Automatic cars are easier and smoother to drive than cars with a manual gearbox - but
they are not foolproof! The car manufacturers fit many safety features to modern cars to
stop us doing something silly, but depending on the car you have it still might be possible
to accidentally damage it or put ourselves in danger. In this video we will show you
how NOT to drive an automatic car, and also how to enjoy driving as smoothly and safely
as possible.
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We shouldn’t press the brake and accelerator pedals at the same time, before releasing
the brake pedal to pull away. This is because the extra engine power puts a lot of force
into the gearbox that can accelerate its wear or even cause it to fail altogether. For this
reason, many newer cars prevent this method of pulling away, by disabling the accelerator
whilst the brake is pressed.
If we need to pull away quickly, such as when we are at a busy junction - then we release
the foot brake fully before pressing the accelerator. The car will still pull away quickly, but
without putting any extra strain on the gearbox.
We must never select Park on the gear selector before the car has stopped. We didn’t even
want to film this one, because selecting Park instantly locks the transmission, which will
stop the car very suddenly! If we are unlucky it might even cause damage to the gearbox,
so we always wait for the car to fully stop before selecting Park.
Another thing we shouldn’t do is to press the accelerator to increase the engine revs,
then select Drive to move away. This is because the extra engine power will put a sudden load
into the car’s torque converter or clutch system - which will increase wear.
We should always select Drive before pressing the accelerator, to protect our gearbox and
move away smoothly.
Don’t shift from Drive to Reverse (or Reverse to Drive) before the car has fully stopped.
This is because the gearbox will have to stop the car before it reverses - which might be
jerky for your passengers, and will put extra load on the gearbox.
We should always use the brakes to stop the car, before selecting reverse - as brakes
are designed for this purpose and are far cheaper to replace than a gearbox.
It is dangerous to select Neutral and roll down hills - as this can reduce the control
we have over the car, and could even damage the car’s gearbox. Selecting neutral allows
the car to freewheel, and roll faster and faster down a hill - forcing us to use the
brakes much harder than normal to keep the car at a safe speed.
Keeping Drive selected when driving down hills provides a little ‘engine braking’ to
help keep the car speed in control. Some car manuals specifically state that they should
not be towed with Neutral selected, as it may cause damage to the gearbox - so coasting
down hills should also be avoided for this reason.
Most automatic cars allow you to manually select lower gears, for when extra engine
braking is needed down steep hills. It might be fun to control the gear selection manually,
however we should avoid using low gears during normal driving as it will increase fuel consumption
significantly. The car will always choose the most efficient gear for the current driving
speed, so it is very rare that we will need to take manual control.
If we need extra engine power to get up to speed quickly or overtake slower traffic,
then it is more efficient to use the gearboxes ‘kick down’ function. To use this, we
quickly press the accelerator pedal all the way down - and the gearbox will then change
to a lower gear automatically to give us the power we need. Then, once we lift off the
accelerator the car will change back to the normal gear for that speed for maximum efficiency.
So remember to; Always press one foot pedal at a time
Stop the car before selecting Park Select Drive before pressing the accelerator,
and… Don’t use Neutral when the car is moving
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