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FormulaNova said..

eckas said..
The HUGE benefit (if people would be bothered to learn and apply it) is the ability to left foot brake, which greatly hastens the process of getting off the gas and onto the brake in an emergency, which definitely helps avoid collisions and saves lives. I use it selectively based on how 'complex' the driving situation is at the time and the likelihood that I'll need to brake quickly and unexpectedly.

This was very much frowned upon when I was learning how to drive. I personally still think its a silly idea. Just my opinion though.

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Anything that catches you so that a left foot brake is going to help you enough is rare.

Taxi drivers do it because they get tired. My mother does it because she has become lazy. She also claimed that the car kept going when she tried to brake once... I think my father and I agree on what really happened.

I agree 100% . You drive an auto with the right foot only. Using both feet in an auto can only lead to grief .

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James said..

FormulaNova said..

eckas said..
The HUGE benefit (if people would be bothered to learn and apply it) is the ability to left foot brake, which greatly hastens the process of getting off the gas and onto the brake in an emergency, which definitely helps avoid collisions and saves lives. I use it selectively based on how 'complex' the driving situation is at the time and the likelihood that I'll need to brake quickly and unexpectedly.

This was very much frowned upon when I was learning how to drive. I personally still think its a silly idea. Just my opinion though.

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Anything that catches you so that a left foot brake is going to help you enough is rare.

Taxi drivers do it because they get tired. My mother does it because she has become lazy. She also claimed that the car kept going when she tried to brake once... I think my father and I agree on what really happened.

I agree 100% . You drive an auto with the right foot only. Using both feet in an auto can only lead to grief .

So this must be how some haemorrhoid inspectors are able to sit so far up the rrrse of the car in front and have their break lights look the flashing sign on Chinese Takeaway shop. I thought they were bloody idiots, but now you tell me they are just practicing for an emergency situation.

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Crusoe said..

James said..

FormulaNova said..

eckas said..
The HUGE benefit (if people would be bothered to learn and apply it) is the ability to left foot brake, which greatly hastens the process of getting off the gas and onto the brake in an emergency, which definitely helps avoid collisions and saves lives. I use it selectively based on how 'complex' the driving situation is at the time and the likelihood that I'll need to brake quickly and unexpectedly.

This was very much frowned upon when I was learning how to drive. I personally still think its a silly idea. Just my opinion though.

My opinion is that if you see anything that you think could be a risk, or possible risk, you take your foot off the accelerator, ready for the brake, or even brake slightly.

Anything that catches you so that a left foot brake is going to help you enough is rare.

Taxi drivers do it because they get tired. My mother does it because she has become lazy. She also claimed that the car kept going when she tried to brake once... I think my father and I agree on what really happened.

I agree 100% . You drive an auto with the right foot only. Using both feet in an auto can only lead to grief .

So this must be how some haemorrhoid inspectors are able to sit so far up the rrrse of the car in front and have their break lights look the flashing sign on Chinese Takeaway shop. I thought they were bloody idiots, but now you tell me they are just practicing for an emergency situation.

I find it annoying when I see someone in front of me accelerate with the brake lights on. It seems too common. I have to admit it catches me out some times in that it takes me a while to figure out why the car in front should be slowing but is not.

Tailgaters are idiots full stop. Left leg braking or not.

I use left foot braking a lot in my Sim Racing (manual 6sp and semi manual - paddle shifting). Without it you just can't compete. There are also other skills like trailbraking etc which you need LFB.

Having said that, LFB is more difficult in most (manual) cars on the market as the pedals are not spaced appropriately. In Sim Rig, you can tailor the pedals to suit your foot size etc.

Manual cars are being phased out like the old LP player, Stereo etc....That's why I will be getting a new 6sp manual BRZ 2022 or a 400Z when they are released.

Don't auto's come with a floral dress so you blend in with the rest of the ladies at the bowls club

I'm old school, drive a '94 Integra manual and ride a foil with a kite.

Stirring the stick used to be lots of fun in the old days, but I've grown out of needing that, relaxed and easy is the go these days. Especially now that the auto changes down as you slow, gives engine breaking, and is in the appropriate gear as you corner. Rather than the old boxes that just dropped into neutral when the revs got too low, then didn't change down until you accelerated

My mate brought a new colorado recently,.. he could start it remotely from inside to get the aircon running. That feature isn't available on the manual. Almost enough to make me switch to an auto, very cool.

Back in the day, EA falcon, 351, top loader, 9 inch
left foot slides off the clutch
right foot on the loud pedal
left foot big toe on the brake.

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Gazuki said..
My mate brought a new colorado recently,.. he could start it remotely from inside to get the aircon running. That feature isn't available on the manual. Almost enough to make me switch to an auto, very cool.

I happen to have a remote start kit for an auto Jimny if anyone is keen. I think...

My father, who loves to drive but has had an auto landy forever, drove my manuel, the first he's driven in a decade just the other day. The smile on his dial was priceless.

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Craig66 said..
Back in the day, EA falcon, 351, top loader, 9 inch
left foot slides off the clutch
right foot on the loud pedal
left foot big toe on the brake.

You had a 351 in an EA? Windsor? Fuel injected as well?

I have to say a manual is more fun to drive. I had much more fun in my 4 speed ford escort, but now one of my cars is a FG falcon turbo auto, and its a bit boring in that you put your foot down and it goes. Stupidly quick, but nowhere near as fun as the escort and the escort was nowhere near as fast.

Maybe I should buy a gokart and at least I could have 'fast' fun at slow speed.

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FormulaNova said..

Craig66 said..
Back in the day, EA falcon, 351, top loader, 9 inch
left foot slides off the clutch
right foot on the loud pedal
left foot big toe on the brake.

You had a 351 in an EA? Windsor? Fuel injected as well?

Cleveland, 4 V heads, 850 holly etc,sports sedan, raced club level , I wasnt rich enough to get injection.

Winding mountain roads (my favourite), manual is the only way to go .

City and freeway driving (not my favourite), auto is the only way to go.

Last subaru i drove had cv drive the gear activity was all simulated..
Basically any current driver assist smart safety stuff so kling on cruise control lane control and AI automation is incompatible with a manual..
My kids wanted to learn both...
About 2 years back had a courtesy car decided to play with paddles mounted on the steering column i assumed.. came to roundabout. Slipped steering wheel thru hands going round.. And realised the bloody paddles were now at 2:00 oclock .. B-grade engineer on that design (Mazda)..
Cheers
AP

I bought a 2017 manual car three months ago.I cannot stand automatic cars (my other car is a 8 gear auto transmission minivan). I also had a CVT SUV and didn't like it either. I don't care about dual clutch or paddle shifters. manual cars and two stroke dirt bikes are the only way for me.

I should mention that I have driven electric cars and they can be a lot of fun. So I guess for me is either manual or electric.

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WillyWind said..
I should mention that I have driven electric cars and they can be a lot of fun. So I guess for me is either manual or electric.

Electric cars are a lot of fun. The office had one in my previous job. I almost got stranded one day because the silent acceleration from a standstill is so awesome that I floored it every time the light turned green and ended up getting only half the expected mileage out of the battery.

After my last car - Hilux, I swore I would never own a manual again. Bought an automatic 4wd and hated it. Maybe too old school but couldn't get my head around automatics and the variety of settings (rock, sand, snow...). To me it felt like too much of the control was out of my control when off road and that I couldn't trust the reliability of it all. Anyway sold the car after 15 months and have now gone back to a manual car (well 2 manual cars). Still enjoy driving the wife's automatic car, but just so used to changing gears.

With the EU emissions control requirements getting so much tighter the manual transmission and diesels are going the way of the dodo. CVT transmissions are more fuel efficient so it will only be a choice of automatic or electric in years to come. We have no vehicle manufacturing in Oz, so will just have to follow the rest whether we like it or not.

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airsail said..
CVT transmissions are more fuel efficient so it will only be a choice of automatic or electric in years to come.

that is my experience also, I recently changed cars from manual to CVT (both Subaru Outback, same engine size) and the CVT has better fuel economy - about 1 l per 100 km less (city driving).

The CVT is also very smooth when it "changes gears", not noticeable at all unless I'm flooring it up the hill.
I am guessing it is not fully variable but has pre-programmed positions and it "shifts" there. Happy to be corrected on that point :-)

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gs12 said..

I am guessing it is not fully variable but has pre-programmed positions and it "shifts" there. Happy to be corrected on that point :-)

It's called "fake shifting" .
www.subaruoutback.org/threads/why-have-fake-shifting-on-a-cvt.520485/

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Ian K said..

It's called "fake shifting" .
www.subaruoutback.org/threads/why-have-fake-shifting-on-a-cvt.520485/

Wow people get really stuck into that discussion :-)
thanks for the link :-) cool site

CVT has no gears. Just two variably sized cogs. Kind of like bicycle gearing except the cogs expand or contract. The engine just sits at 1500rpm regardless of speed. Unless you gun it the engine just stays at the same revs so it's really easy to be speeding and not realise.
Highway driving at 110 I get 5l per 100ks. Which is phenomenal for a heavy sedan, I can only imagine how much less if I sat on 90ks.

You'd only have to sit on 90kph for a minute or so. Apparently the real time economy gauges are pretty good. They get data from the same sensors that control the fuel metering that gives you the good economy in the first place.

www.greencarreports.com/news/1090929_gas-mileage-displays-in-cars-accurate-or-optimistic

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Ian K said..
You'd only have to sit on 90kph for a minute or so. Apparently the real time economy gauges are pretty good. They get data from the same sensors that control the fuel metering that gives you the good economy in the first place.

www.greencarreports.com/news/1090929_gas-mileage-displays-in-cars-accurate-or-optimistic

I can agree the gauges are pretty good, but over how long is the average fuel economy figures calculated? I guess you did say 'real-time' so you are right. I know on my mere falcon, there are separate figures for average economy and figures for instant economy. The instant figures cycle up or down, though to be fair not that fast if you are on a steady stretch of road.

Fuel injectors are a pretty well know metering method. When scaling injectors to suit ECUs there seem to be two different ways of doing it. From memory, one talks about flow during the first instant of time, and then the linear flow rates after that. I can't remember what the second is, but its accurate, just in a different way. This data provided by the fuel injector makers, or sometimes 3rd parties, is fed back into the ECU to give you precise metering, so it makes sense that the fuel economy gauges are accurate.

A comment in that article says "Car computers only know how long the injectors are open vs closed and assume a consistent rate of flow for the open time and thereby calculate how much fuel SHOULD have gone through the injectors in that time.." which is not quite true. There is no assumption for consistent rates of flow, but has at least two slopes to cater for the opening flows and then after that.

They also trim the injector opening times after that, but they are still using these slopes to work out how much actually was injected.

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FormulaNova said..>>>
I can agree the gauges are pretty good,>>>>

Well our 2013 i20 wasn't the display said exactly what the marketing blurb claimed. But in actuality used about 20% more. ie read 5.8 but used close to 7. I started checking when we had much less range than expected. complained to Hyandai but just got the run around. Told me, "you can't go by one fill because of the pump cut off variation". So then I produced 6 months records of every fill, showing odometer, fuel used, displayed consumption and calculated consumption. Their answer to that was the inaccuracy of the method of measuring the amount of fuel used. And the car's consumption would improve with use. Of course it never did. I vowed then to never buy another Hyundai, and traded it in on a Mazda 2, which does use what it displays.

WOW, I cant believe some people still own cars that you have to spin around a little handle to make a window open lol.
Must be really safe cars, by todays standards, to be out on the highway with the rest of us.
Im guessing your phones also have a spiral curly cord thingy attached to a block with a round dial thingy as well???

Manuals are like analogue, DVD's or CD's......... a thing of the past as better is now wanted by the public and available.