Up! and Down!

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
06/29/2016 at 16:26 • Filed to: VW, Up!, AMT

My baby brother has a holiday home in Italy. He also took his test on an automatic car, a thing not often done on our side of the Atlantic, and so he has an automatic-only licence.

It follows, given that said holiday home is in the back of beyonds, that on trips to Italy he needs to hire a car and it has to be an automatic. Given that these are rare in Italy he has to take whatever he can get and on his most recent trip he had to take an Up!. No, not an Up. An Up!

You don’t get a torque converter automatic on an Up!, because cost and CO2 so he had one of these.

An automated manual.

So I got this message from BB.

“This time they have given me a VW Up! (sic). The exclamation mark is warranted as starting is a somewhat hair-raising experience. I was parked quite tightly between two cars on a slight decline and when I tried to reverse, the car wanted to jump forward first. It was sheer luck that I didn’t hit the car in front. It was a stressful experience, not least because the owner of the car in front was standing 4ft from me. Is there any way I can avoid this? I thought only manual cars did that?”

So we make a discovery. If you have an AMT it rolls down hills because no torque converter and an Up! doesn’t seem to have a hill holder.

I told him to keep his left foot on the brake and accelerate until the clutch began to bite.

So there we have it. If you find yourself in this predicament, don’t forget that you have brakes.

DISCUSSION (15)

E90M3 > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:35

Did he just not want to learn manual?

Cé hé sin > E90M3
06/29/2016 at 16:37

Seemingly not. He lives in London and automatics are relatively common there.

Chasaboo > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:38

Bro, you can get a Mustang with an automatic, no big deal.

DipodomysDeserti > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:40

I saw an automatic Abarth in Spain the other day. It was weird. I also saw a manual BMW X1 which try don't sell in the US.

Cé hé sin > Chasaboo
06/29/2016 at 16:42

Not in Pescara airport so much though...

Honeybunchesofgoats > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:44

I had no idea that a transmission specific license was even a thing. God, I hope the FP never finds out, they’ll be insufferable.

“CP. I can’t even legally drive this autotragic.”

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:46

Wow, I can’t remember ever hearing about someone who voluntarily got an automatic-only license. Everyone I know with one has some or other form of handicap.

AMTs indeed suck most of the times, though I find it weird that the box wasn’t equipped with a inclinometer, to change the clutch actuation accordingly. Probably a budget cut.

Cé hé sin > Honeybunchesofgoats
06/29/2016 at 16:48

In much of the world, and certainly in the EU, if you take your test on an automatic you get a restricted licence.

In Australia you get a kind of graduated restriction for trucks - automatic, synchromesh, unrestricted (allows a crash box, still a thing there)

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Honeybunchesofgoats
06/29/2016 at 16:48

It only limits automatic-only drivers from driving manuèls. Normal licensed drivers can drive anything they like, as long as it is under 3500kg and has more than 3 wheels.

Cé hé sin > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
06/29/2016 at 16:51

AMTs aren’t designed that way. You might get a hill holder - stop on a hill and the brakes are held on for about a second. Becoming common on manuals as well.

Honeybunchesofgoats > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:52

That’s sort of ironic, since I don’t think anyone in the US would really dream of taking their exam with a manual.

My parents hired a driving instructor primarily so I could have a compact automatic to drive on the test.

E90M3 > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:54

Ah, it would still be worth it to learn and to have taken it in a manual car. I’m glad here in the US you don’t have to take your license test in a manual, I wanted to learn when I was younger, but I had access to 0 manual cars.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin
06/29/2016 at 16:55

An integrated hill holder is kinda what I meant, though my idea focusses more on the way the clutch is actuated by the computer. Though I guess the normal hill holder works better...

Cé hé sin > E90M3
06/29/2016 at 16:56

He’s thought about repeating the test process to get an unrestricted licence but couldn’t or wouldn’t justify the cost and the time

Cé hé sin > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
06/29/2016 at 17:04

You’d have to use the throttle as well as the clutch with your idea as the clutch won’t hold the car on a steep hill with a petrol engine on tickover. You’d then have to design your software to balance clutch and throttle perfectly so as to just hold the car, something that’s difficult with an AMT.

Yes, the brake hill holder would be better.