Clutch? who uses a clutch these days? Too much traffic on the road to have a manual.
As I say I have never owned a stop/Start car and probably won’t as I think my Dmax will see me out but I have read there are ways of disabling it - one was by fooling it into thinking you’re towing (don’t know much about this though.)
I’ve always had manual cars so am one who uses a clutch. A dislike of automatics, from many years’ ago, was dispelled when recently I drove a courtesy car that was an automatic. So very different to the old automatics, the changes in gear could hardly be noticed.
I’ve not been to Australia, one of my big regrets in life, but somehow I think you might have a shock at the higher traffic levels in London, it’s often quicker to walk! 
I haven’t tried starting my Qashqai for about six or seven weeks now. I might wander over to the car park today and see if it will start. The thing is, I walk to work (approx 2 minutes walk) and the car isn’t parked right outside the house for easy maintenance.
I’ve had both. The Citroen 3.0 was as rough as a badger’s arse. The Camry V6, on the other hand, was silky smooth. As was my XJS V12.
Well, well. It started first time. 
Not too sure now as it was decades ago, and I do mean a lot of decades but I think it was a Honda or a Morris 1300 (that shows how long ago!) where every gear change could be felt with quite a jolt.
The car that dispelled those first and only impressions was a VW Golf, it changed gear so smoothly it was a nice drive. I still don’t like automatics though, they always feel as if I am out of control. Nice on a busy town drive though.
Yes, good in town. But I wouldn’t drive in London anyway. Expensive to park and you can get cheap travel on the underground.
The best auto gearbox I had was in my Mitsubishi Colt it had a continuously variable transmission (CVT) so there were no changes at all.
When I first got it the sight of the rev counter winding down as you accelerated was rather odd but the car only weighed 3/4 tonne so the little 1.5 litre engine was quite powerful enough for it.
The gearbox in normal mode had absolutely no discernible drag on the engine so on any downhill slope the car just ran away; to induce engine braking you had to put it in sports mode.
Everything on the car was electric driven, even the A/C, no fan belts at all. The only thing I didn’t like was the front wheel drive, too easy to spin the front wheels but if needed I would happily have another.
Front wheel drive vehicles are far superior in my opinion Bruce.
All my vehicles have been front wheel drive and there have been many; from a clutch of minis in the early days, to Allegro’s (I know!) Ford Orions, Berlingo Vans and finally a Nissan Qashkai.
It’s far more sensible to have the drive wheels under the engine which will provide them with more traction and making them harder to spin. I lost count of the number of BMW’s I saw in the ditch, especially in winter, when the careless twitch of a foot, coupled to a high torque engine sent the vehicle spinning out of control.
Rear wheel drive vehicles are only good if you are carrying half a ton of sand in your boot, or like doing doughnuts…
Well, I now have a new battery
The AA man turned up on time; gave the system a check, fitted a new battery, which is completely maintenance free, and took away the old one
The total cost was £130, with a 5 year guarantee
Job done … 
Did he advise on running the engine once a week … :?:
I suspect that the BMWs in a ditch says a lot more about the people who buy BMWs than rear wheel drive.
I have only had two front wheel drive vehicles, an Austin 1800 and my Mitsubishi Colt and while there is something to be said for the weight of an engine over the driven wheels the fact remains that accelerating transfers weight to the rear wheels and lightens the front.
It was all too easy in my Colt to spin the front wheels particularly on steep inclines and the lack of weight in the back could make it twitchy especially on dirt.
However this has never happened in my rear wheel drive Dmax it weighs 2 tonnes but with its 3 litre turbo diesel is very stable under any road conditions (and can tow 3.5 tonnes).
No, in fact he wasn’t very talkative at all, but I suppose he’s busy enough
But I’ll do that anyway, and try to make it a longer trip than just to the supermarket
Since most of us are not using our cars very much, Which? Magazine have offered some advice:
Coronavirus: how to maintain your car during lockdown
Cars are designed to be driven – find out how to keep yours in good condition while it’s not in use, or if you need to drive but your MOT is postponed
It’s important to keep your battery maintained. Even when the car’s switched off, electrical items running in the background (such as security devices) can drain the battery.
[LIST]
[]If your car is privately parked, you may want to invest in a mains-powered battery maintainer or trickle charger, which will keep it in tip-top condition.
[]If you can’t realistically run a lead to your car, simply start it up once a week and let it run for around 15 minutes. Not only will this give the battery time to increase its charge, but will also circulate oil and fuel around the engine, which can prevent engine flooding in petrol cars.
[]While the car is running, turn the air conditioning on. This will help maintain the seals in the air conditioning system and reduce the chance of mould developing in your car’s air circulation system.
[]Avoid turning your car on and off again in quick succession. The starter motor requires battery power each time, which won’t be replenished unless the battery is given time to charge.
[/LIST]
Never leave your car unattended when it’s switched on.
There’s a section on brakes, too.
If you run the air on turn the heating to full as well, it will prevent bacteria build up in the system particularly the vents
Ah! I love the Automatic.
Especially those with cruise control.
You can get on the M4 and put your feet on the dashboard and read your paper as you ride along.
(Only joking!)
First came across Automatics in the USA where many wonder why anyone bothers with manual gearboxes.
:shock:
You need to take car for a 20 minute run circa 50mph.
I usually do this by visiting the supermarket in the next town.
Not my local one, two miles away,
I haven’t had a problem with my battery even though my car is not being used anything like as much as it was but I decided to spend some of the government’s stimulus money on a new battery charger that can be permanently attached to the car while the latter is not being used. This particular charger was only $60 (£30) so not a big expense.
It is only able to charge at 1.5 amps but that is more than enough to just keep a battery topped up - I have another older charger that can be used to put a fair old charge into the battery in an emergency. This charger when connected also charges the auxiliary battery (for my fridge etc) via the DC - DC charger.
It came with the usual croc clips but I used a fused connection permanently fixed to the battery terminals.
Quite happy with that. Thank you ScoMo.
My six-year-old battery failed today - … 
The AA attended within 15 minutes but their attempts to charge the battery were futile - their tests confirmed that it was deceased … 
Worse - the battery was non-standard so the attending mechanic had to requisition a Bosch replacement from a colleague … for £269 !!!
Is your car one of those stop/start models Omah?
