Reviews of cars with auto transmission

[DrZhivago]

In auto stop-start mode my car starts the engine again when I put the handbrake on!

That's crazy!

My car(s) have broken down about four times in the last ten years and in every case it was failing to restart because of battery or starter motor issues. In one case it was battery failure after driving along only minutes earlier, and my stopping to go into a shop. It seems to be characteristic of modern batteries to fail suddenly, unlike the olden days when they would fade away over a period of months giving you plenty of warning to replace them.

When I first drove my wife's new Panda I nearly had a heart attack when the engine cut out in the middle of a busy junction when I put it in neutral while waiting half a minute for oncoming traffic to clear. I switched the ignition off and restarted amid some very foul language. It was the first time I'd come across of this barmy idea. Wife had complained about this behavour too (I mean the cutting-out, not the language :lol: ). I read the handbook and found it could be switched off. I don't want to discover that my battery has failed while in he middle of such junctions*. I have always switched off my engine in longer traffic jams anyway.

Trouble is, the marketing people are always wanting new features to brag about - the "Which? Report" tick-box matrix mentality - especially if they can attach the word "green" to it somhow. So more things to go wrong are added with every new model, features that seem to be dreamed up by people with different driving styles and lifestyles from mine.

* Once running, a car will keep going on the alternator even after battery failure; it just cannot be restarted.

 

[Raywood]

I also do not like the auto switch off. My daughters Honda has it and i am not comfortable with this. It must save a bit of fuel if standing for longer periods but not a lot in most cases. What worries me is that the constant use of the starter will wear that out and they are expensive. From a manufacturers point of view though it may mean selling a few more starter motors and the perceived fuel saving sells cars and pleases environmentalists with only the oil companies losing out on that loss of fuel sales and you if the starter goes.

 

[KeefySher]

I reckon the added equipment for the Stop / Start, AdBlu etc mass, is more than that of a passenger. So you are effectively carrying an extra passenger on each and every journey.

It's all about meeting test targets, very little to do with economy. If that were the case the amount of fuel wasted since the 1980's when governments took the decision to go emission control. catalytic convertors etc in place of lean burn, then we wouldn't be concerned about it as the wasted fuel would still be there.

I'm on my 4th consecutive auto box vehicle, wouldn't go back to manual. So very much easier to drive.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I also do not like the auto switch off. My daughters Honda has it and i am not comfortable with this. It must save a bit of fuel if standing for longer periods but not a lot in most cases. What worries me is that the constant use of the starter will wear that out and they are expensive. From a manufacturers point of view though it may mean selling a few more starter motors and the perceived fuel saving sells cars and pleases environmentalists with only the oil companies losing out on that loss of fuel sales and you if the starter goes.

Hello Ray
The auto engine off feature does save fuel, especially if you are in heavy stop start traffic,It make virtually no difference for long motorway drives. But you are also correct that it asks a lot more of the starter motors. Recently I had to have my starter motor on my 2006 Passat changed, this is pre auto start, My Bil who does this work for me told me if id had an auto start the replacement starter motor would have cost a lot more. It seems they are built differently and designed for many more cycles of starting, so hopefully that should mean they will not fail any more quickly than teh older conventional starters.

 

[Dustydog]

Currently tow with a conventional torque convertor auto box . Had manual before . Overall prefer auto.
However sons and BIL Audis have 7/8 DSG autos. Never towed with them but I wonder how long the two clutches will last

 

[ProfJohnL]

Currently tow with a conventional torque convertor auto box . Had manual before . Overall prefer auto.
However sons and BIL Audis have 7/8 DSG autos. Never towed with them but I wonder how long the two clutches will last

My Passat has the DSG, but I never had a tow bar fitted to it, so I cant comments personally about towing with it. But I have towed with both manual and torque converter autos, and personally I find autos more relaxing to drive, but I did find some were perhaps not so well suited to towing as they often down shifted on only minor inclines making the engines just sound a little frantic at times.

I wonder about the DSG and towing a few years ago. However since I have monitored various DSG sites, and my initial concerns would seem to be unfounded There have been no pattern of failures linked to towing, and it would seem the dual clutch systems are no more prone to failure than conventional gear boxes. I now wait for the deluge reports of dire failures!

 

[RayS]

1. VW group cars with DSG get a poor write up on Honest John and other sites. Seems they are now changing them but starting with the higher power engines first.

2. if you have a vehicle with auto stop/start have a care when you change the battery.
Some types e.g. my Freelander have a different battery fitted if the have auto stop/start - a higher capacity battery and somewhat more expensive - there goes the money you saved on fuel.

 

[xtrailman]

1. VW group cars with DSG get a poor write up on Honest John and other sites. Seems they are now changing them but starting with the higher power engines first.

2. if you have a vehicle with auto stop/start have a care when you change the battery.
Some types e.g. my Freelander have a different battery fitted if the have auto stop/start - a higher capacity battery and somewhat more expensive - there goes the money you saved on fuel.

So why is the recent tiguan a DSG?
I dont think HJ has the facts personally.

 

[Hutch]

2. if you have a vehicle with auto stop/start have a care when you change the battery.
Some types e.g. my Freelander have a different battery fitted if the have auto stop/start - a higher capacity battery and somewhat more expensive - there goes the money you saved on fuel.

The cars with auto stop/start, tend to have Gel batteries as they have to take the electrical loads of the car whilst the engine is not running. they also recharge quicker.

 

[xtrailman]

2. if you have a vehicle with auto stop/start have a care when you change the battery.
Some types e.g. my Freelander have a different battery fitted if the have auto stop/start - a higher capacity battery and somewhat more expensive - there goes the money you saved on fuel.

The cars with auto stop/start, tend to have Gel batteries as they have to take the electrical loads of the car whilst the engine is not running. they also recharge quicker.

Not the ones i have had.
They do have a speacial battery though with the plates closer together designed for continuous restarts, and a speacial HD starter for the diesel cars.
My cx-5 battery originally cost near £200 for the OE, i have noticed the prices have fallen considerably since, but still expensive.

The petrol engined cx-5 however do not use the starter for the SS restarts but use two cyclinders of the engine to start..
http://www.thebatteryshop.co.uk/yuasa-12v-80ah-780a-efb-start-stop-battery-ybx7335-t110-8949-p.asp

 

[otherclive]

1. VW group cars with DSG get a poor write up on Honest John and other sites. Seems they are now changing them but starting with the higher power engines first.

2. if you have a vehicle with auto stop/start have a care when you change the battery.
Some types e.g. my Freelander have a different battery fitted if the have auto stop/start - a higher capacity battery and somewhat more expensive - there goes the money you saved on fuel.

The VAG cars with the dry clutch DSG did have some problems, but the wet clutch models had much better reliability. I understand that all VAG DSG gearboxes are now wet clutch. VAG aren't the only maker to use DSG as Ford/Citroen (Powerwshift) use similar systems too. Fundamentally theres no reason why a wet clutch DSG should show undue wear when in an autobox, as for years the "conventional" autoboxes have worked very well with their epicyclics controlled by friction bands. But they have been wet lubricated.

 

[otherclive]

In auto stop-start mode my car starts the engine again when I put the handbrake on!

That's crazy!

My car(s) have broken down about four times in the last ten years and in every case it was failing to restart because of battery or starter motor issues. In one case it was battery failure after driving along only minutes earlier, and my stopping to go into a shop. It seems to be characteristic of modern batteries to fail suddenly, unlike the olden days when they would fade away over a period of months giving you plenty of warning to replace them.

When I first drove my wife's new Panda I nearly had a heart attack when the engine cut out in the middle of a busy junction when I put it in neutral while waiting half a minute for oncoming traffic to clear. I switched the ignition off and restarted amid some very foul language. It was the first time I'd come across of this barmy idea. Wife had complained about this behavour too (I mean the cutting-out, not the language :lol: ). I read the handbook and found it could be switched off. I don't want to discover that my battery has failed while in he middle of such junctions*. I have always switched off my engine in longer traffic jams anyway.

Trouble is, the marketing people are always wanting new features to brag about - the "Which? Report" tick-box matrix mentality - especially if they can attach the word "green" to it somhow. So more things to go wrong are added with every new model, features that seem to be dreamed up by people with different driving styles and lifestyles from mine.

* Once running, a car will keep going on the alternator even after battery failure; it just cannot be restarted.

Well its not just Subaru that has a weird auto stop start function. I am using a 2015 Skoda DSG auto and it stops when I come to a halt. Put the handbrake on and remove foot from the brake and it restarts. So like my Subaru it basically starts each time you remove your foot off of the footbrake. So dazzling those behind. Unlike the Subaru the switch off button isn't that easily located!

My first impression of a petrol DSG isn't that great. It wants to keep in a higher gear at town speeds which then generates a vibration and slight booming in the car until either the revs build up, or it changes down.