Essential Tips For Beginners On Driving Automatic Cars

If you want to focus more on other things than on the gear and clutch, the automatic cars will be your best choice. In the traditional manual transmission, you need to operate the clutch and gear. But, in automatic cars, you don’t have to do it. If you are a beginner, the following essential tips will make you perfect in driving automatic cars.

Essential Tips For Beginners On Driving Automatic Cars 1. Gear Lever Layout2. Selection of Park (P) Feature3. Changing Direction4. Throttling On In Drive5. Avoid Selecting Neutral at the Lights6. Kick-Down7. Slowing Down and Stopping8. Practice

1. Gear Lever Layout

The letter P marks “Park.” You should use this gear for parking and for locking the transmission when your car is stopped. R stands for Reverse, same as in a manual gearbox. The layout D denotes Drive which you should use for forwarding gear setting. 2 is 2^nd gear, and one stands for the 1^st gear. In the automatic transmission, the gear will sense the speed and gradient and adjusts itself automatically, without having the need to put the gear.

However, if you are going downhill, your car will change to a higher gear by sensing a higher speed. Since this is not required, you need to select the lower gear; 2^nd or 1^st, manually, to control speed while going in heavy traffic or uphill.

2. Selection of Park (P) Feature

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Never select ‘Park’ until your car comes to a complete halt, lest it damages your transmission. You can use your brake for that. If you use the parking pawl to check the weight of your moving car, it may cause breakage of the fragment circulating throughout.

Therefore, use the foot brakes by setting the parking brake which is also known as a handbrake. For this, select ‘Park’ on your transmission and release the foot brakes while parking the car.

3. Changing Direction

Allow your car to come to a complete stop before you change the direction. Only then, you should shift from Drive to Reverse and the vice versa. By using the foot brakes, allow the car to stop completely before you select the opposing ratio. If you rely on your transmission for this, you will damage the bands and clutches.

4. Throttling On In Drive

If you want your car to move from a standstill position, first allow your car to roll with a light throttle pressure before you apply maximum power. Similarly, never reverse your car in neutral before you select ‘Drive.' You can use the brake and throttle simultaneously and release the brake for having a faster start.

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5. Avoid Selecting Neutral at the Lights

If you select the Neutral at the lights, the torque converter will stop the drive of the engine to the transmission. Putting pressure on the moving parts will damage them extensively.

6. Kick-Down

While driving, if you want to overtake another car, you may require putting quick acceleration to your car. You can select a lower gear in the manual transmission. But, in an automatic car, you can get his changing down of gear by an action called kick-down. You have to press the accelerator pedal sharply, right down.

This action provides more power required for accelerating. After the need for power is over, release the accelerator. Your car changes the gears up, again.

7. Slowing Down and Stopping

You should remember that an automatic gearbox responds easily compared to manual. For slowing down your car, change your right foot from the accelerator pedal to brake. Apply the brake sooner in a more progressive manner. The transmission works its way down, automatically, to the gears.

The advantage is that at junctions, you can put your attention on safety instead of on changing the gear. For avoiding creeping, keep your foot on your brake.

8. Practice

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You can perfect yourself in driving an automatic car by consistent practice. As with the manual transmission, every experience of your driving will add to the perfectness in driving your automatic car.

You can add immensely to your driving experience if you have knowledge about varying aspects of Manual V/s. Automatic cars.

Although cars with automatic transmission are finding preference from the new generation drivers, the manual cars enjoy the favor of many drivers because of the following facts:

• Suiting to Budget Purchase: If you are going to purchase a car on a budget, the manual car will be your best option. Your objective then is money first and facilities and advantages next. Even for the same model of car, you can get a manual car, for a thousand dollars less, compared to the automatic car.
• Less Maintenance Cost: The automatic cars have more advanced components and parts and hence call for costlier repair, maintenance, and replacement. However, the maintenance of the clutch is always a troublesome and costly affair for you, in the case of manual cars.
• Better Fuel Efficiency: Manual cars weigh less and are less complex with more gears, as compared to the automatic cars. Consequently, for the same quantity of fuel that you pump in for automatic cars, the manual car will cover 10 to 15 % more kilometers.
• Better Control: Automatic transmissions come with automatic adjustment of gears to the situations coming before you. But there are chances of erring in respect of shifting to excessive gear condition, caution and wastage of engine power. You as a driver are not allowed to anticipate any oncoming condition. On the contrary, you can exercise better control over the manual car. The increasing popularity of the automatic cars is attributable to the following facts.
• Ease of Using: Shifting of gears and operating on a clutch may not be a difficult job. A beginner has to learn and practice for getting perfection. The same beginner can handle an automatic car with the least of learning and practice.
• Hands on Wheel: Most beginners are taught to keep hands on the steering wheel while driving for more safety. Automatic cars provide this manual restriction because the driver does not have to use his hands for changing of
• Reduces Accidental Stalling: For manual cars, there are caches of stalling at the traffic light changes. This can happen for the automatic cars only if a mechanical problem occurs in your car.
• Ease of Driving in Heavy Traffic: In a manual transmission, much time is required to start, accelerate, decelerate and stop your car. This may pose operational problems in heavy traffic. Automatic cars keep you hassle free.

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If you have an interest in car racing, you must have been acquainted with the term burnout in an automatic transmission car. Through burnout, you send a good amount of torque to the tires of your automatic car which start to burst and create a large amount of smoke.

For creating burnouts, mash the brake pedal and bring it up to around 200 rpm, when it starts creeping. The nail throttles when you release the brake. Another process is to make the car to move in the first gear, by manually shifting, for bringing it up to 200 rpm. Then, take a small corner make the back end of the will to be in a position to swing a bit. Always put a good amount of water on the black-top.

Manual cars and automatic cars both have pros and cons. By your budget, need, and suitability, you can make your best choice. While making burnout, you should be careful lest the cops book you.