More people are asking me about leasing automatic cars these days, but I noticed are often getting confused as to what the manufacturers actually mean by ‘semi auto’, ‘tiptronic’, ‘CVT’, or whatever. I can see why too, it is all acronyms and techno waffle…
Well, let’s see if I can shed some light on things…
The question is: what are the different types of gearboxes available and which one should you chose?
Manual gearbox
The simplest and oldest type of transmission still in use is the trusty manual gearbox. Anyone with a manual drivers licence will be familiar with it. The manual almost always tends to be more involving to drive than any auto transmission. It also historically tended to be better on fuel, more reliable, and much cheaper if it goes wrong. It is also standard on most UK vehicles.
Automatic Transmission
Automatic transmission has mostly been a cost option – and not a cheap one. Which would explain the popularity of manual. It uses (brace yourselves, techno-babble alert ahead) a torque converter, pressure operated valves, computers and lots of sensors, (alert over) to ensure the right gear is selected smoothly and at the right time.
Though the behind-the-scenes action is quite complicated, all the driver has to do is select from the familiar P-R-N-D-L choices on the gear selector. The advantage is, of course, a simplified driving experience, and a very smooth and easy driving experience. The trade-off is mechanical complexity and potential reliability issues, although to be fair they are pretty good on that front these days. However, due to the fact that a traditional auto transmission drains some of the power from the engine to operate it, automatic cars have higher fuel consumption and road tax (emissions are higher as the engine is working harder).
That is why this type of transmission only really suits the larger 2.0 and above engined cars, despite what people tell you.
CVT
The CVT (Constantly Variable transmission) offers a similar driving experience to an automatic, but operates using a completely different mechanism. In fact, the CVT doesn’t have gears at all — instead, it uses a system of belts and cone shaped pulleys to produce an infinite range of ratios. The tiny gearstick allows the driver to select forwards, backwards, park and neutral, and the car’s computer decides how to adjust the cones to create the optimal ratio for the particular driving situation.
Since they’re not as complicated as automatics, and have been around in one form or another for yonks (who remembers the DAF Variomatic? Awful car), CVTs are pretty reliable. Their biggest drawback may be a personal one — the driving experience.
Since there are no gearshifts, just revs and an increased forward progression, CVTs may leave a driver feeling like they are operating an appliance instead of driving a car. The CVT also tend to be a bit slow off the mark, and because of the way the work means the engines do rev much more, sometimes really irritatingly so.
Semi-Auto / Tiptronic /DSG / PDK
Think of this transmission as a hybrid between a fully automatic and manual transmission. A semi-automatic uses a similar mechanical layout to a conventional manual transmission, but uses a system of pneumatics and actuators to change gears. In a ‘Dual-Clutch Transmission’ (DCT) found in many sportier cars, there are separate clutches for both odd and even gears, which allows for incredibly fast shifts.
These gearboxes can generally be operated in a fully automatic mode, or manually shifted with the gear stick, or even via paddles on the steering wheel.
These are very popular because of that flexibility. You retain that direct driving experience, particularly with the steering wheel mounted ‘flappy paddles’ to change gears with if you wanted to. Couple that with the fact that they are quick off the mark and have a slick gearchange, it is not surprising I am suppling more cars with these types of gearbox then ever before.
The semi-auto does not use engine power to drive the gearbox like the traditional auto transmission and so suits the smaller engines you find in modern cars today. Fuel consumption is almost as good as a manual gearbox, and the emissions are on par as well.
The downsides of semi-auto gearboxes is that they are often a cost option, and they are very complicated so the reliability is nowhere near as good as the traditional auto gearbox. And if they do go wrong, they are shockingly expensive to repair, if they can be repaired at all that is.
When in full auto mode, they can also be a bit jerky when pulling away quickly after stopping, as it hasn’t decided which gear to be in yet. I have found that with some gearboxes having over 7 forward gears, they and can hunt up and down the gears looking for the right one at certain speeds and inclines.
Which one for you?
So, you are hankering after an auto, fed up with rowing your car along, do most of your miles in town, and that dodgy knee is starting to play up? Well, good news is that it is a brilliant time to ask me about leasing automatics.
Cars are most reliable when they are newest, and leasing a car means you are constantly covered by the manufacturers warranty, so that is a concern you can put behind you. Plus, auto’s tend to be worth more at the end of the term, so on a lease that is governed by the residual value the figures stack up well. Downside is that if you are after a small city car, the best deals still tend to be on manual cars.
As with anything though, if you are not sure, try them first. Electric and most hybrid cars come with auto as standard (mostly CVT, with one or two exceptions), so you have no choice. Performance cars are increasingly offered with semi-auto as standard now as well, which is no bad thing.
As a rule of thumb, with a small car go for manual, 1400cc upwards then semi auto is fine, sports cars need dual-clutch semi auto for faster gear changes, and big prestige cars need the traditional auto as they have the power to spare and the smooth driving experience!
Paul Rainbow is Director of Vehicle Leasing & Asset Finance specialists Troman Finance