Manual or Automatic

July 6th, 2009 by admin | Filed under AA - Automobile Association, Auto Cover, Car Breakdown, Green Flag, More Th>N.

gearbox People tend to be set one way, or the other: manual or automatic, although it makes little difference to your car breakdown service.

It is indeed a little odd that in car evolutionary terms, cars have developed in such different ways in various countries. Take the U.S for example where cars are basically all automatic. They regard the stick-shift car (one with a gear change) as a quaint, almost British affliction that only has to be mastered once you can afford a European sports car.

For Americans, the automatic gearbox is an integral part of their car, in the same way that nowadays we all expect power steering and air-conditioning.

And although stating that you have an automatic, as opposed to a manual car, is not essential when it comes to the question of car breakdown cover UK, it does say something about car driving nations.

The automatic may well be de rigeur for our American cousins because they were reared on cars that were bigger than buses, had engines with the capacity of Niagara falls and minor roads that were wider than the British M1. Indeed, Americans never really cottoned onto the European’s obsessions with roundabouts, preferring to go left, right, or straight on, but not around.

But British drivers were brought up differently. Most will never drive a true sports car, but plenty seem to dream about it, hanging onto the hope that there are just a gear lever away from a Ferrari. And many claim they can’t drive unless they can feel a gear knob in their hands. It’s the way they commune with their cars and eke out the best performance.

That view might be as crazy as saying that we might still yearn for the wind in our hair and goggles to prevent flies from embedding themselves into our eyes at 60 mph in an open-top car. But many Brits still yearn for a fast, open to the elements, super-charged Bentley, a country lane and a man-servant in the back. Oh yes, those were the days. Driving on the edge, 60 mph around a blind corner, run over a few peasants and back for tea with Mater and the vicar. Jolly good show.

Unfortunately, a manual gearbox does bring out the worse in some drivers who seem to have little understanding as to the principle behind use. For many, gears are something to be endured to make the car go faster. And the clutch might seem an unnecessary hindrance, in that weird synchronised dance that requires one foot to lift off as they other pushes down. Not a difficult series of movements you might think, yet spend some time at a traffic lights, and you will hear a cacophony of squeals and grinding noises.

And lets not get onto those flappy things on the side of steering wheels. These might be okay going around the Nuremberg circuit and Mach 2, but when it comes to the Edgware road, they might not seem such a great wheeze.

So when it comes to compare breakdown cover, don’t worry about whether you drive an automatic, or a manual, it’s all the same to the guys who’ll come and rescue you. Unless, of course, your gearbox is the thing with the problem.