Not fuel consumption, but a comment on automatics. I have a (now dormant) 1989 Toyota MR2 Supercharger. 1600cc, automatic. About 140 BHP std. Fastest production car on earth to 50 km from a standing start in its day. Its day has gone. Trickle along in 2nd gear at the point where the engine seems it would pull happily under full power. 'Go on throttle up' / 'Go around power please' / Pedal to floor etc. Auto downshifts to 1st gives the briefest of blips in 1st, changes back to 2nd and pulls like a train. No stick shift driver would EVER consider doing that in that situation. One could conclude that they did not quite get the change pattern right and that there is some negative hysteresis in that situation that makes it fallaciously change down and then back again. Maybe so. But anyone who can take a 1600cc roller skate and get it to 50 kph ahead of teh Aston Martins, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches and the rest pprobably knows their stuff fairly well across the board. Having a Supercharager is what allows it to be done. but using it well is also needed. That's a 1989 car. Presumably they have learned some more since then. Russell. On 3 August 2012 19:47, Ruben J=F6nsson wrote: > >> >> >> On Thu, Aug 2, 2012, at 10:44 PM, Tamas Rudnai wrote: >> > >> > I always thought the automatic is not good for saving on fuel, at leas= t >> > that is the preconception in Europe. Is my experience totally wrong >> > meaning >> > that is only my bad driving habits, or this must be true for every >> > average >> > drivers or even to advanced drivers (advanced =3D I mean not the avera= ge >> > who >> > thinks they are advanced, but professional drivers who are learning th= ese >> > stuff). >> > >> > Are new automatics that good? Is this a solution for saving the world = and >> > reduce the carbon footprint? >> >> Yes, you have saved the world! >> >> New automatics are good, still more lossy than manuals. But much better >> at shifting than humans. And since the shifts are done without the >> driver, the throttle is not upset. >> >> C5 Corvettes have a linkage that causes upshifts from 1 to 4 if >> conservative driving is sensed. Doubtless there are other tricks one >> could apply. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Bob >> > > Previously I have had a "way of thinking" about driving and manual shifti= ng > that I have to shift up through all gears when accelerating and that I ha= ve to > shift down to 2nd gear when turning into a side road, parkinglot or in ot= her > situations wher the car almost comes to full stop. I have done this more = or > less without thinking (using my automatic brain shifting) just because "t= his is > the way it should be". > > However, lately I have noticed that my car happily goes from 1 to 3 to 5, > skipping 2nd and 4th gear completely when accelerating from full stop. Of > course, I don't get the most power and acceleration but for my everyday > commuting it works very well. And it is actually not that much different = from > using all gears. > > I have also found that I mostly don't have to shift all the way down to 2= nd > gear when I previously did that all the time, 3rd gear is most often enou= gh. > > I wonder how much the world would be saved if everyone starts to more act= ively > think about how we drive instead of just using the "automatic brain shift= ing > and throtling", especially with newer cars that many today even have 6 ge= ars. > > /Ruben > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > Ruben J=F6nsson > AB Liros Electronic > Box 9124, 200 39 Malm=F6, Sweden > TEL INT +46 40142078 > FAX INT +46 40947388 > ruben@pp.sbbs.se > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .