Automatic transmission

[zeeshansyed]

Hello everyone!

I don't know much about cars but most of you guys do!! So I have got something to ask

I am buying a vitz and I wanted to know how does an automatic gear system works? At what speed does the gear changes? With Manual cars, you can drive a car on 4th gear on 40km or 50km and that can save you some gas but with automatic cars, we don't have that ability.

What I want to know is how do Automatic transmission cars work? What speed does the gear change? Are they fuel effecient or otherwise? Does driving an AT car at slow speed result in high fuel usage?

Regards,
Z

[raza_arshad]

You can get the information from

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/automatic-transmission.htm

[amoizp]

@zeeshansyed

yes, that's an excellent site to learn about a/t (auto trans).

to answer your particular question in even easier terms, it depends on how much you press the accelerator pedal. if you press it too much (if u're in a hurry), a/t responds accordingly and changes the gears at high rpms (so you get more acceleration). if you press it little... the car responds accordingly and understands that you're not in a hurry, so gears change at low rpms and you get slower accelerations and more economy.

[zeeshansyed]

Assalam u Aleikum and Good morning brothers!

@raza_arshad: Thanks for the link! I will check it out now

@amoizp: I am going to take at the link that Mr Raza provided here but you have answered my question pretty much. Nice and easy driving should mean better economy. I am gona go read the link now

If any VITZ owner could tell me how much mileage should I expect from my Vitz provided that I have it maintained properly.

[raza_arshad]

@zeeshansyed
If you are interested in tech stuff, you may also look at
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt.htm

Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), doesn't have gears like the conventional planetary automatic transmission. A local example is Honda City Vario.

[riz_]

Zeeshan Syed, you have been provided with excellent information here so far. I just wanted to mention that manual transmission always provides better fuel economy than an automatic one. The reason is, you can shift at much lower RPM than a preprogrammed automatic transmission. However, in daily city driving commute with stop and go traffic, automatic transmission is more convenient than a manual one.

[amoizp]

u're welcome zeeshan. fuel consumption depends on many things. my vitz 99 gives me around 12kms per liter on petrol and Rs.2 per km on cng.

i've heard the 2005 vitz has even better consumption - not sure though.

if u're interested, i can give you the contact of the person from whom i bought the car.

[zeeshansyed]

@riz_: Yup! But a lot of it is too technical for me to understand. I will learn more about this stuff as time moves on and since you guys are so helpful, I think I'll learn fast! Thanks for all the info so far!

I also learned here at PW that if you are driving Vitz and have OverDrive turned on then you are going to save some fuel! I know this sounds dumb, but I thought that it would have an adverse affect like driving vitz with O/D on would cause the car to consume more fuel! sheeshh!

Amoizp: I am planning to run my vitz on CNG. I won't be able to afford to run my car on Petrol it's just too expensive BUT, I do plan to drive it on Petrol ever now and then to ensure that the engine does not start to malfunction because of CNG.

[amoizp]

zeeshan,

best of luck with the conversion. get it done from a place with good reputation and don't try to save money in this. only "landi renzo" and "tomasetto achilles" kits are known to work fine with vitz. i have tomasetto. it is auto conversion so car always starts on petrol (good for engine). the cylinder is also raised so the spare wheel and jack stay in their original place and i can also put some small luggage under the cylinder. after getting cng installed, i also changed the rear springs. the car doesn't touch every speed breaker now!

goodluck!

[zeeshansyed]

Thanks buddy! I see you are from Karachi. It'd be great if we could meet up someday. Do you use MSN? Can I have your ID?

So far, I don't know where to get the CNG kit installed from. I got a CNG kit from M.A. Jinnah Road for my Mehran but I have no idea where to go for Vitz CNG kit. Also, is there any room left for speakers? I.e. After instaling the cylinder?

[amoizp]

zeeshan... would love to meet up... but am currently in isb. send me your msn id on private message and i'll add u up.

i got my cng kit installed from "friends cng." it comes on your right when you're going from baloch clny flyover towards korangi expressway. have heard of another reliable guy who does it in federal b area. i am satisfied with my kit. i had to go for tuning the next day after the kit was installed... it requires some patience... u test drive... u get it adjusted... then u test drive again... then more adjustment... and so on... but after that day it's working fine.

go thru the "vitz owners club" for more details... there are a lot of good ppl and lot of good stuff posted there!

[hunnyahmed]

zeeshan a 2004 model vitz will u give u 20 litres/km on auto transmission.

[zeeshansyed]

i got my cng kit installed from "friends cng." it comes on your right when you're going from baloch clny flyover towards korangi expressway. have heard of another reliable guy who does it in federal b area. i am satisfied with my kit. i had to go for tuning the next day after the kit was installed... it requires some patience... u test drive... u get it adjusted... then u test drive again... then more adjustment... and so on... but after that day it's working fine.

Ok friends CNG. Thanks yaar! Can u tell me how much did u pay for it? What milage do you get on full cylinder? Does the car pick right? Does the CHECK ENGINE light stay on?

I have read each and every single page of Vitz Owners Club and have learned a lot of things but there is nothing much mentioned about CNG issue in that thread. Neither are ATS issues. That's why I started this thread

Thanks a lot! Just sent you my MSN ID via PM. Hope to catch you on MSN too

HunnyAhmed: Is that on Petrol or CNG? Never heard 20km/liter! WOW

[amoizp]

zeeshan,

don't remember exactly but it was around Rs. 35k. in isb it gives me b/w 115 and 120km on a full cylinder. in khi it was b/w 95 and 105km. note that they did not install the largest available cylinder to avoid some weight.

car picks right without a/c. on a/c u'll need to be a bit patient! also on a/c, breaks get less power so if you pump (or break frequently as in a traffic jam) the break gets hard and is not as good as without a/c. right tuning can minimize both issues - but can't remove them.

check engine light stays off. but even if it stays on, i've heard it isn't a problem as long as the light goes off while on petrol.

later

[bilal49er]

www.carbibles.com

look for auto tranny. its better than how stuff works BELIEVE ME!!

[ParDesi]

Slmz Amoizp,

I noticed your comment about changing the rear springs on your Vitz after installing the CNG kit. Can you tell me what type/strength the springs were ? i am also having that problem with my Vitz where driving it outside of Islamabad with passengers its scraping the bottom...
Your help appreciated.
Majid

[amoizp]

@bilal49er

wow dude... that's some site!! simply amazing!

@ParDesi

wa'salam, sorry don't know the exact specs. but in khi i found a couple of shops who were selling locally made springs (of imported material) for different cars - got to them through a friend who deals in car parts. so they had cng springs for many cars and i got the ones for vitz. they gave 1 year warranty too (in case the spring breaks or bends or makes noise etc). the drive is still good (no loss in road grip or anything).