delticdave
Member
- Joined
- 14 Apr 2017
- Messages
- 449
It's clearly heading that way, but I'd call most VAG cars premium cars - they are premium brands these days compared to say Ford, Kia etc.
It's clearly heading that way, but I'd call most VAG cars premium cars - they are premium brands these days compared to say Ford, Kia etc.
It depends on the type of transmission. With a hydraulic torque converter, yes. Dual clutch mechanical, no. Other transmissions exist, but I don't recall how they fare.Don't vehicles with a automatic transmission use up more fuel?
I ask that as I've driven a auto before and the fuel consumption wasn't that good.
How do you find out what the type of transmission it is for any vehicle?It depends on the type of transmission. With a hydraulic torque converter, yes. Dual clutch mechanical, no. Other transmissions exist, but I don't recall how they fare.
Googling for specs and road test reports?How do you find out what the type of transmission it is for any vehicle?
As ac600cw said, use Google. I do not know of any simple consistent way to tell for sure.How do you find out what the type of transmission it is for any vehicle?
Don't vehicles with a automatic transmission use up more fuel?
I ask that as I've driven a auto before and the fuel consumption wasn't that good.
It used to be the case with the old 'Borg-Warner' type of 3-speed auto transmission that the torque converter and simple speed vs torque gear selection criteria were sources of higher fuel consumption. Modern auto transmissions (even the automatically selected manual types) have far greater integration with the engine management system. Thus changes can be chosen for lowest fuel consumption, best engine loading and/or highest acceleration. The result is that there is rarely a performance penalty with modern types especially when compared with any driver other than an expert at the controls of a manual transmission. Indeed, most auto transmissions can give higher performance, and certainly more consistent results than somebody claiming to be an expert at 'stirring porridge'.Don't vehicles with a automatic transmission use up more fuel?
I ask that as I've driven a auto before and the fuel consumption wasn't that good.
I think that your Vitara has a 6-speed DCT, according to Suzuki literature, possibly depends on age?We've run a Suzuki Vitara (1.4L 'BoosterJet' engine) with a 6-speed auto box for the last few years. AFAIK it uses a torque converter (it certainly drives like it has one, including 'creeping' at idle) - and it returns pretty much the same MPG figures as the 6-speed manual version (based on manufacturer and road test report MPG), Certainly we've got no complaints about the fuel economy of it.
We test drove both the manual and auto versions of the same model, and decided that the auto was the nicer/better drive (and not just because it changes gear for you!).
Googling for specs and road test reports?
CVTs even more so.... More gears means engine more likely to be in sweet spot, using less fuel. ...
My last car, (Mercedes A180 CD) with it's 2L diesel engine had no problem keeping speed to within 2mph on normal inclines, and even on a very steep one it was no worse than +5. That was very useful when in cruise as well. That certainly showed up those who didn't keep to speed limits downhill.... And some have an economy setting that automatically coasts. Some small 3 cylinder engines provide little engine braking so holding in low gear which it will do using a topodyne (incline detector) doesn’t actually hold speed when going steeply downhill, so brakes need using as well. ...
Based on the descriptions in the car user guide of the driving controls for the different transmissions, and some researching I did before posting here, I'm pretty sure it's a 6-speed conventional auto box.I think that your Vitara has a 6-speed DCT, according to Suzuki literature, possibly depends on age?
Contact Suzuki UK or a UK dealer for confirmation??
As for creeping at idle or slow speeds a modern DCT is designed to "feel" similar to a torque converter transmission.
I'm no expert but we have owned 5 6-speed DSG cars, (still have 3 of them) & I've no desire to return to slushboxes....
I don't disagree with you fundamentally, but my last car had a 5L engine and a 6-speed automatic gearbox, which was a good combination. Jaguar switched more recently to an 8-speed automatic, which definitely will have been a better choice for the majority of their cars with relatively small diesel engines, but it won't have been as good a match for the 5L petrol engine because it will spend too much of its time changing gear unnecessarily. Be that as it may, the 8-speed gearbox is certainly a vast improvement over my only other car (my first car) with an automatic gearbox - a rather basic 3-speed one coupled to a 2L engine back a long time ago.Some modern ones, like dual clutch (which are effectively motorised manual gearboxes) often have more gears than fully manual ones.
6 or 7 gears are common, some have 8 or 9 gears.
More gears means engine more likely to be in sweet spot, using less fuel. And some have an economy setting that automatically coasts.
Some small 3 cylinder engines provide little engine braking so holding in low gear which it will do using a topodyne (incline detector) doesn’t actually hold speed when going steeply downhill, so brakes need using as well. (But modern cars have ventilated discs on front that are tested on some very long downhills in Alps) so unlikely to overheat in UK)
I always though of that as a Nissan Joke.I've just gone back to a torque converter having had DSG for years. I thought the DSG 'boxes were a masterpiece, though there is definitely something "soothing" about a slushmatic! It is an early incarnation of the 6 speed VW by Aisin and it definitely shifts well without the "thump" you often experience from DSG 'boxes.
To the poster whose stepmom had a Nissan PUKE and got rid of it, GOOD! Worst thing on the road. The new one is fine but I guess she had a pre-2019 model.