Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Parish
On a road test, manual transmission will allow the test driver to abuse the car by dropping the clutch at max revs, spinning the wheels and changing gear as quick as possible etc. in order to obtain the lowest acceleration times. Times obtained in this fashion will normally be faster than the equivalent automatic. Most drivers would not treat their car like this, so will not be able to achieve the same results.
However, granny can floor the throttle in an auto and achieve exactly the same results as the tester on the road test.
My point is that unless you are up against the Stig, an auto will not be any slower than its manual counterpart most of the time.
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Irrespective of whether its the stig or captian slow, floor both cars and change gear properly the manual will always win. Its a common fact, ou effectively lose something like 10% through the transmission, granted newer autos are better these days than ten years ago but the same car etc will always be quicker in a manual. Also in relation to 0 to 60 mph times, volvo alter theres to be slightly higher as they cannot truly match speed with safety, after all Volvo's generally set the bench mark in safety, how can a car that is the safest in its class also be the fastest, psychology and marketing always beat the truth.