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Why do British people have such a dim view of Automatic cars? (self.askuk)

submitted 10 months ago by Oneeightnine to c/askuk

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I've been driving an automatic since I passed nearly a decade ago. In that time whenever I tell anyone I drive auto, it's usually met with some level of derision. I think that attitude is changing, but I'm still kind of confused by it in the first place.

Why?

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[–] Chris108 1 points 9 months ago

Traditionally automatics were much less efficient, giving a significant power loss and substantially worse MPG. In the UK with smaller cars with smaller engines and expensive petrol this was a much bigger disadvantage than in the USA.

However modern automatic gears have improved so it's not longer a big disadvantage.