Car & Bike Automatic Transmission - should we shift to Neutral at a standstill ?

raksrules

raksrules

Elite
I was traveling in bumper to bumper traffic in BEST Bus today and I noticed an automatic Hyundai Verna besides the bus. The driver was using the gear stick as if he is driving a manual. Whenever the traffic came to standstill, he would put the gear in N or P.
It totally defeated the purpose of an automatic. In normal conditions I guess you need not touch the gear on the road unless you want to park the car.
Or is there a chance that the driver was always used to Manual and automatics are like new to him.

On another topic, I believe the waiting times for AMT Maruti Celerio are like 8+ months but I never see any AMT Celerio on road , even the normal celerios are very less.
I don't understand the wait times. Or
Maruti never had sufficient cars with them (esp AMT).
 
Haven't you driven an automatic abroad? How different was it? IMO all AT have Park,Reverse,Neutral,Drive modes at the bare minimum. Additional modes would include Sport etc. You will have to switch between those whenever the situation asks for it. The main advantage of an automatic in stop-go traffic would be the lack of a clutch pedal, which you have to release slowly. Shifting the gear stick up or down does not take any effort.

The only place where Left/Right/Accelerate/Brake are enough for driving is in a video game, this can be sensed and done properly but I don't think any of the entry level models in India have that kind of technology. The engine/transmission are mechanical parts and proper care needs to be taken. You can keep the car in Drive mode and press brake to keep it at a standstill but that would wear out the clutch plates I believe.
 
The Verna uses a torque converter. There are no clutch plates, and you can stop with the car in D and the AT fluid will simply swirl around doing nothing.

There are many cases for and against shifting to neutral (in the case of a torque converter) - some people tend to shift to neutral while the car is still moving, which is bad; on the other hand shifting it to neutral would disengage the spinning shaft and the AT fluid could possibly stay cooler. As always its best to follow what your manual/manufacturer states.

In the case of AMTs/DSGs, the ECU is smart enough to disengage the clutch when it drops below a certain threshold. However IIRC VW/Skoda were advising owners to shift to N to avoid any DSG failures.
 
Not too sure about this, but I believe you have to put the car in Neutral/Park or even without the accelerator it'll roll forward slightly in Drive.
 
NEVER Put an automatic in P mode for short stop such as traffic signal even don't put P mode without handbrakes as the chances of transmission failure if one hits you from behind. Even when moving to P you would have to go through R mode which would scare the person behind you as the reversing lights would be turned on when its selected. If waiting for longer than 1 minute just put to neutral and handbrake. In traffic signals just brake and wait as the Gearbox would automatically disengage the clutch when you come to standstill (to prevent stalling)
 
Happened again today. Saw a n automatic Passat and driver put the gear in N (or P I don't know) in standstill and again in D when traffic moved.
I just don't get it. If I am supposed to keep doing this then a manual is almost Similar with additional leg input.
 
raksrules said:
Happened again today. Saw a n automatic Passat and driver put the gear in N (or P I don't know) in standstill and again in D when traffic moved.
I just don't get it. If I am supposed to keep doing this then a manual is almost Similar with additional leg input.
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I assume u are watching a lots of cars Lately
Keep Your eyes on the road lol
 
AFAIK, automatic transmission effectively means gear-shifts without manual clutch operation.... removing the need of a clutch pedal...
Its far more easier to shift the gear from D to N (or R and vice-avers) without using a clutch pedal and timing it right with the accelerator every time to avoid stalling....

EDIT: whether or not to shift to N during traffic is something I don't know :p
 
Even I'm really confused over AT.:confused: I havent yet got a chance to drive any AT. But I know what the P N D R S stands for (Park, Neutral, Drive, Reverse, Sports).

So suppose even in AT car I have to drive in a Manual mode so how to do that? How to change gears as we do in a MT car..1st ,2nd ,3rd ,4th, 5th ???

@raksrules I think even you want to know all this imp. thing stuff. ;)

So much zol-zal so I feel its better safe with a MT than be sorry with an AT.:shy:
 
nRiTeCh said:
Even I'm really confused over AT.:confused: I havent yet got a chance to drive any AT. But I know what the P N D R S stands for (Park, Neutral, Drive, Reverse, Sports).

So suppose even in AT car I have to drive in a Manual mode so how to do that? How to change gears as we do in a MT car..1st ,2nd ,3rd ,4th, 5th ???

@raksrules I think even you want to know all this imp. thing stuff. ;)

So much zol-zal so I feel its better safe with a MT than be sorry with an AT.:shy:
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I have driven AT before but that was in USA. I never changed gears on road (there was no traffic either). But I have some mental block I think with regards to MT cars and AT makes me more comfortable. I intend to drive the car in Mumbai only. Hence I am asking all these questions.
 
nRiTeCh said:
So suppose even in AT car I have to drive in a Manual mode so how to do that? How to change gears as we do in a MT car..1st ,2nd ,3rd ,4th, 5th ???
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you need to slide the gear lever in manual mode and just flick it up or down to change the gears. there are many mounting options available for that gear change switch/stick.

this is the floor mounted version... that +- thingie is for manual gear changes:
lol.jpg
 
raksrules said:
I have driven AT before but that was in USA. I never changed gears on road (there was no traffic either). But I have some mental block I think with regards to MT cars and AT makes me more comfortable. I intend to drive the car in Mumbai only. Hence I am asking all these questions.
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In US you didn't face such traffic conditions. When the car is in D mode, it starts moving without accelerator input. It is to avoid this that the drivers in India tend to put it in N mode when stopping as we have bumper to bumper traffic over here.
Also since you haven't driven a manual, you haven't experienced that changing the gear with the stick isn't an issue. It is the part where you have to co-ordinate your feet on the clutch and the gas pedal that becomes a PITA in stop and go traffic.
 
@rdst_1

That's what. If I intend to drive in Mumbai, I am expecting to drive in B2B traffic a lot of times and hence I don't want a manual. The less things to worry about, the better. I know experienced drivers can manage all this but for me convenience is better.
 
raksrules said:
@rdst_1

That's what. If I intend to drive in Mumbai, I am expecting to drive in B2B traffic a lot of times and hence I don't want a manual. The less things to worry about, the better. I know experienced drivers can manage all this but for me convenience is better.
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Seems like you have an MT phobia :p

Get a used maruti 800, drive it at midnight esp. on open roads, then ram into bushes or scrap and get off that phobia.
 
As long as there is a handbrake or the brake pedal pressed the automatic will engage to Neutral without the gear leaver being in N automatically.
Logically this has to be done in order to prevent the car from stalling. As we release the brakes slowly the clutch will be engaged slowly automatically (just like in the manual)
so this way we can use an automatic easily in B2B traffic without any Accelerator input, just by using brakes. Obviously there is clutch slipping (It would on a manual too) but we don't need to constantly switch to N.

If you pay attention and listen carefully you can actually hear the clutch disengaging to Neutral when you stop the car while in D mode.
& Trust me don't put the car in P mode during traffic signals and short stops.
 
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