving you a whiplash each time you shift .

Ferrari seems to have fixed it with the superfast2 in the scuderia, though that still kicks you in the back according to autocar but atleast its really fast.

They should just go back to the vario's like in the old dutch DAF cars. No need for shifting and better yet you could go as fast in reverse as in forward! Now how cool is that?

And as its 1am now, some great video's of old dutch racing.

Reverse racing (you'll be laughing your ass off if you've never seen this):
http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-9171370098278578391&q=daf+achteruit

50 minutes of caravan racing and reverse racing from 1986:
http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-1217583695448859056

Too bad we dont have this anymore, it sure is alot more entertaining that F1.

 

[chavvdarrr]

Anyone who had driven BorgWarner DSG ? I myself, had never driven with automatic, tho it seems DSG-like transmissions become very popular (tiptronic afaik stands for auto with ability to be manually shifted, not for type of transmission, but I may br wrong)
There is even 7-sped dry DSG these days http://media.vw.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10283

 

[Sxotty]

And as its 1am now, some great video's of old dutch racing.

Reverse racing (you'll be laughing your ass off if you've never seen this):
http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-9171370098278578391&q=daf+achteruit

50 minutes of caravan racing and reverse racing from 1986:
http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-1217583695448859056

Too bad we dont have this anymore, it sure is alot more entertaining that F1.

That was awesome. Thank you for posting those links especially the 2nd ones. Tow and Caravan racing were by far the best.

 

[Xmas]

I just don't like the fact that at low speeds an automatic will go forward if the break isn't kept on -- that may be a personal issue for me, but it makes me uncomfortable to know the car will go forward unless I do something about it... I like the fact that in a manual the car generally doesn't move unless I make it move. That's what I meant by counter-intuitive -- cars should not move unless told!

I know this is quite old, but...
That's an interesting thing to say, given that you have to push the clutch or set the transmission to neutral to make a manual car not go forward.

I wonder, though, whether acceleration control will significantly change once electric cars become more common.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

thats what i was thinking......of course, unless there's nowhere for you to go, if you are being tailgated, that means the person behind you wants to go faster, which means you should move over or speed up until you can move over, doesn't matter how fast you are going, if the limit is 70 and you are doing 80 and a guy runs up behind you fast, MOVE!

**** that!

If im driving on the fast lane and someone comes behind me at high speed, he either "blinks" me twice to get me to move over, or he slows down.

If he keeps riding up my ass, i will slam my brakes fast once to tell him to piss off. 90% of the time they will slow down, the other 10% they will try to overtake me in the next corner, which is fun, because in norway people think 150hp is a sporty car(and i got 3 times that), so they have to stay behind me.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

That's true, but if you're used to the car it's quite easy to be very precise (making engine halts sort of none existent). Manuals definitely require a person to be used to the car, more so than an automatic no doubt.

I just don't like the fact that at low speeds an automatic will go forward if the break isn't kept on -- that may be a personal issue for me, but it makes me uncomfortable to know the car will go forward unless I do something about it... I like the fact that in a manual the car generally doesn't move unless I make it move. That's what I meant by counter-intuitive -- cars should not move unless told!

Um.. A manual will move unless you clutch (and stand on flat ground) or unless you clutch and brake if you stand in a hill. If you keep the car in gear (no throttle) it will move forward until the engine halts.

An automatic moves forward only if your brake pedal isnt down. (Or you can put it into neutral). I believe its only in your imagination that manual cars dont move forward without you doing anything.

 

[pjbliverpool]

**** that!

If im driving on the fast lane and someone comes behind me at high speed, he either "blinks" me twice to get me to move over, or he slows down.

Thats a good example of cultural differences. In the UK, if someone drives up behind you and then flashes his lights in an attenpt to get you to move, it would be considered extremely rude.

Do that to the wrong person and your liable to get your head kicked in!

I understand that in other countries though its just a general request to get past. You gottan be careful in todays mutli cultural world

 

[ShaidarHaran]

**** that!

If im driving on the fast lane and someone comes behind me at high speed, he either "blinks" me twice to get me to move over, or he slows down.

If he keeps riding up my ass, i will slam my brakes fast once to tell him to piss off. 90% of the time they will slow down, the other 10% they will try to overtake me in the next corner, which is fun, because in norway people think 150hp is a sporty car(and i got 3 times that), so they have to stay behind me.

I fucking hate people like you. You have absolutely no right to dictate the flow of traffic, nor do you have the right to ATTEMPT TO HARM SOMEONE by slamming on your brakes. If someone is driving fast behind you and following a bit closely - so what? You can move out of the way if you don't like it. You are issuing an unequivocal reaction to their action.

If someone did that to me and caused damage to me or my vehicle, I would beat them senseless, right there on the side of the road.

 

[Mize]

I'm with you Shraidar. People who don't get the hell out of the fast lane because they know that nobody should go faster are simply morons. The passing lane is for exactly that - passing. If you're cruising in the fast lane simply because you like the view there better you should be ticketed.

Now tailgating someone is just as moronic. If a joker won't get over when they see you coming and won't respond to a quick flash of brights then you simply pass them in the slow lane and shake your head (passing in the slow lane is legal in the US though not in the UK).

 

[Mize]

If he keeps riding up my ass, i will slam my brakes fast once to tell him to piss off.

This is legally termed "vehicular assault" in the US and completely illegal. If you cause an accident you can be charged with manslaughter or attempted murder.

I'm not kidding.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

I should clarify: I'm not advocating tailgaiting - it is a stupid practice that can lead to accidents. My beef here is about intent. Driving fast and a little too close to other vehicles in an attempt to get them to move out of the way is not done with the intent to injure, unlike the lead vehicle in this situation slamming on its brakes.

Edit: and back on-topic, I drive a manual, and I absolutely love it. Having the choice between fuel economy and power is quite nice, and I wouldn't want to do without it ever again.

 

[Mize]

On topic, I prefer manual transmissions but no longer have one (closest is the double-clutch auto on my Audi A3 S-line with paddle shifters) because I spend most of my time in traffic

I will say I could never shift as fast as this A3 does...

 

[ShaidarHaran]

On topic, I prefer manual transmissions but no longer have one (closest is the double-clutch auto on my Audi A3 S-line with paddle shifters) because I spend most of my time in traffic

I spend a good amount of time in traffic as well since
1) the road system in the Twin Cities is
a) one of the poorest designed in the country
b) horribly over-capacity, despite recent lane additions to major thoroughfares
2) I drive mostly during rush hour

Despite this, I still prefer the manual, even in rush hour traffic. Yes it can be a pain shifting into and out of gear constantly, but I'd rather have the control the manual gives me over acceleration and deceleration. Gets me out of jams and allows me more flexibility/maneuverability to change lanes.

I will say I could never shift as fast as this A3 does...

I hear that. I suppose if I drove your car (or anything else using an Audi/VW or similar auto tranny) I'd feel the same.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

I fucking hate people like you. You have absolutely no right to dictate the flow of traffic, nor do you have the right to ATTEMPT TO HARM SOMEONE by slamming on your brakes. If someone is driving fast behind you and following a bit closely - so what? You can move out of the way if you don't like it. You are issuing an unequivocal reaction to their action.

If someone did that to me and caused damage to me or my vehicle, I would beat them senseless, right there on the side of the road.

Um. I dunno where you live, but im sure your country has a law that states that its illegal to tailgate someone (not in that exact wording of course, more that you have to keep a save distance from people in front of you).

Not only that, its also illegal to drive above the speed limit. When im in the fast lane im usually going over the speed limit anyway, but even so, you have no right to try and force me out of the road by tailgating me because you feel the need to break the law more severely than i do.

If you blink me away, thats fine,also i usually let cars that i see coming in huge speeds past me, but if you start tailgating my ass in order to make me move, im gonna slam the breaks.

And guess what?

You might beat me sensless right there on the side of the road. But you'd be the one who'd have to pay me for any damages done to my car, and i would sue the living crap out of you for attacking me (but thats another story).

Your supposed to keep a safe distance to the car infront of you. If you tailgate someone, that person can slam the breaks, your gonna crash into them, and guess what? You will have to pay. If you hit a car thats infront of you, its your fault by default in the eyes of insurance companies (and in the eyes of EU law). The driver in front of you may have breaked without reason, guess what, he can break for whatever reason he likes, its YOUR responsibilty to keep a save distance to the car infront of you, not my responsibility to accelerate or let you past me in order not to get tailgated.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

This is legally termed "vehicular assault" in the US and completely illegal. If you cause an accident you can be charged with manslaughter or attempted murder.

I'm not kidding.

Dont US have a law that states "keep a safe distance to the car infront of you?"

On the other side of the atlantic, if you hit somebody in the back, its your own damn fault for not keeping a safe distance to the car infront of you. Meaning, if i slam my brakes and you hit me, your gonna pay.

Further, while i dunno what exactly the us law defines as vehicular assault, but me braking can be for whatever number of legal reasons, (obviously, i wouldn't say i slammed the brakes with the indent to hit the car behind me, im braking because i saw a squirrel going over the road or whatever "reason" i may have, or braking because i felt the need to slow down), but you hitting me in the back means you didn't keep a safe distance, thus your braking the law. Im not.

In scandinavia, you can get fined for tailgating someone (basically, means you dont use the 1-2-3 rule)