How to drive an automatic car

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kimmy123

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Hello everyone

I have been driving for almost 10 years and never once thought of how to drive an automatic car.
I know there is no clutch,but do you have to take your foot off the gas in intervals for the automatic change
or do you just leave you leg on the accelerator.What about when you slowing down ?

Thanks guys
Kimmy
 
Just put your foot gently on the gas. The gearbox looks after everything. If you are going up a hill and need some extra accelleration, put your foot down fairly hard and it will change up a gear for you. When you slow down, just take off your foot and the car will slow. Before you rear-end someone, apply the brake!
 
To reverse you change the lever to R and release the brake slightly, push gas only when you need to reverse up a steep uphill etc.. P is basically the handbrake. D to move forward. Most automatic cars requires 0 gas to remain stationary on a hill but sometimes you play with it as if it is a clutch. You can still feel the clutch on automatic cars but you'll need to drive one to get the feeling right.
 
Freshy-ZN said:
And never use your left foot! Never.
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This. Unless there's some a-hole driving up your exhaust, in which case left-foot + brake = :D
Keep the accelerator in use and don't let up unless you want to slow down.
 
And how do you take off on an incline? Think I'll get really confused at first before getting used to it
 
370z said:
And how do you take off on an incline? Think I'll get really confused at first before getting used to it
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Take foot off brake. Put foot on accelerator. Push foot down. It's the easiest thing ever. The car normally will stand still on an uphill if you don't press any pedals, and move slowly forward if you're on a level road. If it's a really steep hill, the car might move backwards very slowly, in which case use left foot on brake, right just slightly on accelerator, then let go of the brake. I honestly don't want to go back to a manual for driving in heavy traffic ever again.
 
It's easier than driving a go kart. You have two pedals - go and stop. Just press the accelerator harder when you need more power. It won't roll backwards when in drive and it won't roll forwards when in reverse. You can't go wrong.
 
It is like driving a golf cart. The gears do themselves. Accelerate to speed up, foot off everything to idle in gear (like 40km/h ish), foot on break to slow and stop. Foot held on break to stay stopped. You can't stall.

It is just like a golf cart.
 
It will take 5 mins for you to get used to it, then you will see the advantage in traffic
 
Naks said:
Errr, left-foot braking? Left-foot braking is a technique that can make you a better driver. FYI, brakes are not only for slowing down ;)
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Whilst true, many modern cars' ECUs prioritise the brake over the throttle, and will simply cut engine power if you try.
 
370z said:
And how do you take off on an incline? Think I'll get really confused at first before getting used to it
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Thats the easy part. The car won't stall when in drive (your automatic is either in neutral, park, reverse, drive, drive 1, or drive 2). You just push on the accelerator and off you go.

Drive is your normal gear ratio
Drive 1 is when driving with a heavy load
Drive 2 is when towing.

You also get overdrive which means your car changes at higher revs and this is important on uphills. This is a button you press and usually sits on the gear leaver. Very easy to use.

My wife has an automatic.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Thats the easy part. The car won't stall when in drive (your automatic is either in neutral, park, reverse, drive, drive 1, or drive 2). You just push on the accelerator and off you go.

Drive is your normal gear ratio
Drive 1 is when driving with a heavy load
Drive 2 is when towing.

You also get overdrive which means your car changes at higher revs and this is important on uphills. This is a button you press and usually sits on the gear leaver. Very easy to use.

My wife has an automatic.
Click to expand...

Overdrive is actually a longer gear ratio for freeway cruising at low RPM. Trust the gearbox to select the right gear, it will do so in almost all cases.
If you're on a steep hill, pull up the hand brake, let go the foot brake, push the accelerator a bit then release the handbrake. The torque convertor won't necessarily hold the car stationary at idle.
 
Naks said:
Errr, left-foot braking? Left-foot braking is a technique that can make you a better driver. FYI, brakes are not only for slowing down ;)
Click to expand...

I am so so tempted to say something about that statement, but I won't for the sake of sanity. Perceived ability has killed many people on our roads, and let's just leave it at that :D
 
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