Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:10:22 -0800
Reply-To: John Anderson <wvukidsdoc@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Anderson <wvukidsdoc@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Automatic transmissions? (friday little vanagon content)
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuLO+8ZHvZ6wPt=rgWwrOsNcOdHc=9sn0ZnXgSzk+Gfsuw@mail.gmail.com>
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Don,
Not to knock your observation as I like manuals as well but I think you must have been missing things back in the past. At least good ole mudders rock crawlers on the east coast using american iron have always (decades) used autos as I have observed. TH400s, 4L80s now, 700R4s, 727s, etc. In fact for low budget the 400 and 700R4 are still in demand, and sure aren't "sophisticated." Anyway I'd bet you saw only one SM465 or SM420 to 10 autoboxes even in the day, and would say it it still about the same. I agree with you, I think I can get better control with a stick, but a lot of offroaders dual foot an auto and can rock it as well as you rock a stick, then in addition you can't stall an autobox, which is very appealing in a lot of circumstances, get torque multiplication out of the converter, etc. Downside is relative complexity but durability is probably a wash really.
I even had a couple buddies in WV who put Vanagon autoboxes with welded diffs in their VW based sandrails as they got older and tired of shifting. They didn't last too long with 35"+ tires and 160hp built T1s, but probably did about 1/2 as well as unmodified 5 rib sticks which were what they usually used. These guys were both 30+ year VW mechanics BTW, but found it cheaper/easier to just run through trannies than build one that might only last double the time. Anyway they were always looking for the autoboxes and I sold several from parted vans.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: Don Hanson dhanson928@GMAIL.COM
Curiously, I have noticed that many of the 4wd vehicles I have seen
around the southern California desert Off Road areas of the desert this
winter are automatic transmission rigs. Is this because automatics have
become sophisticated enough to surpass the performance of a manual
transmission during off road and low traction operation? Is it because
people now don't know about manual transmissions, much?
In my experience, it's always been advantageous to be able to slip the
clutch in very low traction operation or over especially rough sections of
terrain. I've found it quite frustrating and sometimes downright dangerous
to have gears changing, un-asked, at unanticipated times during cornering
at traction limits. Being able to tow a disabled vehicle is handy and
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