 Find your way around an automatic gearbox and drive easy. Automatic cars were once designed for people who could not drive manual cars, but today, they have become a mark of comfort and luxury. Especially in major cities, where tiptoeing through rush-hour traffic is an everyday affair. Even for long drives, a car with an automatic transmission makes your journey less hectic and tiring. An automatic transmission is one that is capable of changing gears by itself as the vehicle gains speed. But this mechanism comes with a few changes around the car as compared to a manual transmission vehicle. So here, we’re bringing you some of the most important dos and don’ts while driving an automatic car. 1. Forget about the clutch pedal Automatic cars do have gears, but the car handles most gear changes by itself. That’s why there’s no clutch pedal – just the brake and accelerator. Any car, manual or automatic, will be upset if you hit those two pedals at the same time. So a lot of ‘manual’ drivers actually tuck their left foot behind their right foot while they’re getting used to an automatic. Just in case their left foot forgets that it's not a clutch on the left-hand side. 2. Get friendly with the gearstick Before you even turn the key, take some time to get used to the gearstick. You’ll only use it occasionally, but if you need to find reverse in a hurry, you’ll be glad you took out some time for this. You won’t touch the gearstick much in an automatic, but when you do shift gears, just hold the brake down (like the clutch in a manual). There are four basic gears: P – Park Park is just neutral with the gears locked so the wheels can’t turn. It’s always good to make sure you’re in park before you start the car – and back in park before you turn the engine off. R – Reverse For going backwards, of course. N – Neutral Stopping at lights or in traffic (for more than a couple of seconds)? Shift to neutral to stop movement and keep your foot on the brake to avoid rolling. D – Drive For going forwards. When you’re moving fast enough, the car will automatically switch to second gear, then third, and so on. Some automatics have other options on the gearstick as well. For example, you might see: 1: First gear, which is mainly used to climb inclined roads 2: Second gear, which is again good for inclined or hilly roads L: Low gear, either First or Second, depending on the road S: Sports, for punchier acceleration 3. You’ll be creeping, or moving slowly without hitting the accelerator An automatic car will move slowly forward if you’re in Drive or any other forward gear, even if you don’t press the accelerator. Similarly, it’ll slowly move backwards if you’re in Reverse. This is called ‘creeping’ or ‘idle speed’, and this makes it easy to just have your right foot hover over the brake when you’re parking or in slow-moving traffic, or driving in stormy weather with low visibility (read more about driving in the rains here). You can shift to neutral and use the handbrake to make sure you don’t move when you don’t want to. 4. Know what to expect in different conditions Automatic cars are certainly easier to learn to drive in: there’s no need to think about gears, so learners are free to focus on mirrors, speed, other cars, pedestrians and all the rest. But if you’re already used to a manual, you’ll notice some differences: On motorways, there’s no real difference at all: staying in Drive is exactly the same as staying in top gear In traffic jams, automatics are great. It’s nice not to have to shift between first and neutral over and over again When you’re parking, you might find the ‘creep’ feature useful While overtaking, going up or down hill and towing, some people find an automatic car doesn’t give them as much control as a manual. However, most older automatics have an ‘O/D’ (Overdrive) button on the gearstick that gives the engine a bit more oomph. And most new models are smart enough to know when the driver wants a bit more power, so they don’t need this button. 5)Practice Finally, it’s best to practice somewhere out of the way before you hit any busy roads. It shouldn’t take long, since it’s mostly about keeping your hand off the gearstick and your left foot out of the way. 6) Leasing an automatic car And of course, leasing an automatic car is a great way to find out whether you like the way it handles, without actually buying one. Who knows? After some time in an automatic, you might decide you never want to drive a manual car again. To know more about how you can lease one today, click here . To see our entire fleet of automatic cars, click here.
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