Hi, I'm thinking of buying a MK2 as a daily driver but wondering what your thoughts are between manual or an auto gearbox, particularly for all year use, especially snow?? I don't intend driving it hard or rallying!
Cheers
Personally I would never recommend an auto box unless you have a physical condition that requires it. But that’s just me.
I drive an auto car which is modern its very easy to live with especially in traffic jams. My golf is manual so can't say what they are like. My experience of older auto's was that the gear changes were not smooth.
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My driver was an auto to start, 3 speed 1.6, really easy to drive and was quite nippy too.
Gone through a bit of a transformation so no longer auto, but I'd have another, plus they seem to be cheaper than manual (or seemed it when looking) and if did want to change its quite simple to do really .
Thanks for the comments! I've heard the auto box can be a bit noisy?? Cheers
I drive an auto car which is modern its very easy to live with especially in traffic jams. My golf is manual so can't say what they are like. My experience of older auto's was that the gear changes were not smooth.
scs
I'm a manual fan. The only auto I've driven was when I borrowed some of the company Granada's in the 80s which had slush boxes. It felt like I wasn't fully in control and you couldn't use the gears to slow down the car, but that might have been my in-experience. I would fancy trying a modern auto with flappy paddles. That could be both fun and relaxing when in traffic.
Re an auto Golf. If it was the best condition/value I'd be tempted to buy one.
When I started driving I spent a lot of time with autos. A mate had a couple of rover sd1s and a Range Rover, all v8 petrol auto. They were ok, but mainly because they were so powerful you could forgive the lack of response from the 3 speed box. A bit later I ended up with a 2.0 Omega auto (my wife wanted it) that was f***ing awful. I have a feeling it was supposed to be some kind of intelligent thing that learnt your driving style and changed up accordingly. If so I think it got confused whenever I drove it on the weekends after my wife had been crawling round in it all week.
We currently have a Mk5 Golf GTI DSG, 6 speed with flappy paddles. I didn’t want an auto but the rest of the spec was exactly what I wanted so I thought it was a compromise I could live with, again it’s my wife’s car really as I have the mk2 and motorbike.
The Mk5 is a great car, I really love it, the flappy paddles can be fun. It’s ok for cruising around and is certainly a lazy car to drive that’ll shift when you want it to but I’d still rather a manual.
The worse thing is reversing up my driveway, I have no control without a clutch, I hate it.
I had an auto, was happy with the drive. Only downside on mine was that it only got about 20/25mpg
I thought this was a discussion about MK2 Golf autos, which I can't comment on.
My wife though has a couple of Mercs, because we haven't yet disposed of the one we were replacing. Both autos. one 3lt V6 with 7 speed auto and the newer car, same power, 2lt S4 with 9 speed auto. Both setups are very suited to large cars, very responsive, relaxing to drive and controllable by locking a gear or manual shifting when descending hills or driving on ice. I wouldn't entertain a rear wheel drive Merc without an auto transmission,
I ran my auto 1.6 Mk2 for 10 years and 30,000 miles. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Used it as a manual as well as an auto. Kept up with an electric car, I3, from the off at one time. Then we bought another one, a 1.8. I preferred the 1.6. Both ended up with Weber conversions. Changed the fluid and filters on both and normal servicing. It is a job you can do at home. Once had a blast with an Oak Green GTI and he didn't win. We still have an auto but a Mk3 Golf now and a manual Mk2(the sons). Also had a Mk2 Scirocco auto with a Weber conversion, again thoroughly enjoyed that.
My current (and previous car) are semi auto dual clutch affairs, not true automatics
I'm guessing the MK2 is of an age that it's the real deal, don't know.
Horses for courses - DCT's / autos are on the whole invisible and work away in the background making for a relaxed drive.
If your preference is to hustle on a bit they may not be for you.
Both I've had, had paddle shift and the previous one also had manual change using the floor selector.
Each was also the 'learning' type which again has pros and cons. Good in that it'll smooth out your drive even more... until you do something unexpected.
Went for an overtake, probably bad timing as on reflexction it was just as the car was likely expecting an upchange but left me sitting for a split second until it reacted.
A delay between selecting reverse to it actually doing something seems to be a characteristic.
Do like them but suspect I'll be going back to a manual next time.