Why the hell do they do this:-
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From: Miike G on 26 Mar 2010 20:20 "Steve Firth" <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote in message news:1jfzcw8.a7axnf1dwjtujN%%steve%@malloc.co.uk... > Bod <bodron57(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote: > >> > >> To me, using one's left foot for braking in an auto, is frankly absurd >> and unnatural. Especially if one has spent some years previously driving >> a manual. > > <shrug> > > So what? You're a prat, and you appear to have the experience of a six > year old without the imagination of a child. > > > Left foot braking in an automatic has its place. It's one way of keeping > up revs and of ensuring that one is in the right gear for any corner. Seems a bit pointless to me. I can't see what it achieves. So you force a change down by putting a load on the engine with the brakes. Unless you replace that load with the accelerator as you release the brakes, it'll just change up again. Driving like that appears defeat the reasons for having an auto. For spirited driving it's better to use the shift lever to hold or change to a lower gear IMO. Mike..
From: Steve Firth on 26 Mar 2010 23:37 Miike G <miktoolman(a)miktoolman.plus.net> wrote: > > Seems a bit pointless to me. I can't see what it achieves. So you force a > change down by putting a load on the engine with the brakes. No. Braking won't of itself force a downchange. > Unless you replace that load with the accelerator as you release the > brakes, it'll just change up again. The point in left foot braking is exactly that to permit simultaneous use of throttle and brake. And no, driving like that doesn't defeat the reason for having an auto. You'll be claiming that heel and toe in a manual is pointless next.
From: Miike G on 27 Mar 2010 01:00 "Steve Firth" <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote in message news:1jfztul.lj8yj31pjkcxqN%%steve%@malloc.co.uk... > Miike G <miktoolman(a)miktoolman.plus.net> wrote: > >> >> Seems a bit pointless to me. I can't see what it achieves. So you force a >> change down by putting a load on the engine with the brakes. > > No. Braking won't of itself force a downchange I know. Neither will it keep up revs. The load is put upon the engine by using the accelerator whilst braking. Hard braking will cause a downchange. Light braking could maintain a gear, when the box would otherwise change down, but then it would probably change down as soon as you took your foot off the brake and started to accelerate. AFAIK most auto boxes have a preset program for 'normal' driving, and unless you overide the 'normal' program using kickdown or manual shift, it'll just change gear according to speed and load. >> Unless you replace that load with the accelerator as you release the >> brakes, it'll just change up again. > The point in left foot braking is exactly that to permit simultaneous > use of throttle and brake. > > And no, driving like that doesn't defeat the reason for having an auto. > > You'll be claiming that heel and toe in a manual is pointless next. Not at all, but that's not a very good analogy. With a manual there's no sensible reason for not changing gear and braking at the same time, except that in most manuals I've driven the pedals are not positioned to make it easy, if it can be done at all. Mike.
From: Steve Firth on 27 Mar 2010 07:57 Miike G <miktoolman(a)miktoolman.plus.net> wrote: > AFAIK most auto boxes have a preset program for 'normal' driving, and unless > you overide the 'normal' program using kickdown or manual shift, it'll just > change gear according to speed and load. Yes, and using left-foot braking you can arrive at a corner at the right speed in the right gear and with the right revs. If you leave it to the autobox even the very best will lag because the autobox doesn't have eyes and can't see what's ahead on the road. The current auto Jaguar does a better job than the ZFs I have in my cars but it's still not as good as the driver at anticipation.
From: Miike G on 27 Mar 2010 15:39
"Steve Firth" <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote in message news:1jg0fmd.1ynmduh123ildfN%%steve%@malloc.co.uk... > Miike G <miktoolman(a)miktoolman.plus.net> wrote: > >> AFAIK most auto boxes have a preset program for 'normal' driving, and >> unless >> you overide the 'normal' program using kickdown or manual shift, it'll >> just >> change gear according to speed and load. > > Yes, and using left-foot braking you can arrive at a corner at the right > speed in the right gear and with the right revs. If you leave it to the > autobox even the very best will lag because the autobox doesn't have > eyes and can't see what's ahead on the road. Maybe I'm a bit dim, but I still don't understand what braking as you say actually achieves. If one works on the premise of slow in, fast out on bends or corners, the revs you have as you enter the bend, are goung to be too low for a hard accelleration out of the bend. The slight lag one gets as the box changes down, IME, has little affect on the overal speed through the bend. In any case, if one is really concerned about being in the right gear entering and throughout the bend, surely it's better to manually d/shift before the bend to slow the car, which should mean one is in the right gear to accelerate cleanly out of the bend. There is also the point about what happens if you have to brake hard as you enter the bend, because of a tractor, cycliist, pedestrian etc..With one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator it's difficult to control how much one brakes because your body doesn't have the support it would normally have with your left foot on the floor. I have a BMW with a 5 speed Steptronic box. I sometimes use it manually to change down in anticipation of overtaking. or if I'm feeling particularly exuberant, I'll use the shift lever as I would a g/lever in a manual car. I rarely use my left foot to brake except when manouvering, when I tend to use it all the time. In normal traffic conditions, I feel one could easily be literally 'caught out wrong footed'. . > The current auto Jaguar does a better job than the ZFs I have in my cars > but it's still not as good as the driver at anticipation. I go back to my earlier comment. If you try to drive an auto, using revs and g/changes as you would in a manual, and not allow the auto box to work as intended there seems little point in having one. Mike. |