Ta F-Reds,dcgpx and eagerbeaver
I really want to have play about with these beggers now. 
If you want to see something funny, go get someone who’s never driven a Renault auto and ask them to select drive, go forward a bit then put it in reverse.
Radar19:
Thats how it works in all auto’s. If you are slowing down to for a roundabout, lift off the brake and dab the gas pedal, that should prompt the computer is change down to a more suitable gear. Also, the pedal is pressure sensitive so if you slam the pedal to the floor the computer will jump multiple gears which creates a lot of lag but if you press it lightly then the computer will change up at a more civilised pace.If I floor my Renault then the box will rev the nuts off 4th gear then jump to 7th which is alright if you are empty but if you have some weight on then it causes problems as there is quite a delay for the box to find its way to 7th. However if I press it lightly then the box won’t rev as high which means there is a less of a gap between gear changes as it goes from 4th to 6th then to 8th etc.
All the clutch control is now done on your right foot. You can’t drive an auto like a manual and expect it to perform as such.
Perfect explanation. I meet a lot of experienced drivers that complain about the auto’s and don’t realise they just don’t know how to drive them. This is why I think it’s better a driver now learns in an auto as that is what he will likely drive … But the trainer needs to know what he’s doing as well. There’s a lot of ‘old school’ trainers out there who may be able to drive an ‘eaton whatever’ gear box but maybe don’t get the autos either.
Unfortunately it is progress and I reckon they have progressed amazingly in a relatively short period to the latest predictive/adaptive gearboxes linked to cruise etc where the truck is now making decisions in advance of the driver and thanks to gps possibly even knows things the driver doesn’t know such as what is round the next corner (downhill or uphill etc)
Fantastic stuff
A valid point. All our trainers had to “re-think” some of the training to allow for the idiosyncrasies of auto.
Pete 