Others my feel the same and need similar counsilling
I don’t like auto handbrakes and won’t buy a car with one
I don’t like auto transmissions, or ‘electric car transmissions’ (I know, they don’t have them, but you know what I mean), and won’t buy a car with one
I’ve test driven 3 electric cars and felt almost dumbstruck I disliked them so much.
This isn’t to be an electric car pros and cons thread. Not an electric car thread at all, really.
Q: Given, 1)-3), what am I going to do in the mid-term future, car wise/new car wise? Is this now a life with no hope? Like Ecclesiastics said ‘there is nothing to look forward to’ (for me)?
Remember, this isn’t a ‘oh, but I’m welcoming the arrival of electrics’, ‘I love my electric’, yes, that’s superb, nice one, etc etc, but this isn’t about that, it is what is someone who adheres to points 1-3 above, actually going to do, if they are not old enough to ‘ride it out’?
I think you’ll have to compromise on the electric handbrake, and just accept that your days of doing handbrake turns in Sainsbury’s car park are over. There will be manual petrol cars for another few years and good used ones for another 10 after that. You’re just going to have to be open minded about what they are. Or just continue to take good care of the ones you’ve got now and keep them. I think there will be a lot of people taking this last option.
My latest daily driver has a conventional handbrake much to my surprise (expected one of those switch/button things) but I’ve gone for a DSG box. Never thought I’d sing the praises of an auto, it’s a delight to drive.
I’m with you though, compromises will have to be made sooner or later, I’ll just say I like putting liquid fuel in my car for propulsion.
I have a 2ltr Toyota Corolla GR Sport, my first auto and petrol hybrid bought new in 2023. Have to say its a very enjoyable car to drive. 196 bhp and 50 to 60 mpg however you drive it, acceleration in sport mode is excellent. Handling is very good. Its very comfortable and quiet for long distance drives.
However I still like to get behind the wheel of my MX-5 and drive a car without any nannying additions.
That’s the plus point with these more modern cars. My last daily was 10 years old when I parted with it, a 1.2 petrol manual. It averaged 35-40 mpg, 50+ on a longer run.
The 1 litre auto averages around 45-50 probably easily 55 on a long run. My ND1 1.5 can achieve those figures too, was definitely pushing 50 mpg recently when away on holiday.
I always hated the idea of an electric handbrake.
Since getting a car with one ( still 6 speed manual gearbox ) - I have to admit - I now like it.
I always leave the auto hold part switched off - and generally use the handbrake switch like I would a manual handbrake.
The only difference being I don’t need to release the handbrake when setting off - it just happens.
I detest them, in the few cars I’ve driven with them. You can’t do any ‘feathering’ at junctions with minute declines. Just an on/off binary choice.
What’s the score with them if you got a flat drive and don’t want to leave the handbrake on, as in when it’s gong to be sitting around for a bit, like in the winter? As when you lock the car, it automatically comes on with no choice? Is that correct, or is there a way around it?
Not sure about other cars but my Leon with manual box is very much like a manual handbrake ( when auto hold is left off )
If I pop to the local supermarket and park up - I leave the car in gear and don’t bother touching the handbrake switch.
This leaves the car held by being in gear - no handbrake.
I swapped my BMW M135i recently. Was a great car but still had most of the things you hate. Its running costs simply out priced itself. My daily is now a hybrid Lexus and I’ve got to say although it’s like operating a computer and the computer driving the car, I’m really loving it and running costs are a fraction of the Beemer.
However, we decided we could allow ourselves a toy alongside the Lexus, hence my being on here after purchasing a 2011 NC so we can still enjoy real driving
You do get used to the tech on the modern cars and the running costs are a bonus, but can’t argue my MX-5 is obviously far more fun and proper driving!
I guess in essence, the car future is totally bleak for me. It’s kind of over now really, as any car I’d have fancied, except for an ND with they still do of course, has been cut. Fiesta ST; Puma ST; i20/i30N, another up! gti; Swift Sport; Abrath; even the MINI is now auto trans/auto parking break too, so essentially that’s been cut too, in my head at least. Polo gti auto only etc etc
They don’t make it anymore, well, except for that joke 1L 3 pot thing which is an ST in name only. Auto only too. Read the reviews of that, they’re horrific. The proper one, the 1.5L manual got binned about 1.5 years ago
All cars should be fun on some level, in my world. Probably better for the planet that they aren’t, but I’ve enjoyed driving for over 50 years and would like to continue as long as I can.
I enjoy motoring holidays, that’s primarily what our MX-5 is for. We’re 72 & 76 now and still OK, touching wood, but I sometimes ponder swapping the MX-5 for something with a bit more luggage space (I should say herself is very opposed to this so it’s not happening soon).
But what? Specify convertible, decent weather protection, petrol engine, naturally aspirated, manual gearbox, a ‘sporting’ drive, and reasonable running cost and what is there? Even used is getting tricky. New cars IMO were optimised about 10 years ago, since then they have been dumbed down with mainly unnecessary driver aids and emission-regulation-gaming gimmicks that deliver mainly theoretical benefits, increase costs, and impair reliability.
I have zero interest in EVs other than as transport; I don’t care about acceleration and bhp bragging rights. 35Kg of petrol gives me a 400+ mile range in my lovely lightweight MX-5. Nothing as wide as a bus with half a tonne of batteries in it is going to compare.
DCT’s are a bodge. Mazda had the right idea IMO in making torque converters more efficient for autos but that won’t last long now.
Look to the used market. My MX-5 is rust protected and should see me out if I keep it. And try not to obsess about the handbrake. Yes they are rubbish, but it’s a minor thing. Just heel and toe.
If they made an Alpine A110 convertible with a manual and proper engine I’d write the cheque now.
We have 3 cars: 2010 MX-5, 2014 Ibiza Fr and a 2012 Exeo diesel estate. All three are manual, with conventional handbrake and they lack “automatic lane assist”. They suit us fine, for those 3 reasons.
We hire a car 2-3 times per year, twice a year in the Austrian Tirol. In January, when we’re there, a manual transmission and conventional handbrake are essential (imho) due to the snow/ice. Less so when we return to Austria in March as the winter conditions (usually) are fading -at least in the valleys-but I always request a manual, and sometimes the hire company simply hasn’t got one!
As regards the auto lane assist- I hope never to own a car which is equipped with this, unless one can easily switch it off without recourse to a computer science degree. I have zero interest in any EV.
We rented a lovely Golf back in March….. good looking car, but even the heater was controlled via the “tablet” stuck in the centre of the dash. In comparison my NC heater controls are sooo intuitive and easy to manage, and works efficiently too. It didn’t have a proper hand brake, and of course it had auto lane assist- which I couldn’t disable- actually gave up trying.
Thought of changing my Exeo estate for an Octavia estate…… but I can’t go for anything after 2019- that’s when the conventional handbrake was junked.
So yes…..I’m running out of cars that suit me and my old-fashioned ways😳
Of course “they” will eventually tax me out of what I’m comfortable with.
Low/microvolume new care ICE won’t be phased out until at least 2035.
The grey area is “kit cars”. Undoubtedly, post 2035, you will still be able to buy a brand new crate engine.
New build petrol (and diesel) kitcars, on the face of it have 10 years before falling into line. The key is registration date. If the car can be registered before the cutoff date, then anything goes (in compliance with normal emissions regulations as they might exist in 2035).
Then there are “restomods”; many of which are nothing more than an old car done up, but increasingly, many are effectively a brand new car, with little left of the original (like all those Spitfires you see flying). Enough parts for a MIni, MGB are made now to make a brand new car. Of course its not straightforward to build a “continuity” car in the same way Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin have done; none of those cars are road legal in the UK. But look at the Frontline MG restomods (MGBs with a Mazda/Ford 2.5 MZR and MX-5 gearbox); there really isn’t anything left of the original MG.
And you are not just stuck with whatever Leyland leftovers are made. There is a thing called the Alibaba bodyshell. Replicas made in China.
I too hate electric handbrakes and more so the people who don’t use them but sit with their foot planted on the brakes while I sit behind them getting almost blinded by their red burning brake lights doing their best to destroy my retinas.
