Quote:
Originally Posted by SDMCF
3 Months ago we bought a 2017 BMW 420 diesel automatic and the gearbox is most impressive. When coasting, the engine is somehow disconnected from the drivetrain and drops back to idle speed regardless of road speed.
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I noticed driving a loaner Cayenne that not only did it automatically coast in neutral, but the engine would stop before the car actually stopped. A rental Tiguan didn't have that feature.
I have yet to experience it but apparently Porsche 718s got a "virtual gear" feature where instead of using a low gear, the transmission slips the clutches in a higher gear to let the car creep along at low speed while the engine is at idle speed, instead of essentially idling at a substantially higher speed in 1st or 2nd. That is something you cannot replicate in a typical dry clutch manual transmission, but you can diligently pulse and glide to get the same effect.
I still like manual transmissions. If the cruising gear is too short, put on a taller tire or if possible use a taller final drive.