A regular manual driver i'm wondering if you have any tips of getting started with an automatic?

I have driven an automatic vauxhall very short distance and kept slamming on the brake, presumably either because I was hoping it was the clutch or I was using the wrong foot.

I am applying to a number of jobs which utilise automatic vans and it would be good to know any tips. Obviously practice makes perfect.

From what I understand:

• When in forward, the car/van will move slowly forward as if it were in a very low gear, the brake will stop the car / van but not stall the engine

I plan to continue using my manual car to get to work, i'm worried I simply won't get used to using an automatic. Would this arise?

Im used to lightly touching-off the clutch when reversing, so was a bit of an experience reversing with the vauxhaul...

try driving it 2 footed, or if already do so make it 1 foot theres generally an area to rest the unused foot. Creep is great especially for driving in icy condition and just covering the brake pedal should stop creep. and ........ IMO once you get comfy with it you may change your daily driver, i wont use anything else now.

Personally, as I only drive an auto infrequently (often on test drives, as manual demos are pretty rare nowadays) I make an effort to keep the left foot tucked well out of the way to avoid 50+ years of "muscle memory" kicking in and hitting the brake instead of the non-existent clutch.

As James says, just use the brake as you would normally use the clutch to control creep. 

A point of interest is when testing a couple of FHEVs recently I found them more controllable than "normal" autos, particularly the dual clutch variety.

I think you will get used to it, it's just a matter of making a mental adjustment when moving from one to another. Many of us ride, or have ridden, bicycles or motorbikes as well as cars and adjust accordingly. Several friends of ours have an auto and a manual and swap between the two with no problems.

 

 

 

21 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 I make an effort to keep the left foot tucked well out of the way to avoid 50+ years of "muscle memory" kicking in and hitting the brake instead of the non-existent clutch.

 

 

 

 

Exactly that, I kept pressing it with force thinking it was the clutch to stop. 

Thanks all for the replies, I guess it'll just take some getting used to.

Just drive it one footed and pretend it's a manual but you don't need to change gear.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

keep the left foot tucked well out of the way

Yes!

 

Test drove my new car today. First automatic in 60 years of driving. Left leg did twitch a couple of times. Like most things I think I will get used to it fairly quickly. Pick it up tomorrow.

2 hours ago, Jimpster said:

generally an area to rest the unused foot.

Yes, a footrest is definitely helpful. Most autos come with a "king size" brake pedal, of course, making it that bit harder to keep that pesky left foot out of the way until you settle into things!

The greatest risk of driving an auto is the clutch pedal as said, kissed the windscreen a few times doing that, I always put auto's down as lazy, I prefer manuals, but health forced them on me, in my experience there is nearly always a foot rest on the left, to occupy that foot, again brake pedals are always bigger, but I thought it was for emergency braking for both feet if needed, but I could be wrong, the only good thing is being stuck in traffic riding the clutch all the time (that's why I had to go auto).

So pretty much as everyone has said, but I do offer one more point, stuck in traffic or lights (just not moving) for more than a minute, pop it into neutral (or park and release the brake as well), as it wears the clutch down faster (like riding it on the clutch), but with them being more expensive to replace, it's not a bad thing to do.