25-11-2013, 04:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 25-11-2013, 04:29 PM by camallison.)
(25-11-2013, 02:42 PM)ppppenguin Wrote: My GF has just bought a Honda Jazz, secondhand. 09 plate, about 29K on the clock. She liked it when she test drove and it's a very nice car in many respects but the automatic box is a disgrace. It's an automated manual box and the changes are slow and unpredictable. OK, it should give better fuel economy than the older conventional auto that used to be on the Jazz (I test drove one some years ago and it was lovely) but it's not well conceived. I'm used to the DSG box on my Golf which gets it right just about all the time and again should give better than manual economy as there's no torque converter.
This gearbox was the next new thing to come out of Honda - CVT which, for those who can remember them, is akin to the old Daf Variomatic. In this case, the gearbox control unit and the ECU operate in concert to give the most economical "gear" that the steel belt should sit in, on the opposing cones. It was very smooth and never actually changed gear because there aren't any gears. It certainly wasn't high revving like the old Dafs tended to be.
Just had another laugh. When all this happened with the Jazz, I looked online at various reviews and specifications and the Skoda Roomster came out top of my list. I also noticed that the Skoda dealer in Middlesbrough had a recent reg used one for sale and phoned to request a test drive. His response was that they had lost the keys, but he would call me when they found them. Taking note of their (in)competence, I test drove an automatic Roomster at the Skoda dealer in Darlington (same distance to travel for us). Liking it after a long test drive, I ordered a new one for immediate delivery from their compound.
Today, the Skoda dealer in Middlesbrough phoned to say they had found the keys and was a little upset to hear we had bought a new one weeks before.
Colin
