but at the moment I don't even want to drive an Auto.
In a sense, insisting on driving a slower manual ICE instead of perfectly fine dual clutch auto version, is technologically *even sillier* than nostalgic unecessary fake gearchanges in a single geared EV as you can actually wreck your engine if you make a single mistake. Yet we love it for the control and sensations it gives us and I've proudly never owned an auto ICE car.
I never wanted an auto unless it was perfectly executed and reminds me of a sequential (hate delays and auto upshifts), and it is executed perfectly here.
Faking a clutch and manual gearbox would be one step too far... Ironically a ICE Hypercar has proposed this and afaik it was celebrated as a purist move... Double standards?
You and Sam are probably the type that long for the day when you get in a car and it drives to your destination for you while you stare at your phone or laptop screen.
I don't. I know quite a few car dealers and techs, quite suprisingly can't say they are better drivers for it. Interest in, knowledge of and/or working with cars, and being interested in being a good and constantly improving driver are two seperate things in my experience.
As such, self-driving cars would benefit many a driver and make roads a lot safer for those already looking at their screens... But it won't happen either as driving is an art, and they just need to remove all the distractions imho.
I like a car you get in, turn the key, and off you go.
In the 5 N, speed warning and lane assist, mandatory today, are switched of each with one long press of the steering button.
No touch buttons, no touch screen, no menus, no swiping, no combination of those. Just one physical steering wheel button one can operate
blindly. Gotta love that and it d
oesn't get better in any new car irrespective of drivetrain.
In the mood for driving fun, one more press of a steering wheel button, and I've set my favourite (for the season) ESP* setting, engine, steering, damping, noise and LSD settings. Beats the button dance in the GR cars. Yeah it's nicer if you don't have to but then you have different cars for different purposes. This car does everything for me in one package when I previously needed two that didn't even cover the same range of abilities.
And your off you go comment also reminds me of a massive driving enjoyment advantage. In this driver's car, I can have fun from the first bend. No tedious engine and gearbox oil warming procedures, and in winter warming the cabin with engine heat extending the whole thing even longer. If I stop in summer, it won't heat soak and I don't need to cool down before I get my fun back.
It literally extends each drive with ~5 to 15min of fun as
I don't waste them on in essence extended ICE start-up procedures.
Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with my new acquisition, just like the GR Yaris, a great car from a WRC Manufacturer champion.
Not everybody will like it though, or any new car for that matter, and some will keep telling us.... it helps invoke new trains of thought as above, looking at the bright side of it
