Automatic transmission cars are becoming more popular in India. We use the Hyundai Creta SX Automatic for a month and figure out why that is the case
India was a unique car market for years; we learnt to drive in a car with gears. Those of us who drove cars back in the 1990s have driven Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padminis with steering column mounted gears. It was Maruti that introduced Indians for the most part to floor-mounted gear levers and for many years that is all we knew. Even though cars came with automatic transmissions, they were usually expensive or part of the luxury segment.
Changing gears is actually a highly complex task, and in the early days of driving it took people a long time to get used to it. Every driver has his or her own style of changing gears, depending on whether one is driving for economy or performance. The fuel economy and the ride a car gives can be wildly different in the hands of different drivers. Advances in manual gearboxes and particularly softer clutch pedals have made the task of changing gears much easier than before. But when you drive an automatic, the first thing you feel is relieved. Relieved because in bumper-to-bumper city traffic, driving is a chore, and anything that makes a chore easier and more comfortable is welcome. Automatics remove the dreaded “shift-shock” one senses when one changes gear.
But now, cars with automatic transmissions, whether they are traditional automatics as in Hyundai cars or the Continuously Variable Transmission available on some Hondas and the Baleno or even the very simple automated manual transmission (AMT) equipped in some entry-level cars such as on the Alto and Celerio, Indian consumers are choosing to move away from the traditional clutch and shift gearbox.
In cars where automatic transmissions of any sort are an option, almost a quarter of sales are now automatics. In more expensive vehicles above 10 lakhs, they are increasingly become the normal choice for consumers, and in the luxury segment, one has to actually specify a manual transmission and that too, only if the manufacturer offers that choice.
However, with multiple systems of automatic gearboxes, including the advanced Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG) that is equipped in Volkswagen group cars, there is a semblance of confusion about what is a “true” automatic gearbox and what is not. However, all the cars sold with such transmissions in India have one thing in common, the lack of a clutch and the need to use your left hand to change gears.
A traditional automatic gearbox used to have a fluid coupling, essentially two fans encased in a shell filled with fluid. In the early days, we even used whale oil inside fluid couplings. Coupled with planetary gearsets, these transmissions used to change when according to the rotational force applied on them from the engine. Thankfully, we have moved on from that era. Most automatic gearboxes nowadays take advantage of the huge progress in computing power. Every automatic you drive today has multiple sensors feeding information to the Transmission Control Unit (TCU) based on a variety of factors which now include road grip on the tyres. A traditional automatic gearbox is usually refered to as a “torque converter” and despite taking some advantage of computing power, torque converter automatics are more mechanical and electronic.
But many modern automatics are actually variations on manual transmissions. This includes the DSG, but thanks to modern manufacturing techniques, cars now have more gears. I recently drove a Ford F150 in the United States with ten forward gears and many modern Mercedes-Benz cars sold in India have a 9-speed gearbox. Gear changes are almost instant, faster than the blink of an eye, such speed of changes not only protects the engine but can also dramatically improve fuel economy. Even slightly older automatic gearbox technology such as the AMT developed in the 1980s is more efficient in changing gears than a human being can be because of the hand-foot-eye coordination required.
Recently I had a chance to spend a month with the relatively new Hyundai Creta SX+ petrol automatic. Hyundai had not launched a petrol automatic variant when they launched the Creta but with a fifth of Creta sales being of the automatic diesel variant, a petrol automatic was the logical next step. The engine is the same 1.6 petrol you have in the manual Creta petrol but this can features a six-speed automatic. The problem with torque converter automatic gearboxes is that they often fall behind what your right foot is doing, especially when you want a bit of performance. But Hyundai has given this car a “H” gate, the ability for you to change gears up and down, if you ever feel the urge to run around a bit.
But in regular city traffic, where you find yourself a majority of the time, the gears work just fine. There is no hesitation off the line and because the Creta remains an extremely comfortable car, life is actually quite good behind the steering wheel. Yes, there are times you think you are not on the gear you would be if you were driving a manual, and there is a slight cost for that you pay in fuel economy, but the convenience is worth it. The Creta SX+ petrol automatic costs Rs 12.9 lakh ex-showroom Delhi (around Rs 15 lakh on-road). There is a two lakh price difference between the petrol and diesel automatics at the SX+ trim. A lower-spec S trim diesel automatic is available, which is slightly more pricey than the petrol automatic.
Is the Creta petrol automatic worth the lakh of rupees extra that it costs over the manualIJ In my opinion, for city driving, most definitely. In today’s day and age with horrible traffic that will only get worse, automatics make sense over manuals.