Slow at accelerating ( read other posts)

[unitednations161]

Lmao you have a point. Well some of you.

[Shadow]

ok so with my 1.4 cruze I can be quicker then alot of v6s automatics? What about the 1st to 2nd shift, its quite slow due to the rpms not dropping fast enough or ill go clunck head bob clunck head bob into second. Im sure i can be quicker then lets say a bicycle but there isnt many cars with less power then me. Sure if i had a manual corvette i could be alittle quicker but thats a different story.

Sure you can be quicker. Do you think everyone with a V6 automatic floors it off the line? Most don't even come close. If you can't keep up with other traffic when you're taking off from a light, then it's because of the way you're driving, not because your car is underpowered. That said, if you happen to encounter someone in an average V6 automatic sedan and he/she is determined to pull away at full throttle, then I'd say you're not at all likely to be able to keep up with them. Not because you have a manual transmission, but because you have a 1.4L Cruze.

[Shadow]

lol rev my car up to 5 grand in first maybe going like 15 mphs. You guys have no idea in your big rig motors haha. if i floor it in first Its still pretty sad. I can BEAT A CAROLA tho!!!! thats something to be proud about isnt it?

My buddy has the same exact car as you (his is also a stick) and I've driven it a few times. Is it powerful? Not by my standards. Is it a total dog? Not at all. Trust me when I say that your car is more than capable of taking off plenty fast enough to not even worry about other cars on the road.

[Shadow]

You have to try harder to take off fast in a manual, especially if you've got a short first gear like the 6-speed Getrag in the Cruze/Sonic. That's the main difference. Neither is really better than the other, but in my experience its easier to take off fast in a slush without even trying.

Now there's something that we agree upon...it's definitely a no-brainer to take off fast with an automatic. You just push your foot to the floor and go. To get the same kind of acceleration out of a manual, the driver actually has to put a little bit of effort. But that's true in ANY driving situation. Manual transmission require more of the driver than automatic transmissions, period.

Having good low-end torque, and shifting to 2nd earlier seems to help me "take off" faster. Longer gears, higher gears, take advantage of torque much more and that'll get you going faster. One reason automatics seem to take off faster, because they upshift sooner and with the fluid coupling of the torque converter load doesn't make them lug at low RPM.

A conventional automatic will delay shifting depending upon the demand from the driver. In other words, if you're asking the car for maximum acceleration, it will shift higher in the rev band. Most automatics will shift at or near redline. To get maximum acceleration out of a manual transmission, it's up to the driver to shift at the appropriate RPM. On most cars, this is right at redline; however, that's not always the case. On my car (which makes a lot of low-end torque), I'm better off shifting before redline simply because of the power/torque curve of the engine.

[bk7794]

lol rev my car up to 5 grand in first maybe going like 15 mphs. You guys have no idea in your big rig motors haha. if i floor it in first Its still pretty sad. I can BEAT A CAROLA tho!!!! thats something to be proud about isnt it?

i have a 1.5l engine haha. Occasionally when I am accelerating slow I get people crawling up my back..but I kind of like not keeping up with the train. Can be dangerous.

[Shadow]

From what I've heard, he's an ass to everyone and is one of the main reasons the forum has been so dead.

Oh, really? LOL...dude, you're absolutely clueless. This isn't an active forum in the first place. There just aren't that many active members. If anything, you're the ass here. You've got a huge head and you think you're the greatest. I laugh at people with your attitude.

Oh, BTW, he said "unlike Sonic".

People have been wanting to avoid him rather than confront him. So if you want to post here, and interact with him, better get used to it.

Sorry bud, but I've read some of your posts when you used to post under your old username. BTW, why did you register under a new name? Hmm....

He always twists what you say, or I guess I'd say his mind twists it. You say one thing, he interprets it and then repeats it back saying that's what you were saying as if it were fact. Ever seen Bill O'Reilly on Fox News? Shadow reminds me of him.

I haven't twisted anything you said. Not even once. Go ahead and give me an example and prove that you're not just blowing smoke. So far, that's all I ever see out of you--pure BS.

I never said that an automatic is faster off the line in every situation. If you and someone else are driving identical cars except 1 is manual and 1 is automatic, and you race from a stop light to light, you'll be dead even or faster in the manual. That's been my experience and if you read what I've posted carefully, you'll see that I haven't said anything to the contrary.

Actually, here's exactly what you said:

Sticks have a major weakness, like I think I already said in this thread (or some other). Automatics have more torque multiplication at lower RPMs and therefore take off faster from lights.

You foolishly made a blanket statement and then you tried to say that you didn't mean it.

What I originally meant was, if you're taking off slow to conserve mpg, an automatic will be faster at it all day every day. They are quicker at getting moving slowly 'without even trying".

That's great. If the guy in the automatic takes off slow to conserve his fuel, then I'll be faster all day every day. That's another stupid statement, Captain Obvious.

[Shadow]

The days of manual being quicker then automatic in the same exact car are gone arnt they? 0-60 in a manual cruze is like 11 seconds and 0-60 in a automatic cruze is like 9

Yeah, automatics have closed the gap and in some cases have become the faster option. Some of these new automatics have more gear ratios than manuals, so they definitely have an advantage there. Look at the new 8-speed Audi transmission for example. The 8-speed automatic makes the car faster than the 6-speed manual.

[tankinbeans]

wow since im new here try to be nice to me unlike sonic

Shadow is just fine, when you're genuinely curious about how to do things. I ask plenty of questions that he's probably seen before and he's always been pleasant to me. Even so far as to say that he, along with the others have been helping me figure out strategies for dealing with my car, a picky little git.

[theholycow]

lol rev my car up to 5 grand in first maybe going like 15 mphs. You guys have no idea in your big rig motors haha. if i floor it in first Its still pretty sad. I can BEAT A CAROLA tho!!!! thats something to be proud about isnt it?

i have a 1.5l engine haha. Occasionally when I am accelerating slow I get people crawling up my back..but I kind of like not keeping up with the train. Can be dangerous.

^And bk7794's is a 21 year old Honda with 300,000 miles on it that had no torque when it was brand new. Your Cruze is faster, especially right off the line.

If the automatic Cruze can keep up with traffic (and it can), then the manual Cruze can. Even where automatics are now usually slightly faster, it's not THAT much of a difference!

[AHTOXA]

Wait a minute. So unlike my sonic, the 1.4 cruze eco is not turbocharged??

[AHTOXA]

Went and checked. Dude, that motor is far from the slowest in the car's class.

[Squint]

Went and checked. Dude, that motor is far from the slowest in the car's class.

Want to know a slow car? Look up the Nissan Cube... I think when Top Gear did a drive of it, it was like 13-14 seconds of 0-60.

[tankinbeans]

Went and checked. Dude, that motor is far from the slowest in the car's class.

Want to know a slow car? Look up the Nissan Cube... I think when Top Gear did a drive of it, it was like 13-14 seconds of 0-60.

Top Gear UK or US? I think I may have seen the one you're referring to, but they were testing one with an engine that most likely wouldn't be offered in the US. I think I've heard that 2.4 litre engines are considered large by the average person in the UK and that they go smaller from there.

[AHTOXA]

Yeah, the Cube stateside has 0-60 in low to mid 9's if I remember correctly. Did my research on it when was looking to buy the Soul.

[Shadow]

Went and checked. Dude, that motor is far from the slowest in the car's class.

Want to know a slow car? Look up the Nissan Cube... I think when Top Gear did a drive of it, it was like 13-14 seconds of 0-60.

See, here's the ironic thing....even if you take the slowest new car available today, it will still be able to keep up with mainstream traffic. Sure, it's not going to win many drag races, but the vast majority of the motoring public doesn't take off like a bat out of hell from a stoplight. I'd guess that most people don't even use close to half of their car's potential taking off from a stoplight. On the other hand, I came across this old lady in a V6 Camry today and I was shocked at how fast she took off. I was in the next lane and I took off at probably 75% of my car's potential and she was still out in front of me. I'm pretty sure she had a V6 Camry because of how fast she took off, plus I noticed dual exhaust tips, which I believe are only on the V6 models.