Quote:
Originally Posted by derekh929
Thanks i have another question re sport Auto box i have never had an auto box as never wanted on as love the control i have on entering a corner and always feel i know what gear i'm in and very nervous about spending this amount on a new car without being happy i have made the right decision. I stay in Aberdeenshire so very little town driving mainly rural road and some back roads , with a trip down to london most years, i saw you have never had an auto box so would be good to get your opinion i was concerned re i like when coming to junction smoth stop with clutch in then brake? then as for knowing the correct gear with 8 to select do you find apart from motor way you only need 6 with the gearing , and for getting the best performance out of the car the Sport Auto does a good job, thanks Derek
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Hi Derek
Hmmm, this is a toughy for me, I am the biggest manual fan going.
I won't lie, there are some aspects of the ZF8 that I don't enjoy, well not a ZF8 failing, more an automatic box fail. Most notably the approach to a stop situation. When in a manual I would downchange which controls the speed, and gives you a heightened sense of appropriate speed, there is also zero 'drive on' when getting to the last maybe 10mph. On an auto you are conscious on the amount of extra braking required in this last stage. The ZF8 does downchange and gives engine braking, but not as much as if you were doing non heel and toe type braking in a manual, where you have allowed the engine revs to drop significantly below the driving speed in the lower gear, and have to drive the engine revs up.
The second area that you might miss is the ability to use revs to launch the car, only really required in cut and thrust town driving. On this point the 330D makes up for the 'starting from idle' disadvantage due to it's strong grunt, but in say 320D/320i form could be a bigger factor.
Now for the plus sides.....
Firstly got to say you can't tar the ZF8 with the typical 'auto' brush, it really is a next generation device. It locks up really quick so you don't get the slush feel much at all. Sport mode seems to lock it out almost always.
As mentioned it does quite abrupt downchanges which aids engine braking.
It does silky smooth upchanges in comfort mode, but when in sport mode the changes happen very fast, almost DSG like, and gives you that satisfying bang with slushless upchanges. I have got to say, very intoxicating, very sporty.
In manual mode it does exactly what you want it to do, other than selecting and staying in a too high a gear for the speed (If you select 8th at 40mph for example it will change into 8th then drop back to 7th).
Contrary to what anyone might think, I certainly did, 8 gears is not too many.
To sum up, as an avid 'manual guy', yes there are some areas that I don't enjoy (but am becoming used to), but on balance I am so happy I was forced into this box, overall it is a winner. In certain situations it allows even more sporty driving than a manual.
I have no hesitation in recommending the ZF8sport in 330D format.........I wasn't quite so convinced in 320D format.
Hope that helps.