Started driving my Mirage in 2nd gear from a stop

[Fummins]

I see a guy at work drive a few standard trucks. It’s painful to watch. Doing reverse burnouts into a building was the dumbest thing I’ve seen. riding the clutch while on the throttle for almost 2mins straight was pretty bad too, and stunk like ass.

I’d look for another profession if I was that bad at my job. Some people are too stupid to know how bad they suck at something I guess lol bah humbug!

[dspace9]

Driving a forklift properly is like the difference between those who can dance the tango, and then the dancers with no rhythm. It's a thing of grace to be good driving the forklift. Pretty random thing to be good at, my old truck at work stalls out and honks when it rains. Engine under the seat. Some fancier etrucks have toggle throttle and instant torque for sure.

[Fummins]

Try running a track hoe lol

[MirageRally]

I have heard people say manual is dangerous, because a mistake crossing train tracks could be too costly for a shifting mistake. But all old cars were manual trannies at some point, I'm pretty sure only high end Olds had automatics in days of yore. And in the old days the actual automatics were weird. Autos in new cars are weird too. No longer up and down lever, now you go left and up and you can damage the engine in an automatic with the paddle shifters.

Now they even have button transmissions... like in the Hyundai palisade...I've always been taught that paddle shift can increase more wear and tear on the transmission not really destroy them instantly as they have their own little ECU that controls everything and will not let you shift down if the speed does not match. I drove a Toyota Camry with paddle shifters a year ago and downshifted an upshifted until redline and never had a problem... Granted it was on a test drive but still, usually the computer will not let you down shift to a speed that does not match the engine or would hurt the transmission. but not all automatics are designed the same and some have safeties while others do not.

[dspace9]

Yea eh those are pretty cool, I haven't driven anything with tracks for tires before. Never driven Genie booms either. I could see myself getting into the field, outdoor is different from indoor work with heavy equipment. Kinda same ballpark, however with my experience with numerous forklift trucks over many years. Construction obviously uses those things building new stuff. Good reason not to drive fast when you drive 10,000 hours on a forklift or 3.

[dspace9]

Now they even have button transmissions... like in the Hyundai palisade...I've always been taught that paddle shift can increase more wear and tear on the transmission not really destroy them instantly as they have their own little ECU that controls everything and will not let you shift down if the speed does not match. I drove a Toyota Camry with paddle shifters a year ago and downshifted an upshifted until redline and never had a problem... Granted it was on a test drive but still, usually the computer will not let you down shift to a speed that does not match the engine or would hurt the transmission. but not all automatics are designed the same and some have safeties while others do not.

Yea eh, I knew about the rev technology. However I'm not sure if every car with the paddle shifters, also has that rev limiting thing for shifts. I'm sure my Mirage doesn't, but then again I have the 5 speed manual. I recall what happened to Loren's Mirage. That's why when I do the Ferrari experience, I'm sticking with the automatic.

[MirageRally]

Yeah many automatics have a + Or - next to D to indicate that you have a "manual mode" for shifting. If you don't then obviously it doesn't have that mode. Or like you said: just drive in automatic. Plus it all depends on how well the manufacturer tunes and programs the transmission. With the Ferrari it probably has a dual clutch... Basically a manual transmission with a computer controlling the clutch... Very formula one race stuff... And very cool. Very weird at first but it has a clutch instead of a torque converter so on hills it will roll back... The last 3 years I've test driven so many cars from so many manufacturers I have endless stories of cars and endless knowledge of how some transmission work... When I test drove a Kia optima with the dual clutch I distinctly remember that it would roll back on hills and at a stoplight you could put it in that shifting mode and it would roll to a stop and you wouldn't need to keep your foot on the brake.... (most automatics have a torque converter which allows the car to creep forward and usually when you stop you always have to have your foot on the brake... But with a dual clutch: instead of a torque converter there are clutch packs which disengage just like a manual when you come to a stop... Basically when you're dual clutch car comes to a stop it basically disengages those clutch rings and puts it in neutral... Technically.... But long story short: the Kia optima was a blast to drive! On hills you could roll back and essentially roll up to a stop sign and not have your foot on the brake and just sit there... It is the only type of transmission that comes close to a true Manual (Also dual clutch transmissions have extremely lightning fast shifts) other than sequential transmissions...The only thing about some dual clutches is they are very clunky in City driving and are designed for more race applications... Loren or 7milesout would be much better explaining this... That is my fun fact of the day l really do love learning all about all this stuff, so much knowledge and to see how things all fit together amazes me every time I learn something

[dspace9]

The last time I had a rental and went back to driving my Mirage, I could not start my Mirage for the life of me. Stuck at the airport, in the parking lot, only half hour drive back home, just back from my trip to Alberta. And I just could not get my car started, because I forgot how to drive a manual for 5 minutes. Hard to believe but a true story. I got so used to automatic even only a 5 day rental SUV.

Edit sorry Merry Christmas

[MirageRally]

Merry Christmas! Happens to everyone. Many times I will even drive a friend's car with an automatic and still shift with my invisible clutch pedal

[Loren]

Loren or 7milesout would be much better explaining this... That is my fun fact of the day l really do love learning all about all this stuff, so much knowledge and to see how things all fit together amazes me every time I learn something

There are things I don't do. Like: Work on transmissions.

If I look at a diagram long enough, I can understand how a double clutch system works. But, it's not something I've committed to memory. Same with how automatic transmissions work... or even manual transmissions. It's a magic box, I don't need to know what's inside!

I will say that I don't think using paddle shifters or manual mode in a modern automatic transmission is going to hurt anything. As noted, they are computer controlled. They simply won't acknowledge a command to shift into a gear that doesn't make sense. They are self-protecting. And they're designed to shift A LOT. Even a 6-speed is a lot of gears (considering that we used to have 3 or 4... sometimes even just 2), and now they have 8, 9... 10 speed automatics. They're ALWAYS trying to be in the highest gear that they can for economy, and they instantly shift down to whatever gear they need to based on demand. Ask anybody who's well-versed at driving a typical 4-6 speed automatic who has spent time with something like a 9-speed. They'll tell you... the thing is CONSTANTLY shifting. So, doing the shifting manually... hell, you might even be shifting LESS than the computer!

And you can sort of equate this to a Mirage. The CVT, while it's called "continuously variable" and we think of it as not having fixed gear ratios... it actually DOES have discrete steps in its pulley movements. I think the number is something like 29, but don't quote me on that. So, it's sort of like a 29 speed automatic transmission... and it's always shifting. It's just that the steps are so small as to almost be imperceptible most of the time.