hypermiling potential: automatic vs manual trans

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Xist

How many car systems are designed with efficiency in mind?

The constant increasing of gear ratios in automatics has been for efficiency. Now they're going the other way- our minivan with a 6 speed has an "eco" button that keeps the torque converter locked longer and skips gears, giving it fewer gears- in a search for efficiency.

Again, it goes back to what an automatic is for. If you just shift into Dumb and go, then more gears will keep the engine closest to peak efficiency. If you're willing to use technique to increase mileage, the eco setting will alter the shift points and pattern to work with you. But it's still an automatic, and it's still going to always be in the gear it wants to be in instead of the gear you want it to be in.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave

That being said, a properly driven manual should never be beaten by an equivalent automatic.

Well, the folks who drive the cars on the official NEDC cycles are experts at hypermiling .
They can beat the manuals with (the best of the) dual clutch automatics.

The biggest reason is that a good driver with a manual transmission can do one thing better than an automatic ever will--anticipate the future.

For the time being ...

Experiments with GPS (knowing terrain ahead, and elevation changes) and smart roads (like traffic lights communicating with cars) will likely end that - if countries can still afford smart roads, that is, my guess is they can't.

[PaleMelanesian]

No, the NEDC (and EPA) drivers are experts at driving cars in one very specific, controlled way every time. It turns out that specific driving cycle is more efficient than the average drivers' daily driving, but it is by no means the best of what's possible.

[P-hack]

Euromodder, There are obvious limitations and compromises even in the system you describe, and if the road train system is implemented with the same efficiency concerns as a regular automatic, it will be less than ideally efficient and we will have to all accept whatever efficiency the system allows (i.e. it probably won't let you p&g for better efficiency).

It won't "end that", it will simply move the problem to a different space.

[gone-ot]

road train system = common denominator principal of no better than the slowest unit.