newmercman:
just fitted some fancy cross drilled and slotted bad boys on my Charger, however I’m not silly enough to touch them after they’ve been used, so I’ll have to buy my own beer
Go on, rub it in why don’t you, do i think Charger is the dogs ■■■■■■■■, me jealous?..
We have to get an estate or something similar in due course, otherwise i had me heart set on a Caddy STS the few of which post 09 models here are among the best bargains i’ve ever seen in cars, mind you £470 VED to a corrupt regime goes against the grain.
Get an STS they’re brilliant cars. If you can afford to put fuel in one the ved is nothing.
Driven like it’s stolen you’ll be looking at 17mpg
Cruising at ermmm “track” speeds though close to 30
I know this is a bit off thread,sorry but I couldn’t resist it.This just opened in our village " The Crow’s new roosting place".Plenty of crumbs to peck at here Geoff!!
Get an STS they’re brilliant cars. If you can afford to put fuel in one the ved is nothing.
Driven like it’s stolen you’ll be looking at 17mpg
Cruising at ermmm “track” speeds though close to 30
Its not the fuel cost, cos unless the car turns out to be direct injection i’ll again LPG convert any proper petrol car i buy in the forseeable future anyway.
Having long ago realised feeding the monster that is the EU govt (our present regime(s) becoming increasingly irrelevent) being the fastest route to our own national destruction i simply can’t bring myself to pay the swine any more in tax than i have to…on the other hand if i spend it then there’s less for the swine to get their sweaty mitts on when i kick the bucket should we be over death duties limit, and at least i get to enjoy it and upset a few sandal wearers to boot, which is always a bonus…
I think the 09 on STS is a cracker, i liked the facelift CTS from 09 too, but the bigger car just has that draw.
There’s always the rare 300c estate with the hemi too.
i’m ignoring bloody NMM…him and his no road tax bloody Charger, go on give it a twist will yer its not far enough in yet…
Well Juddian that’s partly my theory too. They’re gonna get it off you one way or the other so part with it in a manner that makes you smile Pound for pound they are better value in terms of trim, power and running costs than the Germans et al. Overall running costs tbh are good. Parts are dirt cheap, compared again to the equivelant sized euro motor. The only slight downside with the big one is the size when parking it. On the rare occasion my good lady finds the keys and takes it to Sainsburys she parks in a mother and child “wide” bay
You can LPG them afaik
Will you be painting the non friction hub area?, i always do that, and the calipers mind you my cars years old, both in black Hammerite, hate seeing rusty disc centres through nice wheels, would set that automotive ■■■■ off a treat.
Sounds like transport men talking not the devils in Health and Safety coats. But I still think there is a place for them (auto’s) and I,m not talking about the scrapheap!
fly sheet:
After a visit to the workshop today I was told no more I shifts due to expense & downtime. Hallelujah common sense prevails…
Liking the crows bar tony…
I wouldn’t count your chikens Coop,like schwarzenegger,“they’ll be back” sooner or later.Someone asked the question about the Crow and his padlocked wallet “why do they make 50 pence pieces 7 sided”?Answer “so that you can get them out of the Crow’s claw with a spanner”
Hi, All,
As previously mentioned on this thread I have spent a few years driving mainly auto - box (I-Shift mainly along with MAN’s version) trucks. For the past few weeks I have been on a manual box truck (Scania ), but today I was back on an auto.
I didn’t miss not having a gear stick to play with and having to be aware of “right gear at the right time” policy. I just sat back and let the gadgetry do it’s job ,intervening when I thought I could improve things and I got out of the truck at the end of the shift feeling no different to when I got out of a manual .
The point I am trying to make is if I can adapt, so can others if they are willing to find out what the truck can do and use what the truck offers , both in manual and auto versions.
That is very true Bassman, adapt being the operative word
However, far too often a small glitch in the software makes these autoshifts a total PITA and all the benefits of them disappear
In some operations, namely the OP’s they are totally unecessary too
I feel the same as the OP, in my job it’s just another complication I don’t need, but I got stuck in a 3hr traffic jam, stop start for every minute of those 3hrs and I would have loved to have an autoshift that day
Bassman:
Hi, All,
As previously mentioned on this thread I have spent a few years driving mainly auto - box (I-Shift mainly along with MAN’s version) trucks. For the past few weeks I have been on a manual box truck (Scania ), but today I was back on an auto.
I didn’t miss not having a gear stick to play with and having to be aware of “right gear at the right time” policy. I just sat back and let the gadgetry do it’s job ,intervening when I thought I could improve things and I got out of the truck at the end of the shift feeling no different to when I got out of a manual .
The point I am trying to make is if I can adapt, so can others if they are willing to find out what the truck can do and use what the truck offers , both in manual and auto versions.
Cheers Bassman
Why should anyone have to ‘adapt’ when it should be a matter of choice.Most of the argument seems to be a one sided one in which those with a preference,or at least no issues,with being given an auto in whatever form,then want everyone else to follow that view wether they agree with it or not.Whereas that same lot would moan,if those who choose the manual option,in preference,then tried to say the same thing regarding those drivers who prefer an auto.
As such they should be able to drive whatever they’re given
This whole thread is about people’s opinions of autoshifts, some like them, some don’t, but everyone who has posted has an opinion one way or the other, everyone apart from you has experioence on which to base their opinions too
One other thing to consider is that opinions are like ■■■■■■■■■■ everyone’s got one
Nmm, Mark I suppose that this thread is going to ramble on much like the Gardner. To be fair to every one it looks like auto boxes are here to stay certainly in Europe. going off what Cooperman says they seem to be about as popular as a dose of clap in the States and Canada. Take that to its logical conclusion initially no cure for clap and pox nowadays sorted so it follows that some gear box doctor will eventually get it right. I must confess that my foray over the Blanc with my 2 pedal F89 was aproblem to begin with but i soon adapted to not having a clutch as Greek said forward planning was essential but a 3 hour traffic jam would have been something else solution park up and do it at night, no traffic.Of course nobody in his right mind would drive without a clutch pedal nowadays and there you have your answer CF auto box because when it won t go the problem is taken out of your hands Main dealer with reassuringly expensive recovery charges and colossaly astronomic repair bills, what to do, simple as the Meerkat says don t become an OD and if you do don t buy a 2nd hand auto box vehicle, regards to all Crow.
I think you could be right Geoff about this thread going on and on,i think most drivers can adapt to the autos ,its just some of us dont like them for 1 reason or another.i drive a 6 x 4 Daf 460 and try where possible to keep the needle in the green obviously off road its quite difficult but on normal terrain easy but im still only getting 5.5 mpg out of it ,we hired a MAN 6 x 4 auto and as ive mentioned on here before it had a mind of its own ,trying to keep it in the green was a job in itself.No matter which way i drove it ,it would change up in its own time so constantly i was flicking it up myself which to me (and before anyone as a go this is my opinion),whats the point.I know with a manual i dont even look at the rev counter i just change up automatically .We are usually running at top weight and leaving our loading point consists of a dual carriageway with several sets of lights which when i`m approaching seem to favour red .Its uphill all the way out and as ive said before i could feather the throttle or push it hard ,it still only changed up at high revs or not at all prompting me to override it .So constantly monitoring how it drives seems more taxing than a manual you can change by ear ,when they have perfected them no doubt they will be a good thing but in my opinion at the moment they are a long way off apart from the i shift
newmercman:
I’ll tell you why drivers need to adapt
Because they’re drivers
As such they should be able to drive whatever they’re given
This whole thread is about people’s opinions of autoshifts, some like them, some don’t, but everyone who has posted has an opinion one way or the other, everyone apart from you has experioence on which to base their opinions too
One other thing to consider is that opinions are like [zb], everyone’s got one
No one is arguing about anyone else’s opinion.However in this case it seems to be one of just because some drivers prefer to drive an I shift or Allison or whatever (why who knows ) they then think everyone else should like them too.Which applies to most auto fans even in the case of cars let alone trucks.I’ve lost count of the amount of drivers who agree with the idea of manufacturers like Jaguar dropping the manual option since the late 1970’s let alone truck drivers today wanting the same thing to happen in the case of trucks.You can also bet that they’re the first ones to ask the question ‘why’ when you tell them that the auto has been thrown where it belongs in the skip and the thing has been converted to manual.Which is when I tell them put in two for sale adverts one for a converted manual Jag and one for an auto and see which one sells first and for more and then ask yourself ‘why’.
My argument is the one about choice in which guvnors should be all about making the job better for their employees in the case of employed drivers although there’s plenty of owner drivers who’ve started up mostly exactly for that reason because their guvnor took that attitude of drivers should drive what they’re given.In this case it’s all about the auto box techno freaks wanting to force their choice on everyone else not vice versa and you can bet that they’d be the first ones to moan if it was a case of vice versa.
Although your post there seems to contradict this one here which seems to agree with fly sheet in one case and not in the other .
Carryfast, I’ve tried to put a balanced argument over. I admit that there is a case for an autoshift in certain operations, but they are not a one size fits all
I would like the convenience of one if I was in traffic all day, but out on the open road, it’s easy enough to throw a stick every once in a while, so they’re an unecessary extravegance
They also add more complication to a lorry, in the right operation this complication can be traded off against the protection they provide to the driveline and the better fuel returns from the lowest common denominator steering wheel attendants
So, would I want/have an autoshift
If I was in traffic all the time, an emphatic YES, on long haul, NO, if I was running a couple of trucks of my own, NO, if I was running a large fleet, YES
newmercman:
Carryfast, I’ve tried to put a balanced argument over. I admit that there is a case for an autoshift in certain operations, but they are not a one size fits all
I would like the convenience of one if I was in traffic all day, but out on the open road, it’s easy enough to throw a stick every once in a while, so they’re an unecessary extravegance
They also add more complication to a lorry, in the right operation this complication can be traded off against the protection they provide to the driveline and the better fuel returns from the lowest common denominator steering wheel attendants
So, would I want/have an autoshift
If I was in traffic all the time, an emphatic YES, on long haul, NO, if I was running a couple of trucks of my own, NO, if I was running a large fleet, YES
Horses for courses old chap
But there’s an obvious contradiction there in the case of large fleets doing long haul work.
Therefore if fly sheet is unlucky enough to be working for a large fleet then it looks like he’ll have to put up with it on that basis regardless of what type of work it is.Which just leaves the question of wether you’re working for a ‘large fleet’ and if so would mean that you’ve just voted yourself into an auto the same as fly sheet and the 18 speed fuller is toast.
Large fleets would be foolish not to have autoshifts
If you look at things in the manner in which they really work. Like in the real world You’ll find that there are lot of drivers who don’t give a toss about the lorry, or how to get the best out of it, so in a big fleet you’ll get quite a few of them, they’ll do their job and get the freight delivered, but to maximise profit and minimise downtime, you take as much control away from them as possible, enter the autoshift
You may have drivers that can handle a manual transmission and that do care about the lorry and getting the best from it, but the extra you earn from them will not put a dent in what you lose from the others, so they all get an autoshift
) they then think everyone else should like them too.Which applies to most auto fans even in the case of cars let alone trucks.I’ve lost count of the amount of drivers who agree with the idea of manufacturers like Jaguar dropping the manual option since the late 1970’s let alone truck drivers today wanting the same thing to happen in the case of trucks.You can also bet that they’re the first ones to ask the question ‘why’ when you tell them that the auto has been thrown where it belongs in the skip and the thing has been converted to manual.Which is when I tell them put in two for sale adverts one for a converted manual Jag and one for an auto and see which one sells first and for more and then ask yourself ‘why’. 
.