Switching from Automatic to Manual in Sand Dunes

[Stumpy]

7 minutes ago, Vishnu Ramankutty said:

 

Thank you all @Gaurav  @Pavel Pashkovskiy @Benjamin @Frederic  @M.Seidam @Sunil Mathew @Stumpy Pajfor the valuable feedback based on your experience. For now, I'll stick with what I'm doing, which is driving in automatic mode. As I gain more control over the vehicle, I will gradually start trying out these manual shift. I hope by the time I might be an expert on off roads. 

Once again, thank you all for these valuable pieces of advice. 

The best mode is what works for you, as long as you feel in control 👍

You will find that in manual mode you get more control over the car, as you do more drives I would use it as much as you can so that you get a good feel for what’s happening, it will be come second nature soon enough and when you go back to auto it will feel like you are disconnected from the car 😂

the problem with all of our petrol engines is they are junk at low rpm’s, to unleash your petrols inner beast you need to let it rev 😂 or get a diesel 

[Gaurav]

15 hours ago, Frederic said:

Tiptronic can be useful if you have a sluggish auto gearbox. I remember on Vanessa her Pajero that gearbox was always up and down shifting at the most inappropriate times and I see same behavior on my Y61 patrol. As I came from driving manual i still prefer it. Except for Newbie level or Overlanding drives of course that’s where “D” does it for me  

Extremely valid point, that every auto box behaves differently and one needs to experiment and learn with time.

 

3 hours ago, Sunil Mathew said:

Just to add some car specific feedback,  as a  Fortuner owner myself (2014 ,V6) , I drive in "manual" gear, mainly because I like to be in control of my gearshifts. Vehicle controlled upshifts are not advisable when climbing long and steep dunes. In the older version of the car like mine, the "manual" gear selects the max top gear allowed. Eg. If you are in M4, it is same as D and the car up/down shifts with the max gear being M4. If you are in M3, the car up/down shifts automatically with max gear allowed being M3, ie. it wont upshift to M4 even if you hit the rpm limiter (resulting in the rat-a-tat-atata exhaust sound, if you have noticed) .

Very nice vehicle-specific suggestion and it's smart too to limit the upper range, so it basically becomes a controlled Auto than fully Auto mode.

In my car, I have an OD (Over Drive) button on the gear shifter, which does the same and also delays the shifts to 4-4.5K RPM rather than 3K and above.

 

2 hours ago, Stumpy Paj said:

A auto is a fluid pump, it works by converting hydraulic pressure into torque. It does this by pumping fluid through a torque converter. At low speed this converter is allowed to slip to allow the engine to build rpm. This slip is what generates the heat in the fluid. At higher speeds and in manual mode there is less slip and in some cases the converter will lock up. By driving in manual mode you control the slip and stop some of the heat being generated. Therefore you can stop your transmission overheating or getting damaged.

Fair point, but you also run the risk of over-running in any gear and producing more gearbox and engine heat at 5K, whereas the auto would have dropped RPM to 3K.

 

1 hour ago, topgear said:

I only started driving in manual at the later stage of F+. During newbie and fewbie I drove with auto so that I could focus more on the terrain and driving. 

Very good point added, that feel your car, gear and terrain on Newbie and Fewbie first. Later from Fewbie Plus onward start experimenting with gearbox behavior.

[Haneef Thayyil]

I have only few drives experience but I always drive on manual mode on desert with my Y62 Nissan patrol that makes me more confident even we climb on small dunes I don't need to worry an automatic gear shifting that might get stuck in between in the middle.  I have seen some experts videos with few examples they showed and they never suggest driving on automatic mode when drive on desert.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Haneef Thayyil

[Gaurav]

@Haneef Thayyil if you continue driving in manual, your Auto gearbox will never learn and adapt to desert driving shifting. Give a few drives a chance and when it's failing on you, press full throttle. That's a way you make Auto Gearbox learn and adapt to new shifting habits.

Autobox driving in Manual - if you constantly over-run each gear - soon you will damage the gearbox. That's why we only drive on manual 1st and/or 2nd gear for a couple of seconds to max minute or two while doing extensive sideys or long hill climbs.

1 hour ago, Haneef Thayyil said:

I have seen some experts videos with few examples they showed and they never suggest driving on automatic mode when drive on desert.

Sorry to say, but you can't learn off-roading from YouTube.

Your wisdom (knowledge + experience) is prime.

[M.Seidam]

1 hour ago, Gaurav said:

you can't learn off-roading from YouTube.

Your wisdom (knowledge + experience) is prime.

Absolutely and totally agree 

[Haneef Thayyil]

10 hours ago, Gaurav said:

@Haneef Thayyil if you continue driving in manual, your Auto gearbox will never learn and adapt to desert driving shifting. Give a few drives a chance and when it's failing on you, press full throttle. That's a way you make Auto Gearbox learn and adapt to new shifting habits.

Autobox driving in Manual - if you constantly over-run each gear - soon you will damage the gearbox. That's why we only drive on manual 1st and/or 2nd gear for a couple of seconds to max minute or two while doing extensive sideys or long hill climbs.

Sorry to say, but you can't learn off-roading from YouTube.

Your wisdom (knowledge + experience) is prime.

Thank you so much for the valuable advice @Gauravyes I just started offroad so I watch whatever videos I get didn’t know what you said above will try auto mode on next drive.  

[Bravoecho]

On 7/26/2023 at 9:07 PM, Frederic said:

Tiptronic can be useful if you have a sluggish auto gearbox. I remember on Vanessa her Pajero that gearbox was always up and down shifting at the most inappropriate times and I see same behavior on my Y61 patrol. As I came from driving manual i still prefer it. Except for Newbie level or Overlanding drives of course that’s where “D” does it for me