How often people use the manual mode in automatic cars

Whenever I have a car with an automatic transmission to drive, except for city driving and cruising on the expressway, I make use of the manual mode.

BHPian Aditya recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

With every passing day, automatic transmissions are gaining popularity in India. These reduce the effort required to drive the car, particularly on our overcrowded city roads where the traffic barely flows smoothly. In stop-go conditions, they are a boon. All one needs to do is use the brake pedal to drive the car.

However, the city is not the only place we drive. The highways and hills are where we enthusiasts enjoy driving the most. This is where manual mode of the AT plays a part.

On the open road, particularly for an enthusiast, driving an automatic might turn out to be boring. The involvement in using a manual transmission with a clutch might be missed. Using the manual mode, a driver can play around with the gears and get a little more involved in the driving process.

In some cars, where the AT is not very well calibrated or if the car's power and torque are not very high, keeping the car in the right gear is vital, particularly while overtaking or tackling inclines to get the most out of the engine.

On descents, one can put the car into a lower gear and make use of the engine braking, which, in turn, helps preserve the car's brakes. In short, "M" mode gives you more control over the car, and the more control you have, the better.

Whenever I have a car with an automatic transmission to drive, except for city driving and cruising on the expressway, I make use of the manual mode. Most drivers, however, leave the transmission in “D” all the time. In fact, whenever I have travelled with someone else driving, I have never seen the "M" mode used.

So BHPians with AT cars, how often do you use the manual mode?

Here's what GTO had to say about the matter:

In the BMW 530d, I use the paddle shifters a LOT. Wouldn't say manual mode per se, but I frequently use the paddle shifters to get a downshift when I want… or sometimes an upshift. The engine & gearbox are so darn good that it's fun to play with the gears. See a gap, downshift and floor the throttle!

In the Thar, I have almost never engaged the manual mode.

Here's what BHPian SmartCat had to say about the matter:

Once in a year, immediately after getting the servicing done. That is to check if the dealership technicians somehow messed it up.

Other than that, while going downhill (for engine braking) on a very steep hilly road that extends for many kms. That is once in 5 years perhaps. The usual ghat sections we see in coastal areas or small steep downhill stretches don't need manual mode. Brakes work just fine.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say about the matter:

I use manual mode under just a couple of different scenarios. The first is what I call regular maintenance. The so-called brain of your AT, only in the case of a converter and autobox is a hugely co, plea piece of machinery with endless little cavities, valves and so on. During auto operation, not all valves are used. So part of your brain is “dead”. Over time and especially at high mileage cars dirt and debris might build up.

By now and then using manual mode and keeping the box in every gear for 10-15 seconds you effectively flush the whole system. Again, only if you drive a slush box.

The other time when using manual mode is in mountainous terrain. Going downhill in an automatic can be very hard on the brakes. The only way to give relief to those brakes is to get into manual mode and use engine braking as well.

I might put my Jaguar into sports mode under very specific conditions too. For instance, in the USA I had to drive it onto a car carrier to be shipped to the Netherlands. With its very powerful supercharged 4.0 l V8 it will always pull away in second gear. Even when going into manual, it will still pull away in second gear. The only way to get it into first gear, which I needed to drive up that very steep ramp of the carrier is to put the box in sports mode. It pulls away in first gear in sports mode only.

When driving my Jeep Cherokee off-road I might use manual mode as well under certain conditions.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.