I'm idly looking in to automatics at the moment, having been so impressed with my wife's new DSG VW Touran.
I don't have a lot of knowledge on the subject as I'd never considered autos before, but I suppose the beigeing process eventually gets us all and now I quite fancy one myself.
A car I like the look of is the Peugeot 407 SW, and I've seen some advertised as "Tip Autos". What is a Tip Auto and how does it work, specifically in this model? I've done a google but can't come up with anything other than adverts.
Any info gratefully received. Cheers.
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Try searching for Tiptronic. This will explain far better than I could. :)
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I could explain it but my brain hurts!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiptronic
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Tip is short for Tiptronic.
Basically it allows wider versatility than an auto in that you can also use it as a manual gearbox.
edit, was called away part way through composing this, hence the same reply as other people once I had submitted it
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/01/2009 at 10:40
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Ah, righto, got it. Thanks, all.
So it would drive similarly to a DSG gearbox I presume? Does anyone know how the "manual" mode operates in these Peugeots, is it via the gear selector or paddles near the steering wheel?
Sounds interesting, I quite fancy one now.
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French? auto? tiptronic? brave man.
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Oh dear, sounds bad. Any particular reason? I'm thinking of brand new by the way, if that makes any difference.
May be getting my wires crossed here but aren't you the guy who likes Renaults?
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He does - from a safety perspective.
French electrics are not the best (allegedly) and the combination of an electroncially controlled autobox with tiptronic in a French car would give any sane man the collywobbles.
Tiptronic works differently to DSG, but essentially from the drivers perspective gives the similar outcome. It is a standard autobox (with a PRND style selector stick) but you have the ability to manually and sequentially choose what gear you want to be in. Handy for mountain passes, engine braking and occasionaly extreme overtaking, but generally not much used. I have it and use it for engine braking. I found the Mazda5 I just rented to overtake better with kickdown than manually selecting a lower gear.
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Tiptronic is:Handy for mountain passes engine braking and occasionaly extreme overtaking but generally not much used. I have it and use it for engine braking.
Agree with all that - I use mine now and again more for entertainment value than anything else. I wouldn't be surprised if 95% of drivers with tip have never used it.
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When in the wife's Touran I usually use the manual mode on A and B roads out of town, and leave it in fully auto mode for motorways and urban driving.
I'm getting used to it and really enjoying it, hence the interest in changing my own manual car for something like this.
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Same use as me. I leave manual changes for the twisty bits.
Manual on DSG is also very useful for locking up in gear on icy roads - the engine braking in first gear is excellent for icy downhill roads like I encountered today.
Put it in manual, 1st gear, feet off pedals and it crawled under engine load at about 5mph.
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May be getting my wires crossed here but aren't you the guy who likes Renaults?
yes but even i wouldnt touch a tiptronic box in a french car.
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OK, that's the doom and gloom out of the way! ;-)
As I'd be buying with 3 years warranty I'm not too worried by this, and that the car would have a fairly easy, low-mileage life would help.
Anyone with any positive experiences of these motors? HJ seems fairly keen (well, a lot keener than he is on my current Fiat Stilo which I really like and find very reliable).
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make sure you get rid of it before the warranty expires.
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Ditto the Touran - my Audi DSG has just had a new mechatronic unit - I saw the parts cost and am glad I didn't pay.
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