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Speaking of which, it's really maddening how the latest automatic transmissions try to learn about you, because, guess what -- that impedes ME learning about IT

Speaking of which, it's really maddening how the latest automatic transmissions try to learn about you, because, guess what -- that impedes ME learning about IT! I rented a new Chrysler 200 a few months ago and just when I thought I had the throttle figured out to where I could trick the transmission into not upshifting when I wanted it not to, upshifting when I did want it to, etc... it stopped working. It was a bizarre experience, like some sort of arms race or adaptive-difficulty video game between it and me, with my goal to actually control the RPM and its goal being to prevent RPM from getting out of its preferred small range no matter how increasingly erratic-seeming my throttle foot behavior became. As a result, I am unable to develop any intuition about how the engine will actually behave in response to my inputs, and in a split-second dangerous situation will be unable to do anything useful. It's advertised as "helping fuel economy" but all it really is is "adaptively learning to ignore the operator's inputs" which might be nice for the first few thousand miles a brand new driver drives, but seems outright dangerous afterwards.

seanp2k2 10y ago
This is exactly why I only drive manuals when I can (not really ever a choice with rentals in the US) and it's getting worse with more gears in transmissions. With 4 speed torque converters, you'd generally mash in the gas on the freeway and it'd drop to 2nd from 4th w/ torque converter lock-up. With 6spd torque converter automatics, even the nicer faster-shifting ZF stuff, it'll drop to 4th first, then as you continue pushing the throttle in, to 3rd, then immediately try to go back to 5th or 6th as you've now backed off the throttle due to the car trying much harder than you wanted to accelerate. I really don't know how people drive, let alone enjoy, cars with automatics these days. Paddle shift with dual-clutch autos might be loads better, but they don't generally have those on cheap rentals, so I haven't had much time to play with one.

seanp2k2 10y ago

This is exactly why I only drive manuals when I can (not really ever a choice with rentals in the US) and it's getting worse with more gears in transmissions. With 4 speed torque converters, you'd generally mash in the gas on the freeway and it'd drop to 2nd from 4th w/ torque converter lock-up. With 6spd torque converter automatics, even the nicer faster-shifting ZF stuff, it'll drop to 4th first, then as you continue pushing the throttle in, to 3rd, then immediately try to go back to 5th or 6th as you've now backed off the throttle due to the car trying much harder than you wanted to accelerate. I really don't know how people drive, let alone enjoy, cars with automatics these days. Paddle shift with dual-clutch autos might be loads better, but they don't generally have those on cheap rentals, so I haven't had much time to play with one.