Automatics..for newbies..really???

I out lined the issue I have with them in my previous post...They were not too numerous but they were annoying and I don't like being annoyed.

Those were the same parameters that I had....That's a serious loss of control for me.

While upshift points are best in the lower RPM range for fuel economy the Jake brake works best at higher RPM and if I'm turning 1500 and decide to shift down to raise my RPM I don't really want to have to mess with getting the R's down before I shift only to have to bring them up again after the fact.

I'm pretty sure I know how to drive.

 

Control as in you have a computer deciding when its right to shift, not a driver.

 

So you have something more accurate and consistent than a human could ever be shifting? So in non terrain related driving and possibly navigating grades what is the exact downside?

I see a whole lot of waaaah from a lot of people about it, but beyond prejudicial bias and certain situations the supposed superiority of manuals is not supported by the data.

 

I work for USX and I don't have an auto. Also, what's a blind spot warning? Don't have one of those either.

 

I have to disagree with people saying autos are the wave of the future. They are more expensive and require more maintenance. The company I work for is moving away from autos.

 

We have a fleet of 2 freightshaker 10 spd manuals and 9 Mack autoshifts. Both frieghtshakers manuals have been rebuilt twice, in under 700K miles, both are on their 3rd clutch. Only three of the autoshifts have ever been rebuilt, two because of driver abuse, one because of a random failure of a gear. My previous autoshift had 978K on it when traded in, with the only trans service being a clutch/clutch brake replaced at 650K. Fluids are changed every 400K per recommendation of Eaton/Fuller. OH, and those daycabs are stop and go driving 5 days a week as well occasional trips in the mtns and the plains of Colorado, consistently at heavy loads. As for cost, well, we ordered 4 new trucks last week (due in May), the price of the autoshift vs. manual, $900 more per truck.

 

If your paying attention, there shouldn't be any difference.

I guess my final thought on this, as I'm tired of beating this horse. I realize all you old timers will never give up your manuals and some of you will never accept them. That's fine, I mean hell, at the turn of the last century people refused to accept that horses would be replaced by cars. Technology is a b***h and it catches up with you. But, what you need to realize is that manuals, autoshifts and automatices will always be around, but autoshifts and automatics are the wave of the future.

 

And this is bad why? The auto I drive shifts when I would shift a manual 99% of the time. That other 1%? Well half the time I simply have to reach down and bump the up or down button to make it shift. The other half of that 1% I might have to adjust my speed a few mph up or down to get it in range then I can hit the button and make it shift.

So that's half of 1% of the time I want it to do something it doesn't want to do and even then I only need to adjust my speed a bit. Boo effin' hoo.

Oh and then there's the driving on ice thing. Last week I had to fill in one day for a yard switcher job my company services. It had snowed pretty good the night before and the lot was an ice. Several of the trailers had frozen brakes that didn't want to release. What'd ya know? The auto did just fine rocking stuck trailers back and forth in very slick conditions to get them rolling. It was no problem at all. The lack of control argument is BS. Its just whiners whining and nothing more.

 

Nobody is whining, at the end of the day when I go home. I know I drove a truck....Not been driven by my truck. Some of us just enjoy doing more than holding a steering wheel. It's all personal choice.