Vehicles

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I dunno, I think the automatics of today are a billion miles away from when they first started to become popular.

The kickdown mechanism in automatics are now so good they feel like a manual.
Essentially the car recognises the movement of the accelerator pedal and will drop you down a gear giving a burst of power the same as a manual. The systems they use now are far more sophisticated than the old automatics.

So on a hill for example it’s programmed to sense the change in speed, it can tell how fast and how far you’re pressing on the accelerator and react according to the millions of bits of data they’ve accumulated over the decades about how we drive.

The brilliant thing about them is a lot of them can be reconfigured to suit your style. Mapping is avaible for these nifty new gearboxes. But tbh mostly they’ve hit the spot from the off. Apart from Tesla, that needed adjusting, but it’s simple to do it yourself on a touch screen.
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I drive all types, styles, and kinds of vehicles at my job and some of those cars are pretty smart when it comes to preemptive programming. Oodles of options on the setup screens but we're told not to touch anything...

(It's was like that when I got in, honest!)
 
OK,
I currently got an automatic 4x4. I would have prefered a manual. But couldnt find one with right mileage and all.

I think (maybe Windigo can confirm) that in Holland you can do your exam in automatic and after a couple of years or a certain age they add manual as by then you should have enough practical experience and gear shift is not an issue anymore.

Slightly off topic but appealing to my sense of humour:
Zambia import duty on cars is high (100%), but electrical cars can come in at 0 % (or 25, can't remember but irrelevant)
Lusaka and most of the country have a maximum of 3 hours power per day.
There are are no car charging facilities anywhere in the country ..
 
badjak said:
OK,
I currently got an automatic 4x4. I would have prefered a manual. But couldnt find one with right mileage and all.

I think (maybe Windigo can confirm) that in Holland you can do your exam in automatic and after a couple of years or a certain age they add manual as by then you should have enough practical experience and gear shift is not an issue anymore.

Slightly off topic but appealing to my sense of humour:
Zambia import duty on cars is high (100%), but electrical cars can come in at 0 % (or 25, can't remember but irrelevant)
Lusaka and most of the country have a maximum of 3 hours power per day.
There are are no car charging facilities anywhere in the country ..
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I don't drive and never have, due to my medication. I have no clue. My husband is 56 and when he learned to drive there were no automatics. I think you know the rules here far better than I do.
 
badjak said:
58 and got my driving license 39 years ago. Motorbike license I think 30+ years ago :)
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I have an older sister who didn't get her DL until she was 30. I was 16. I didn't take a driver's course, my dad taught me how to drive 2 days before my birthday and I went to take my test on my birthday. Of course I passed the first time. I was always amazed that anyone didn't, but I knew several of my kids' friends who actually took a driving course and failed the test (some more than once).

I learned how to drive an automatic and it was my dad's big Buick. I had to do a 3-point turn in that boat but I did it without any problems. My first vehicle was a stick shift (what we typically call a manual over here) and I learned how to drive it the day that I got it.
 
Herbaceous said:
For the record, I’m in my 40s and never learned how to drive manual. Both my parents drove automatics and that’s what I learned on. Not having that skill hasn’t held me back in life any.
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I injured my left wrist badly when I was 20. It took 15 years and 13 operations to resolve. So whilst I learnt in a manual, I had to change to an automatic. I prefer most manuals but I did have one superb automatic to drive and that was my old Audi A4 2.8 Quattro. It did not behave like most automatics. For one you had to stay on the accelerator (gas) going downhill to maintain the speed you were doing. No sitting on the brakes holding it to the speed limit. It was fantastic. We only parted with it to go off and cycle around the world.

My wrist is much better now, though still has issues from time to time (it dislocates of its own accord) but I can now drive manuals again. I do enjoy them, but it is like all things, a question of quality. This vehicle won't fit in my garage, so we can't secure it whilst we're in the UK, and I'd rather not find it missing and have no insurance pay out. We've lost one vehicle where insurance refused to pay for it (in the UK), so we'd prefer not to go there again.
 
there are some jobs . . .
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I learned to drive when I was 30 and had moved to Caracas. You can NOT live in Caracas without a car; forget it.
I'd lived in London for 10 years and no driving was necessary, what with the underground, trains and buses. If it were too late at night/early morning, I'd just call a taxi.
 
I got motor bike license at 15 as it was cheap transport. Suzuki then later a triumph trident.opposite brakes/gears.
First car was column change later 4 on the floor then auto. I can drive anything including excavators. I have my class 2 and 4 truck licenses.
My 15 yo granddaughter is sitting her license later this year after shes 16 . I'm currently trying to get my son to buy her a manual car to sit her license?
I taught both my kids to drive in manuals.

Russ

Oh the lock thing. My wifes fob wore out a few months ago I got her a new one that had to be computer altered. About $200 later it works fine but doesn't pop the boot.
 
we have three children.
my son was not an issue . . .
I insisted both daughter learn to drive a stick shift. it's one of those skills like riding a bike . . .
I also insisted they learn how to jack up the car and change a flat tire (whether it was (then) flat or not . . .)
. . . . and I wound up cutting/providing a 20" length of iron pipe so they had the leverage needed . . .
which they still carry in their cars today . . .
 
CookieMonster said:
we have three children.
my son was not an issue . . .
I insisted both daughter learn to drive a stick shift. it's one of those skills like riding a bike . . .
I also insisted they learn how to jack up the car and change a flat tire (whether it was (then) flat or not . . .)
. . . . and I wound up cutting/providing a 20" length of iron pipe so they had the leverage needed . . .
which they still carry in their cars today . . .
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Victory favors the prepared... 👍
 
rascal said:
Oh the lock thing. My wifes fob wore out a few months ago I got her a new one that had to be computer altered. About $200 later it works fine but doesn't pop the boot.
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The closest thing to modern in my vehicle is the radio. It can actually answer the phone for me and play my ipod.

After that we're back to the dark ages with the very old style (original) CB radio. However the moonroof (sunroof to the rest of the world) is actually electric like the central locking system). That's as far as technology goes in my vehicle. No key fob to unlock doors. You actually need to put the key in the door, and know which of the 2 great levers to use.

And there is definitely no one listening in on conversations in my vehicle. She's far too noisy for anyone to do that. You have to shout to hold a conversation with you front seat passenger when you're doing 90kph as it is.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
The closest thing to modern in my vehicle is the radio. It can actually answer the phone for me and play my ipod.

After that we're back to the dark ages with the very old style (original) CB radio. However the moonroof (sunroof to the rest of the world) is actually electric like the central locking system). That's as far as technology goes in my vehicle. No key fob to unlock doors. You actually need to put the key in the door, and know which of the 2 great levers to use.

And there is definitely no one listening in on conversations in my vehicle. She's far too noisy for anyone to do that. You have to shout to hold a conversation with you front seat passenger when you're doing 90kph as it is.
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I had 4 hilux from new and wore them out. Only trouble I.had was last one made in Thailand..p.o.s.
I know you need rugged vehicles. Hope you get it sorted??

Russ
 
Barriehie said:
Victory favors the prepared... 👍
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in unusual ways.
our oldest daughter works in D.C.
onceuponavisit, she had me act the aggressor, so she could practice getting out of her car with pipe in hand and able to whammy the car jacker 'with vigor'
,,,, not the original intent of the pipe . . .

yeah, she's pretty independent . . .
 
So after 3 days with WD-40 in the lock, it decided to allow the key into the lock and whilst it didn't seem to go all the way into the lock, it now opens and closes on that one lock.

I've sprayed the other external lock with WD-40 just to see if it helps. It hasn't worked for a couple of years.
 
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