Semi-Automatic? Advice please!

Hi all, looking for some advice please. I passed my driving test in April (2015) and since then have never really enjoyed driving, I have suffered with driving anxiety and although it has improved a lot over the last few months I still feel incredibly anxious before I drive, I've never really enjoyed it and I will only really drive to and from work, I don't feel comfortable driving to go shopping etc. I've never really understood why, I am confident with my driving ability, I think one of the main issues is when I do get anxious/nervous driving my leg shakes. I currently drive a manual, and the leg that shakes is my clutch leg which makes it very very difficult.

Although I am not enjoying driving at all now, I haven't given up because I'm in no way a bad driver and it is handy but when I do change my car in the next couple of months (insurance on my manual KA runs out beginning of April) I am really swaying towards an automatic of some sort.

I like the idea of semi-automatics where I'm not stressing about the clutch but I can still have some control of the gears if I wanted to, but I've seen some really negative reviews about the car struggling, 'kangarooing' from being stopped at lights/roundabouts and also not being able to hold itself on hills. I know people only tend to write reviews if they are negative though...!

If I didn't do semi-auto I'd probably still want to go full auto, I'm hoping that without my mind focussing on the anxiety and the clutch that I'll be able to drive longer distances but the cars I like the look of (don't want anything too big) seem to be semi-auto - mostly the Peugeot 108 or 107 and Toyota Aygo. I am always driving at rush hour in town centre traffic so a small city car is perfect but I don't want to be kangarooing along!!

Any help would be appreciated, thanks :smile:

Reply 1

chrissmith95

Semi-automatics are normally just automatics with a mode that allows the driver to change the gear. So you will likely really be buying an automatic, in which case, you will probably just end up using it in automatic mode most of the time anyway.

As for the kangooring etc and the quality of automatic gearboxes, it really depends on the car. Typically German and other premium cars have automatic gearboxes that are much more capable. Some automatic gearboxes can be pretty crap and get stuck in gears/ not select the right gear when you start to climb hills etc.

Reply 2

TheMcSame

Original post by chrissmith95

not select the right gear when you start to climb hills etc.

An auto will do what you tell it, be it knowingly or unknowingly. Just because it's an auto doesn't mean you no longer have nothing to do with the gears.

You have to give it hints as to what you want it to do. An auto doesn't know what the road ahead is like, if you don't give it hints it'll just go with what it's got. Press down enough on the gas pedal and you'll activate the kick-down function, this is the hint you need to give it, it'll downshift in response to your request for more power.

Some autos handle hills better than others, no doubt about that, but overall, when it comes to it 'selecting the wrong gears', the vast majority of the time it's down to user error. Autos are not quite as simple to drive as people make them out to be if you want to drive one properly.

Reply 3

bethbee

Original post by TheMcSame

Thank you for your reply. I'm hoping that as manual driver now and the fact it'll take a little while to get used to not having a clutch (as much as it frustrates me now!) that this won't be much of an issue for me as I know when I'd normally give the car more gas to then change up gears!