A note to the anti-auto crowd

Rubbish! Modern ones are excellent, anybody that tells u that they have more control with a manual is talking rubbish too, you can't miss a gear with a syncro box that the new ones are based on for starters.

I don't know where this notion that ure lazy or not a real trucker if u dont have to change gears, There's no great skill involved in changing gears, it's just something you have to do, kinda like picking your nose!

 

So you're saying that you have more control over what gear you're in and when it shifts in an auto? If ANYONE is full of it, it is you. Autos take the control over the transmission away from the driver, rendering that driver less in control of what the vehicle is doing, when it does it, and how it gets there.

Again, an automatic is a reactionary transmission. It will always select the proper gear for the situation that was occurring a moment ago, but it cannot look ahead to see what is approaching. A driver with a manual transmission can select the proper gear that he is about to need based upon what he sees up ahead or where he's planning to go. I don't care who's driving the automatic (because lets face it, it really doesn't matter)...a good driver will run circles around that automatic in anything other that ordinary highway cruising.

 

Manual transmission is the most reliable. Especially nowadays with these new trucks. There all computer! There is no way in hell I would put my trust in an automatic truck controlled by a computer going to Cabbage in the ice and snow!

I have driven those auto's a few times and they scare the hell out of me! Sure they are probably nice when you are in traffic but that's it!

I had several brand new 07' trucks which were in the shop constantly. Just about everytime was due to a sensor or something wrong with the computer. A sensor would flash and the truck would shut off. I had to have them towed every time! What happens if a sensor flashes and the truck shuts off coming down a mountain?!

Thanks, but I'll use my own two hands when it comes to staying alive!

 

A modern auto that's based on a synchro can be over ridden at any time, anyone that's driven an I-shift will tell you that, you can have complete control, just knock the joystick over to drop or to go up the box as you see fit, furthermore because they are a synchro box so you can skip gears whenever you want and the gearchange is instantaneous and unlike a crash box you can't miss a gear, great to know on mountainous roads.

Compared to a normal manual syncro gearbox there's no difference in the level of control and syncros are Alot more forgiving than a crash box ! it's the same thing only much easier, you can change gear anytime you want just like your manual crash box only faster and select any gear and it won't miss a gear, older autos were slow and you were better off with a manual but that's not the case anymore! For example, my truck has a paddle shifter under the steering wheel, a bit like a racing car, if I decide I want to go from 12th back to 10th to tackle a steep incline that I see ahead of me ( cos obviously the truck can't ) I tip the paddle twice with my finger and it's in 10th instantly! U show me a driver that can change back two gears in half a second , run rings around ? Yeah right! If he had a syncro box maybe match it but not run rings around it!

 

That is when you are supposed to operate the auto in manual mode so you can do exactly the same.

Not if the driver with the automatic knows what his doing.
An I-Shift used at 350 000lbs on a climb shifts faster than any manual can.
You have to see it to believe just how fast and smooth it is.

 

It would be interesting to see a drive off between man & machine. In many different applications of course. Pulling grades,decending Snow covered roads,backing down a steep grade loaded a drag race!

 

I like my 2006. Its not too bad. Temperamental with a heavy load lol

Ethan

 

I think a lot of the "manual gearboxes suck" comments are coming from those who couldn't drive a real truck if their life depended on it. It isn't a "crash box". It is a manual transmission. If your idea of shifting gears is slamming it from one gear to the next, you don't know how to drive. If you constantly grind the gears, again, you don't know how to drive. Shifting can (and should) be completed smoothly and without any grinding. If you know how to drive, you can do it.

Upshifting can be accomplished as quickly as the engine RPM's can fall to where they need to be to slip into the next gear. Downshifting can be accomplished as quickly as you can bump the RPM's up to the engine speed which matches the road speed for the gear you are selecting. It doesn't take long to do at all....IF you know how to drive.

Now when a transmission is designed to "slip" in order to gradually move from one gear to the next without a solid lockup in the gearing, you have parts wearing (clutches, etc.), and you produce heat. This slippage and heat production is energy lost....power that the engine has produced that will never make it to the wheels. In a vehicle with a torque converter, the engine is never 100% disconnected from the drives...not even at a stop. So, instead of sitting there idling, there is a slight load placed on the engine as it is trying to move the vehicle forward against the brakes holding the vehicle stationary. Only recently have torque converters approached 100% lockup at highway speed. Yes, even when going down the road, the crankshaft is spinning faster than the input shaft on the transmission....another inefficiency.

Manual transmissions, on the other hand, are 100% disconnected from the engine when the clutch is pressed, and they are 100% engaged when the clutch is not pressed.

In your automatic, if you have starter issues you are stuck until you get another starter. If your batteries are low, you are stuck until you can get a jump start. Using the batteries to power the starter to turn the engine over is the ONLY option you have to get the truck running.

A manual transmission can be pull started. If you're parked on a hill, you can release the brakes, start rolling down the hill, and bump start it.

Adverse conditions is another place manual transmissions shine in comparison to autos. You can put the manual transmission in any gear you choose to start out, whereas the computer will prevent you from attempting to start out in that automatic above a preset gear (usually 3rd). In the manual transmission, power application to the wheels can be controlled with the clutch. In automatic without a clutch, you have no control over how the power is applied to the wheels. If you are on slick roads and the drives break loose into a power slide, in a manual transmission you can press in on the clutch. Power ceases to be applied to the wheels and they begin to spin freely to find whatever traction might be available. You can also feather the throttle, and because the engine is directly connected to the drives through the transmission, you have a pretty good "feel" for what they are doing. You know with 100% certainty that while you are feathering the throttle trying to maintain/regain control over the slipping vehicle that the transmission will stay in gear. Not so with an automatic.

I could continue explaining the advantages the manual transmission holds over an automatic....and the only reason you have to praise the automatic is the lack of skill necessary to operate one. To me, though, that lack of skill needed to operate one is a disincentive for me to ever consider buying one.

 

Don't get me wrong , I like a manaual box, in fact it doesn't bother me which I drive but the new autos are so good, manuals are great but not every driver can use them properly, autos bridge that gap. Modern autos are so good that they are just a pleasure to drive, easy , reliable , safe, fast and everybody can achieve good fuel mileage ( great for the fleet owner) on top of that you finish your days work free from stress and relaxed, over here the top hp trucks are auto only! They will not sell you anything over 700 hp with a manual and given we are expecting an 800hp scania this year it's an auto for me! ( 800hp is pornography)

 

I run with a guy who's getting 850HP out of his 3406 kitty cat. He's got an 18 speed manual transmission that handles the power just fine.