#61
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BB standard
On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 21:32:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote:
On 6/27/2019 9:15 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 11:12:39 -0700, sms wrote: On 6/27/2019 9:59 AM, wrote: snip But they are all available with an AT but people, - feel manly to stick shift, - find AT too expensive, - don't know what they are missing and think AT are still slow and sluggish. If I simulate my manual shift from my driveway to the main road about 400 m away it would be: r-1-2-3-2-Corner-3-4-2-speedbump-2-3-4-2-speedbump-3-4-2-corner to main road 15 manual shift in only 400 meter. Crazy. Automatic transmission: choose sport setting or leaving the default comfort setting R-D done! Not disagreeing that an AT is a better choice. And for vehicles with a good AT it'll end up costing less because it'll last longer than a clutch replacement on an MT. But some vehicles have had problematic ATs i.e. Hondas from 1998 to 2004. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus I keep reading this about clutch replacement but I don't remember my folks ever having to change a clutch on any of their cars and my first car was a 1937 Chevrolet that I inherited when my folks bought a new car and it lasted me for two years before it died and I'm pretty sure that it still had the original clutch in it. Or, at least I know that my folks never changed the clutch and I certainly didn't. And my Grandfather had a Model A pickup that he drove for something like 20 years without a clutch change. Given that a good friends family had about a 1939 Chevrolet and they seemed to go through about one clutch a year I believe that clutch wear is largely a matter of the driver's technique and not a matter of some sort inherent weakness. -- cheers, John B. "largely a matter of the driver's technique" +1 The only time that I ever noticed having to slip the clutch very much was starting out on a hill where you needed to keep the car from rolling backward before you could get going. Brake, Clutch and throttle were hard to manage with only two feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJleJbn9G6Y :-) -- cheers, John B. |
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#62
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BB standard
On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 22:22:43 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote: On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 20:34:22 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/27/2019 6:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why? Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter. I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. I admit, I haven't looked into this deeply. But I know that transmission coolers are sold as accessories for automatic transmissions used in towing: https://www.aamcocolorado.com/what-y...ssion-coolers/ That gives me pause, especially with the warranty issue. Perhaps those coolers aren't quite as important in these days of locking torque converters, but my understanding is that they lock up only at cruising speed; so if I were towing slowly up a mountain, I'd think there would be a potential for transmission overheating. And we have towed this trailer over the Appalachians and Rockies many times. The Mazda is the fourth little car with which we've towed this same trailer, all with manual transmissions. (I've never owned an automatic.) None had any transmission problem, and only the last one, the Pontiac Vibe, ever had a clutch problem, a very slight occasional slip once it was 10+ years old. But since slipping clutches were a known issue with old Vibes, it probably had little or nothing to do with the towing. Regarding torque: There's always been enough to climb mountains, etc. even when the car towing this trailer was a 1985 Honda Civic. We just went up fairly slowly in a low gear. I the manual transmission didn't seem to care. I suspect an automatic trans might. All auto transmissions used to have a cooler as initially installed but I just went out and had a look at my wife's new Honda and while the engine compartment is pretty crowded I certainly can't see a transmission cooler so I assume that they are no longer necessary. Looking at the parts list there appears to be a "transmission warmer" though. -- cheers, John B. Browning had a so called automatic transmission for bicycles. I wonder how long it will be now that electronics are so small before a genuine automatic transmission will be available for bicycles? After all, we do have electronic shifting for bicycles that seems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Cheers Apparently someone has built one. See: http://evworld.com/urban.cfm?newsid=52 http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/nuvinc...cvt-test-ride/ -- cheers, John B. |
#63
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BB standard
On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 4:18:27 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 22:22:43 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 20:34:22 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/27/2019 6:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why? Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter. I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. I admit, I haven't looked into this deeply. But I know that transmission coolers are sold as accessories for automatic transmissions used in towing: https://www.aamcocolorado.com/what-y...ssion-coolers/ That gives me pause, especially with the warranty issue. Perhaps those coolers aren't quite as important in these days of locking torque converters, but my understanding is that they lock up only at cruising speed; so if I were towing slowly up a mountain, I'd think there would be a potential for transmission overheating. And we have towed this trailer over the Appalachians and Rockies many times. The Mazda is the fourth little car with which we've towed this same trailer, all with manual transmissions. (I've never owned an automatic.) None had any transmission problem, and only the last one, the Pontiac Vibe, ever had a clutch problem, a very slight occasional slip once it was 10+ years old. But since slipping clutches were a known issue with old Vibes, it probably had little or nothing to do with the towing. Regarding torque: There's always been enough to climb mountains, etc. even when the car towing this trailer was a 1985 Honda Civic. We just went up fairly slowly in a low gear. I the manual transmission didn't seem to care. I suspect an automatic trans might. All auto transmissions used to have a cooler as initially installed but I just went out and had a look at my wife's new Honda and while the engine compartment is pretty crowded I certainly can't see a transmission cooler so I assume that they are no longer necessary. Looking at the parts list there appears to be a "transmission warmer" though. -- cheers, John B. Browning had a so called automatic transmission for bicycles. I wonder how long it will be now that electronics are so small before a genuine automatic transmission will be available for bicycles? After all, we do have electronic shifting for bicycles that seems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Cheers Apparently someone has built one. See: http://evworld.com/urban.cfm?newsid=52 http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/nuvinc...cvt-test-ride/ -- cheers, John B. I'm not disabling my Adblock in order to read the first link. The second link is still a manual twist grip shifter. Cheers |
#64
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BB standard
On Fri, 28 Jun 2019 01:27:02 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote: On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 4:18:27 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 22:22:43 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 20:34:22 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/27/2019 6:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why? Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter. I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. I admit, I haven't looked into this deeply. But I know that transmission coolers are sold as accessories for automatic transmissions used in towing: https://www.aamcocolorado.com/what-y...ssion-coolers/ That gives me pause, especially with the warranty issue. Perhaps those coolers aren't quite as important in these days of locking torque converters, but my understanding is that they lock up only at cruising speed; so if I were towing slowly up a mountain, I'd think there would be a potential for transmission overheating. And we have towed this trailer over the Appalachians and Rockies many times. The Mazda is the fourth little car with which we've towed this same trailer, all with manual transmissions. (I've never owned an automatic.) None had any transmission problem, and only the last one, the Pontiac Vibe, ever had a clutch problem, a very slight occasional slip once it was 10+ years old. But since slipping clutches were a known issue with old Vibes, it probably had little or nothing to do with the towing. Regarding torque: There's always been enough to climb mountains, etc. even when the car towing this trailer was a 1985 Honda Civic. We just went up fairly slowly in a low gear. I the manual transmission didn't seem to care. I suspect an automatic trans might. All auto transmissions used to have a cooler as initially installed but I just went out and had a look at my wife's new Honda and while the engine compartment is pretty crowded I certainly can't see a transmission cooler so I assume that they are no longer necessary. Looking at the parts list there appears to be a "transmission warmer" though. -- cheers, John B. Browning had a so called automatic transmission for bicycles. I wonder how long it will be now that electronics are so small before a genuine automatic transmission will be available for bicycles? After all, we do have electronic shifting for bicycles that seems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Cheers Apparently someone has built one. See: http://evworld.com/urban.cfm?newsid=52 http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/nuvinc...cvt-test-ride/ -- cheers, John B. I'm not disabling my Adblock in order to read the first link. The second link is still a manual twist grip shifter. Cheers The first link was a description of the "automatic transmission" using a gear box and an SRM front hub generator. The second link was a link describing the gear box. They have manufactured 100 bikes using the system. -- cheers, John B. |
#66
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BB standard
On 6/28/2019 3:18 AM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 22:22:43 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 20:34:22 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/27/2019 6:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why? Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter. I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. I admit, I haven't looked into this deeply. But I know that transmission coolers are sold as accessories for automatic transmissions used in towing: https://www.aamcocolorado.com/what-y...ssion-coolers/ That gives me pause, especially with the warranty issue. Perhaps those coolers aren't quite as important in these days of locking torque converters, but my understanding is that they lock up only at cruising speed; so if I were towing slowly up a mountain, I'd think there would be a potential for transmission overheating. And we have towed this trailer over the Appalachians and Rockies many times. The Mazda is the fourth little car with which we've towed this same trailer, all with manual transmissions. (I've never owned an automatic.) None had any transmission problem, and only the last one, the Pontiac Vibe, ever had a clutch problem, a very slight occasional slip once it was 10+ years old. But since slipping clutches were a known issue with old Vibes, it probably had little or nothing to do with the towing. Regarding torque: There's always been enough to climb mountains, etc. even when the car towing this trailer was a 1985 Honda Civic. We just went up fairly slowly in a low gear. I the manual transmission didn't seem to care. I suspect an automatic trans might. All auto transmissions used to have a cooler as initially installed but I just went out and had a look at my wife's new Honda and while the engine compartment is pretty crowded I certainly can't see a transmission cooler so I assume that they are no longer necessary. Looking at the parts list there appears to be a "transmission warmer" though. -- cheers, John B. Browning had a so called automatic transmission for bicycles. I wonder how long it will be now that electronics are so small before a genuine automatic transmission will be available for bicycles? After all, we do have electronic shifting for bicycles that seems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Cheers Apparently someone has built one. See: http://evworld.com/urban.cfm?newsid=52 http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/nuvinc...cvt-test-ride/ -- cheers, John B. Nuvinci are CVT=infinite step not an actual auto. http://www.yellowjersey.org/NUVINCI.JPG -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#67
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BB standard
John B. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 21:32:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote: On 6/27/2019 9:15 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 11:12:39 -0700, sms wrote: On 6/27/2019 9:59 AM, wrote: snip But they are all available with an AT but people, - feel manly to stick shift, - find AT too expensive, - don't know what they are missing and think AT are still slow and sluggish. If I simulate my manual shift from my driveway to the main road about 400 m away it would be: r-1-2-3-2-Corner-3-4-2-speedbump-2-3-4-2-speedbump-3-4-2-corner to main road 15 manual shift in only 400 meter. Crazy. Automatic transmission: choose sport setting or leaving the default comfort setting R-D done! Not disagreeing that an AT is a better choice. And for vehicles with a good AT it'll end up costing less because it'll last longer than a clutch replacement on an MT. But some vehicles have had problematic ATs i.e. Hondas from 1998 to 2004. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus I keep reading this about clutch replacement but I don't remember my folks ever having to change a clutch on any of their cars and my first car was a 1937 Chevrolet that I inherited when my folks bought a new car and it lasted me for two years before it died and I'm pretty sure that it still had the original clutch in it. Or, at least I know that my folks never changed the clutch and I certainly didn't. And my Grandfather had a Model A pickup that he drove for something like 20 years without a clutch change. Given that a good friends family had about a 1939 Chevrolet and they seemed to go through about one clutch a year I believe that clutch wear is largely a matter of the driver's technique and not a matter of some sort inherent weakness. -- cheers, John B. "largely a matter of the driver's technique" +1 The only time that I ever noticed having to slip the clutch very much was starting out on a hill where you needed to keep the car from rolling backward before you could get going. Brake, Clutch and throttle were hard to manage with only two feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJleJbn9G6Y :-) -- cheers, John B. In smaller vehicles, with hand operated parking brakes, it’s not a big deal. |
#68
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BB standard
On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 5:29:13 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 6/27/2019 9:31 PM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 16:01:34 -0700, sms wrote: On 6/27/2019 3:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why? Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter. I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. True. And one of the reasons there are no manual transmission trucks sold in the U.S. anymore. The only reason for a manual is off-road driving in low gear. You can still buy a Jeep Wrangler with a manual, in fact not sure if they even offer an automatic. "no manual transmission trucks sold in the U.S. anymore" See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZKajOTa4Gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6GpCqj1REo -- cheers, John B. First link, second comment: "I wish the engine brake actually did something when I’m loaded. It does absolutely nothing. I really dislike this transmission" I think the guy is complaining about the compression braking, which is tied to the transmission. See https://www.truckingtruth.com/trucke...-peterbilt-579 These folks seem to conflate engine braking with compression braking. Manual transmissions give you more control going up and down hill, but the AT on my Subaru, for example, gives you the option of manual shifting which helps mitigate the spastic CVT. I did a lot of towing with my old 5sp 4Runner, and backing a loaded trailer up hill and making a 90 degree turn into my driveway was a clutch burner. It's easier with the Subaru except that the Subaru is under-powered, and the hatch back is a blind-spot. The 1996 4Runner was like a terrarium by comparison, although later models were less so. And for John B, yes clutches burn out. On the 4Runner, it has gone through one clutch in 24 years -- which my son burned out in the middle of nowhere Oregon on his way home from Utah. He struggled into Baker City, spent the night in a hotel while some guy at a place called Grumpy's put in a clutch. http://www.grumpysrepair.com/ Not cheap, but at least we added to the Baker City economy. He fries the clutch in SLC with all the hills and stops and clutch-slipping. -- Jay Beattie. |
#69
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BB standard
On 6/28/2019 1:22 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 20:34:22 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/27/2019 6:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why? Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter. I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. I admit, I haven't looked into this deeply. But I know that transmission coolers are sold as accessories for automatic transmissions used in towing: https://www.aamcocolorado.com/what-y...ssion-coolers/ That gives me pause, especially with the warranty issue. Perhaps those coolers aren't quite as important in these days of locking torque converters, but my understanding is that they lock up only at cruising speed; so if I were towing slowly up a mountain, I'd think there would be a potential for transmission overheating. And we have towed this trailer over the Appalachians and Rockies many times. The Mazda is the fourth little car with which we've towed this same trailer, all with manual transmissions. (I've never owned an automatic.) None had any transmission problem, and only the last one, the Pontiac Vibe, ever had a clutch problem, a very slight occasional slip once it was 10+ years old. But since slipping clutches were a known issue with old Vibes, it probably had little or nothing to do with the towing. Regarding torque: There's always been enough to climb mountains, etc. even when the car towing this trailer was a 1985 Honda Civic. We just went up fairly slowly in a low gear. I the manual transmission didn't seem to care. I suspect an automatic trans might. All auto transmissions used to have a cooler as initially installed but I just went out and had a look at my wife's new Honda and while the engine compartment is pretty crowded I certainly can't see a transmission cooler so I assume that they are no longer necessary. Looking at the parts list there appears to be a "transmission warmer" though. -- cheers, John B. Browning had a so called automatic transmission for bicycles. I wonder how long it will be now that electronics are so small before a genuine automatic transmission will be available for bicycles? After all, we do have electronic shifting for bicycles that seems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Seems to me that automatic bicycle transmissions might possibly work for leisurely riders who avoid any physical challenges - that is, the kind that ride only on bike paths or around their neighborhoods, and never with any significant loads. I can't imagine they'd do well with people who sometimes want to cruise slowly, sometimes want to stand to charge a hill, sometimes want to spin at high cadence, sometimes carry a heavy load, etc. But even for leisurely riders - why? With a hub gear or an index shifting 1x system, if you want it easier, you click once one way. If you want it harder, you click the other way. What could be easier? Why complicate? -- - Frank Krygowski |
#70
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BB standard
On 6/28/2019 8:34 AM, AMuzi wrote:
On 6/28/2019 3:18 AM, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 22:22:43 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Friday, June 28, 2019 at 1:00:32 AM UTC-4, John B. wrote: On Thu, 27 Jun 2019 20:34:22 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/27/2019 6:00 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:47:46 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 6/26/2019 5:26 PM, wrote: Â*Â* I see no reason today for manual shifting except for sentimental reasons and that it is cheaper (2000 -3000 euro's). Modern automatic transmission outperform manual shifting in every way, at least the one I'm driving now. Here's my situation: We drive a Mazda 3. We have a tiny pop-up camping trailer. It weighs only 750 pounds empty. The Mazda's stated towing capacity is zero, although I've been told that if I had bought the exact same vehicle in Europe, it's towing capacity would be listed as 500 kg, which is plenty. I put a trailer hitch on this car as soon as I got it, and we've towed the trailer as far as Nova Scotia. I knew I was violating the warranty, but I judged it worth the risk. If the car had an automatic transmission, I don't know if I'd make that same judgement. Why?Â*Â* Towing trailers in hilly terrain is a clutch killer, and typically cars with ATs have higher towing capacity than the same model with a MT because of the AT torque converter.Â* I don't see why having a MT would make you feel more positive about towing -- particularly on a car that probably has a pretty low-torque first gear since it is just a family sedan and not a truck. I admit, I haven't looked into this deeply. But I know that transmission coolers are sold as accessories for automatic transmissions used in towing: https://www.aamcocolorado.com/what-y...ssion-coolers/ Â* That gives me pause, especially with the warranty issue. Perhaps those coolers aren't quite as important in these days of locking torque converters, but my understanding is that they lock up only at cruising speed; so if I were towing slowly up a mountain, I'd think there would be a potential for transmission overheating. And we have towed this trailer over the Appalachians and Rockies many times. The Mazda is the fourth little car with which we've towed this same trailer, all with manual transmissions. (I've never owned an automatic.) None had any transmission problem, and only the last one, the Pontiac Vibe, ever had a clutch problem, a very slight occasional slip once it was 10+ years old. But since slipping clutches were a known issue with old Vibes, it probably had little or nothing to do with the towing. Regarding torque: There's always been enough to climb mountains, etc. even when the car towing this trailer was a 1985 Honda Civic. We just went up fairly slowly in a low gear. I the manual transmission didn't seem to care. I suspect an automatic trans might. All auto transmissions used to have a cooler as initially installed but I just went out and had a look at my wife's new Honda and while the engine compartment is pretty crowded I certainly can't see a transmission cooler so I assume that they are no longer necessary. Looking at the parts list there appears to be a "transmission warmer" though. -- cheers, John B. Browning had a so called automatic transmission for bicycles. I wonder how long it will be now that electronics are so small before a genuine automatic transmission will be available for bicycles? After all, we do have electronic shifting for bicycles that seems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Cheers Apparently someone has built one. See: http://evworld.com/urban.cfm?newsid=52 http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/nuvinc...cvt-test-ride/ -- cheers, John B. Nuvinci are CVT=infinite step not an actual auto. http://www.yellowjersey.org/NUVINCI.JPG IIRC, the NuVinci is pretty inefficient. Lots more energy lost inside the box than with typical gears. -- - Frank Krygowski |
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