Super Mini Automatic Car Hire – it is hard to say but you can rent them here!
Ten years ago you would be looking at a compact sized car to get an automatic gearbox. Anything smaller would be underpowered for an automatic gearbox, so what has changed?
Back then the only automatic gearbox available for smaller cars would be a three speed. Couple this to the average power of 65 BHP and you have a pretty awful driving experience. Now with improved tuning and performance from smaller engines you can expect around 100 BHP coupled to a automatic gearbox with at least several more gears than the tri-gear boxes of a decade ago.
Where before you found yourself at the mercy of a gearbox prone to ‘holding on’ to a gear for too long, meaning you were normally found screaming around the town in second removing any fuel economy you thought you had. Now the trend is for sequential operation is growing – the push-pull element of the gear lever can add fun and control to the driving experience. The same is true of the F1 style paddles often located behind the steering column.
These can be dismissed as a gimmick but in reality they allow you to override the gearbox preventing any holding of gears and improving fuel economy. No matter what the improvements are in the world of automatic transmissions – we believe you still need a little human participation now and then.
Short and medium term improvements or the future will include increased refinement to existing transmissions, more diesel specific automatic gearboxes and more gears added to regular auto gearboxes as part of performance and efficiency drives. Lexus is already up to eight cogs on its LS 460 so expect these to filter down to the economy vehicles in the next few years.