Manual or automatic which is better? Comparison of gearboxes (gearboxes)

Manual or automatic transmission? This question haunts many people.

1. The mechanics require constant concentration from the driver, you need to keep the speed table in your head and switch from gear to gear as soon as the crankshaft speed reaches certain values, in addition, you constantly need to depress the clutch to change from one gear to another.
2. With an automatic, everything is much simpler - I set myself the selector to the “D” mode and the automation will do everything by itself, the driver only needs to turn the steering wheel, gas or apply the brakes.

Based on this description, it will seem that the automatic transmission is better and more convenient, not in vain, because many people choose the automatic transmission, and there are even rumors that some car manufacturers plan to completely abandon manual transmissions in the future and switch to automatic.

However, not everything is as simple as it seems, and in order to decide which transmission is better, you need to understand its structure and the advantages that it has.

Manual Transmission

The gearbox, as you know, is used to transmit torque from the crankshaft to the wheels. If it were not there, then we could only change the mode of motion by braking or turning the engine on / off.

The manual gearbox consists of pairs of gears (gears) that are dressed on shafts, a separate pair of gears is responsible for each speed - driving and driven, they must match each other in tooth pitch, that is, the distance between the teeth must be the same for both the driven and the driven drive gear.

When we depress the clutch, the transmission is disconnected from the engine and we can shift into another gear. If you do not have time to switch to the desired gear at the given crankshaft speed, then this will be a big load on both the engine and the gearbox.

Almost all modern manual transmissions have 5 gears and Reverse - reverse speed.

Engineers come up with various ways to extend the life of a manual transmission, for example, synchronizers - they are used everywhere and are needed so that when shifting gears there is no need to double-squeeze the clutch and re-gas - this is how you had to drive the first cars. From the name it can be seen that the synchronizer aligns the rotation speeds of two adjacent pairs of gears - the synchronizer of the first and second speeds, and so on.

Of course, in order to master driving a car with a manual transmission, you need to work a little and practice: a person must learn to feel the grip, constantly monitor the tachometer and engine speed. However, even after not very long practice, all this is postponed at the level of automatism - the hand itself reaches for the lever, and the left foot - for the clutch pedal.

Automatic transmission

The machine is based on a torque converter and planetary gearboxes for gear shifting.

The device of the fluid coupling is quite complex, it performs the same role as the clutch, its principle of operation is schematically described using the example of two fans - one on, the other off. The air flow causes the blades of the switched off fan to rotate, the role of air in the automatic transmission is performed by hydraulic oil.

Planetary gears are used to change torque and reverse.

The automatic transmission has gears, but they are switched automatically, the driver does not have to change gears at all, except when he wants to reverse, start moving or park the car.

There is also a device such as Tiptronic, thanks to which you can change gears yourself.

Driving a car with automatic transmission is a pleasure:

• start the engine, the lever is in gear "P" - Parking;
• press the brake, switch to the “D” mode - drive, the car starts to roll;
• leave the selector in this mode and press on the gas - the harder you press, the faster the car moves;
• to stop, you just need to press the brake and hold it, for example at a traffic light.

Advantages and disadvantages

Based on the principle of operation of a particular checkpoint, one can name its disadvantages and advantages.

The main drawback of the mechanics is the complexity of control, the driver is required to be constantly vigilant.

This is especially evident in urban mode, where the leg gets tired of constantly pressing the clutch, and the hand changes gears. Often you can make a mistake, sometimes the transfer slips. If you move downhill, then you need to simultaneously press the brake or squeeze the handbrake, clutch, shift gear.

With a gun, everything is much easier, especially in the city. Only the right foot works for the driver, which he presses alternately on the gas, then on the brake, while the left one calmly rests on a special step - there is no clutch pedal in a car with automatic transmission. No need to be afraid that the car will roll back when you are standing at a traffic light downhill, you just need to press the brake pedal. Definitely, the automatic transmission is ideal for the city mode, and outside the city you don’t need to strain too much with it - the automation will think everything over for you and switch to the mode that is needed at the moment.

However, not everything is as beautiful as it seems: cars with automatic transmission usually cost more, you will not find budget models with automatic transmission, Chinese cheap hatchbacks and crossovers almost all come with manual transmission.

Due to the fact that a lot of sensors are involved in the operation of the machine, such a car consumes more fuel - on average, per liter more than a manual transmission.

In addition, the machine has a complex device and it goes guarantee 100-200 thousand, and after the repair, even the dealer will not give a guarantee of more than 20 thousand. When buying a used automatic transmission, you risk getting a pig in a poke.

The mechanics are easier to maintain and don't consume as much oil. By the way, automatic transmission oil needs more, it needs to be changed more often and it costs more. The automatic transmission weighs more, and this is an additional load on the engine.

As you can see, both types of transmission have their pros and cons, and each buyer decides for himself what to give preference to: driving comfort or ease of maintenance.

Still undecided which is better automatic transmission or manual transmission? Then watch this video.

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