If you already have a manual car driving license, you are eligible to drive an automatic car. Vehicles that drive themselves are new elderly people’s go-to-technology. It is often seen to be easier to drive an automatic car than a manual car, but how do you drive one? Actually, you are lowering the risk while you drive an automatic car. Shifting transmission and gears are minimized while you relax driving the automatic car. Usually, it’s a good practice for beginners to find electric cars for sale in san diego and drive automatic cars; however, the risk of collision is similar to manual ones.
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Simply put, as the vehicle gains acceleration, the automatic automatically changes the gear ratios. To explain the working principle of automatic transmission, we have a couple of tips you might find informative.
Before you start: Know how the gear stick works
It takes a few tests and trials to get used to the gearstick before you even turn the automatic car ignition. You’re just going to need to use a gear stick sometimes as you’re not going to hit the gearstick a lot in an automatic car. However, just keep holding the brake when you change gear as you would do with the clutch manually.
A couple of automatic gear transmissions are available in the latest cars; these include continuously variable transmissions, Conventional automatic gearboxes, Dual-clutch automatics, and automated manual gearboxes.
Most automatic gearboxes include selection between Park’ P,’ Reverse ‘R,’ Neutral ‘N,’ and Drive’ D.’
Park (P) – Putting a car in parking mode helps it to avoid rolling backwards or forwards at the parking lot. This mode locks the wheel that helps from slipping of the tires.
Reverse (R) – As the word suggests, reversing in the automatic car as well means going backwards.
Neutral (N) – Neutral comes in handy when a driver has to stop the vehicle without killing the engine, especially at lights and traffic. As on the electric car, keep using the hand brake so the wheel doesn’t roll.
Drive (D) – Drive mode in gear stick keeps the car moving forward. In the case of automatic cars, the gear shifts from first gear to second and second to third, and so on automatically.
Convention gear tips
- Stay in first gear while moving uphill
- Also, stay in second gear while moving uphill
- Increase gear while moving on the highway
- Sport (S) provides better acceleration
Don’t drive in slope area when in gear
Never ever drive a vehicle on a slope when it’s in gear; it takes overall control over the vehicle that might cause unforeseeable accidents. You can’t accelerate in the neutral mode when you go downhill; however, you can use the pedal to slow down the vehicle. Before going into Drive mode to start accelerating, you would need to first come to a stop, making it even more difficult downhill.
Automatic cars don’t have a clutch pedal
Forget about clutch pedals in automatic cars, but they do have gears that shift by themselves. These cars come just with an accelerator and brake pedal.
If you are driving an automatic car pioneering, you might get horrified to have lost two pedals. Worry not; it’s a convention to tuck your left foot behind the right foot while you ride on one, so you don’t falsely think of a clutch pedal.
Automatic cars move slowly
Gear your car to move forward or backwards, and it moves at an ideal speed in the direction, unlike the manual transmission car. The slow-moving car makes the driver comfortable to be holding the brake pedal while in traffic or lights. Also, you can use a handbrake or put the gear into Neutral (N) while you need to stop.
Using the automatic car in different road condition
You will instantly notice differences if you are new to automatic gear and transmission. Following mentioned are the road condition learners need to focus on:
- On highways – There is not much difference whether you drive a manual or automatic car on the highway; it’s a matter of staying on top gear on both driving conventions.
- In lights and traffic – Automatic cars perform great while you get stuck in lights and traffic as it offers a steady gear shift between neutral, first, second, and so on.
- On parking – Automatic cars move at an ideal speed; some find it useful while others may get annoyed.
- On the wet road – Stay in first or second gear while driving on a wet road. As there are not many clutches being slipped, it’s a good practice to stay in second gear and apply gentle brakes.
- On off-road – Manual driving is what seems to impress people. Still, automatic driving has got a considerable benefit when it comes to off-road driving since automatic cars tend to have a steady speed that works with less braking providing extra control and road grip.
Automatic cars performance degrades over time, unlike manual cars
It’s a reality that the performance of an automatic car performance degrades much faster than a manual car. With every day and week, the automatic car becomes better and better and provides a superior driving experience; however, manual cars are marginally fast. Moreover, the entry-level automatic car seems to perform below average.
No wonder automatic cars are best for beginners as they don’t have to focus too much on gear and transmission. It’s best to practice driving on automatic cars before hitting the busy road; it should not take long to get used to its convention.
Hop in the automatic car; the first thing you will notice driving on it is a breeze of air. Without needing to manually press on the clutch and find exact gear, driving in traffic, wet, and off-road feel easier on automatic cars. Driving an automatic car is a skill, and it’s not hard to attain.
