Autos vs Manual transmissions

Now if they can just get rid of that really annoying steering wheel.

 

I get 6.5 all day in my 10 speed doing 70 with no aero skirts and and crap like that.

This is at 80k in a flat top Volvo with a 480 horse d13.

How much are these megas getting to make their drivers drive clown trucks?

 

Auto's do have their purpose. For instance, many gravel hauling fleets around here are moving to automatics. Heavy loads in often difficult terrain, and in the busy city all day long, are proving the worth of the automatic from an employers point of view. And to be honest, having done this work with both, automatics ARE better. Even dumping is easier, when they expect you to spread a perfect load on a hill.

I still like my 18 speed manual for this work, and for highway work would certainly prefer a manual, but times are changing...

Too many dummies have burnt out clutches, and prematurely worn out gears, as well as shock-loading the drive-line.

 

I won't be visiting. I have a brand new 13 speed manual. I won't drive autos

 

To me the biggest liability to a auto is the problem that comes in when you never shut down as a team. The transmission we had (Rockwell-Meritor I think..) needed 1 hour engine off every 6 days to dump buffer.

It bricks like a windoz computer and kills the truck requiring a rotator or heavy wrecker to drag it back to the shop to be pretty much reinstalled. It happened to us twice, and totally destroyed the appointment JIT potential for those two loads. Expenses piled fast on those.

 

'The auto gets better fuel economy then the manual argument' is a bit of a scam. A little slick advertising that has the brain dead masses in the trucking office, and the window lickers on the road, thinking they know something about something, when the they don't know ####.

The claim to the automated manual's fuel economy is not because it is more efficient; It isn't. The automated manual claims a fleet (not any one driver) will get better fuel economy because the automatic will factor out the bad drivers: the drivers that can't shift. So if you can't shift, or are in a fleet that cannot shift, getting automated manuals will get you better fuel economy. Duh!

So, if you are one of the drivers that get better fuel economy with an automatic; we know who you are.

If you are parroting how great the automatics are, we also know who you are.

 

A GOOD driver with a manual will beat an auto-shift, but there aren’t too many good drivers.
I have an auto-shift. It sucks on the low end, doesn’t progressive shift. revs the heck out of the engine up to 2,200 rpm , will sit there for three or four seconds before it decides to up shift if you start out in a gear that it doesn’t like. It always wants to start in third, but when I’m grossing 140,000 lbs on a hill at stop, that’s not the right gear.
Then it lugs the engine up shifting in the top three gears.
I could definitely beat it.

 

2200? Not acceptable.

The auto I had would shift at about 1550 with a S60 500+ hp detroit in a 2001 freightliner century, #### thing always has me reaching for a stick that isnt there when it's time to shift. It was that well tuned.

 

It's not an important consideration, IMO. Your first truck wiil be your new normal after a week, even if it has buttons & dials rather than a steering wheel.

 

I could see the auto's getting better if they have 12 gears. Vs. 10. They will probably be getting more gears in teh future. Cars are already coming out with 9 and 10 speed auto. With the gooberment choking their necks for better fuel economy.

They've had 6 speeds for awhile now. They've eliminated power steering and switched over to electric steering. There's no more pumps or shafts. They've shut down the alternators to only charge when needed. They've added auto shut down when sitting at idle. Engine starts up when foot comes off brake pedal. I"m not sure on the braking system if it's electric or not. Engines are getting smaller and turbos added but don't function unless it's needed. I have a 17 chevrolet cruze. Best fuel economy car i've ever owned. But I"m not happy about the electronics. Last thing i want is to be driving through the mountains and the steering quits working. Or to be sitting at a traffic light and the car won't start. It's a direct injection system. Soon, there won't be a starter motor anymore.