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2.5 years ago I was able to chose a company car with an autobox; a Mercedes C220. I'd had some issues with sciatica and it mostly affected my left leg (ie clutch control) when I had a bout of it. I just find it so relaxing to drive, especially in heavy traffic, that I couldn't go back to manual for my daily driver again. It's actually more economical than my previous 320d manual as well, despite better performance.
There are 4 different modes, though I mostly leave it in the default 'Comfort' mode as 'Eco' just makes it change up too early and makes it feel sluggish. Sport and Sport hang onto the gears longer, which makes it feel more lively, but TBH hitting kickdown (or a manual downchange via the paddles) in Comfort mode feels similar if I need it for a short period like overtaking. I generally feel the changes are at the same point in Comfort mode that I would tend to change myself, so it seems tuned to my driving style.
We recently changed my OH's car and deliberately chose an auto SLK (partly due to resale as well as manual Mercedes tend to less desirable for some reason). While hers has the same 7G gearbox as my C class, the SLK has a manual mode so I can play using the flappy paddles or nudge the gear lever to control changes. On my C class, it only stays in manual mode for about 30 seconds and drops back into auto again, so I rarely bother, but the SLK stays in full manual unless you change back to Sport or Eco mode (apart from over-ridding to make it idiot proof like changing down from 7th when you stop, etc).
My 4 speed manual RS2000 is going to feel so odd to drive when I eventually get that back on the road... |
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