How do you go round a corner in an automatic car?

[EnglishEdward]

@ Samson

If it is an old car, it may take a bit longer to change its gears;
wear on the synchromesh or whatever they call it these days.
Having an auto-box added on to that won't avoid that problem.

It is best not to change speed while going around the corner.
I.e. slow down before the corner and accelerate after the corner.

My father told me as a child about that if you accelerate around
a corner the torque would increase tyre grip permitting higher speed.
But my driving instructors dismissed it nearly 40 years ago as beside the point
of driving safely, with both acceleration and breaking best done in a straight line.

 

[Samson]

I reckon I am with your father on going round corners.

 

[Farm Boy]

If you go left hard enough, you'll find yourself turning right.

 

[Cutlass]

I think you've missed the point. You put the car in drive. You use the gas, brake, and steering. The rest is, you know, automatic. You don't do anything.

 

[FriendlyFire]

??? Auotmatic will switch to a lower gear when you break to make a turn

Or if you need to you can always just switch automatic dirve off and manual select put into the gear that you want.
I guess if your driving like mountain road you might want to just drive in 1st or 2nd gear

 

[uppi]

I think you've missed the point. You put the car in drive. You use the gas, brake, and steering. The rest is, you know, automatic. You don't do anything.

And as with any automation, sometimes it will do something different from what you want.

 

[Hygro]

I reckon I am with your father on going round corners.

Samson, Turn Daddy.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Faster! Daddy?

 

[Cutlass]

And as with any automation, sometimes it will do something different from what you want.

And that's why they have the option to intentionally shift into and lock it into low gear. The most common automatic transmissions in cars have a Low 1, Low 2, and drive setting. Use the L1 or L2, and the car stays in that gear. Use D and it selects from the whole range, depending on what it thinks is right.

My car has paddle shifters. I can put it in any gear manually. Although I have no skill at driving that way.

 

[E.man]

I have driven the cheapest hire cars in the US a few times and I am fairly sure I remember a similar period of neutral during gear changes. It does sound like it could be the car, but just rubbish rather than broken.

As mentioned earlier I have a light tune upgrade in my 'ECU ' in my auto. Not only is there no delay , it picks up positively. There's no dragging along a taller gear or anything.

 

[E.man]

My 20 yr old auto will 'learn ' a driving style and shift according to previous drives and it's a basic family wagon.

Frankly.
1. Your box is worn if it's sitting in neutral at all.
2. If you're balancing overseer etc in corners you should go to a track.

 

[stfoskey12]

If you maintain a constant speed while going around a corner, the transmission wouldn't shift during the turn I don't think. Generally I slow to 10-15 mph before turning a corner, then accelerate coming out of it, and it turns out fine. If I'm turning on a bend in the road I drive the appropriate speed for the curve, and the car does just fine. I try to slow down (coast or brake depending) before going into the curve, and coast or gently accelerate going around the curve. Then I accelerate more quickly coming out of it.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

This is an awesome topic for discussion. The kind I am passionate about.

Let me preface this with some questions. I believe automatics made for the north american market tend to have torque centered around the lower driving speeds since most americans love to burn rubber off the line (mostly boomers/generation X'ers like me, not the space aged millenials). European cars made for the american market however do have good torque in the upper speeds so you can pass at high speeds much better than the domestic models.

If you have an automatic in europe on a 1.3 liter 4 cylinder and you're trying to round a corner without losing momentum you need to stomp on the gas just as you enter the corner after having slowed down. Not sure if what I'm saying makes sense or not but there you have it.

 

[Sommerswerd]

The car I am driving is not up-to-date by any measure, 1997 I think. I really want to know if it is a general thing, I am thinking about buying a car like this, 'cos they seem really cheap (that just sold for £565). They are all autos.

Spoiler Car details :

2003 MERCEDES CLK 320 ELEGANCE AUTO Convertible
MILEAGE AT LAST MOT:140,106
Keys: No
MOT: 08/04/2023
Transmission: 5 Speed Auto Petrol

She's pretty. Would have to stretch her legs a little every now and then.

Convertibles seem to add a little weight, but I bet they'd be nice where it doesn't get so cold. They're a rough go in January around here.

Looks like Sally from Cars (Lightning McQueen's girlfriend)

although I'm pretty sure she is a Porsche rather than a Mercedes.

 

[Cutlass]

This is an awesome topic for discussion. The kind I am passionate about.

Let me preface this with some questions. I believe automatics made for the north american market tend to have torque centered around the lower driving speeds since most americans love to burn rubber off the line (mostly boomers/generation X'ers like me, not the space aged millenials). European cars made for the american market however do have good torque in the upper speeds so you can pass at high speeds much better than the domestic models.

If you have an automatic in europe on a 1.3 liter 4 cylinder and you're trying to round a corner without losing momentum you need to stomp on the gas just as you enter the corner after having slowed down. Not sure if what I'm saying makes sense or not but there you have it.

Very small engines have a problem. The power just does not exist. With an automatic transmission, there is some lag between what the engine does and what the wheels do. If the engine is big enough, not a problem. If the engine is too small, problem. The smallest engine I've ever had was a 1.6L Toyota with a 5 speed manual transmission. It was by no means fast. But it did OK. But if the driver selected the wrong gear, the car just wouldn't move. An automatic in a car that small did even worse. But would at least move, if slowly. The biggest engine I've ever owned was a 351cid (more or less 5.7L). With an automatic, you could put the gas pedal to the floor and burn some lifespan off your tires. Maybe a manual could do better, but you definitely did not lack for acceleration.

 

[Farm Boy]

Looks like Sally from Cars (Lightning McQueen's girlfriend)

although I'm pretty sure she is a Porsche rather than a Mercedes.

There's just something about the light sporty vehicles(not my type, I usually prefer bricks that accelerate fast in a straight line), that seem like they'd be a lark to poke around in around a few corners.

We're mostly flat grid, so you'll need to forgive me the straight-line mentality. The corners are all 90 degrees and stop signs, it's all about that shove-you-back-in-the-chair-rush, or the "how fast are we going?" rush, or there is no rush. Given the winters and the salt, the tight but twitch design of the really sportily engineered cars just makes less and less sense. They don't wind up doing anything better except breaking expensive parts. I suppose I should just get a motorcycle for the days I'm willing to drive far enough to get to a river.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Don't get a motorcycle. Too old for that now.

EDIT: Then again... old is when lots of guys finally get that motorcycle they always wanted... or corvette... or...

So get what you want... its your spin.

 

[Farm Boy]

I think I'll keep it modest in the realm of capable of killing myself. You don't need a lot of money for a machine capable of doing that. Getting a fancy one is just ostentatious.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Very small engines have a problem. The power just does not exist. With an automatic transmission, there is some lag between what the engine does and what the wheels do. If the engine is big enough, not a problem. If the engine is too small, problem. The smallest engine I've ever had was a 1.6L Toyota with a 5 speed manual transmission. It was by no means fast. But it did OK. But if the driver selected the wrong gear, the car just wouldn't move. An automatic in a car that small did even worse. But would at least move, if slowly. The biggest engine I've ever owned was a 351cid (more or less 5.7L). With an automatic, you could put the gas pedal to the floor and burn some lifespan off your tires. Maybe a manual could do better, but you definitely did not lack for acceleration.

Even a 1.6 liters can be plenty of power and torque if you keep it at the optimal rpm range (in fact current F1 engines are 1.6 and reach like 1000hp at 15000 rpm IIRC )
However you need a couple of conditions for such thing to happen: 1) a manual shift 2) a driver who knows what is he doing.

 

[Cutlass]

Even a 1.6 liters can be plenty of power and torque if you keep it at the optimal rpm range (in fact current F1 engines are 1.6 and reach like 1000hp at 15000 rpm IIRC )
However you need a couple of conditions for such thing to happen: 1) a manual shift 2) a driver who knows what is he doing.

I mostly didn't think that car was uncomfortably slow. But it wouldn't accelerate up hills. And there's a lot of hills around here.