this isn't supposed to be the hard part about driving

[cellio]

Every time I drive Dani's car (a rare occurrence) I am reminded that driving an automatic transmission requires specific skills that I apparently haven't learned. I assume there's a trick to accelerating -- that you can regulate the gas flow (via the gas pedal) to kick the gears in when you want them to -- but I'm afraid I will be forever reaching for the clutch pedal and shifter while driving. :-) This has happened with multiple cars, so it's probably me and not the car.

(We're going to his company's winter party after work, I'd rather he drive home in the dark with the predicted sleet, and he's not cleared for my manual transmission. So since he takes the bus to work anyway, I just took his car today.)

Comments

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

The one thing that gets me every time I drive an automatic is the reflex to step on the clutch and downshift when taking a corner. I end up groping around for the gearshift and stomping either on dead pedal or the edge of the brake.
Regardless, yes-- you can influence when an automatic transmission shifts by how much gas you feed it, and each one is slightly different.