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General Considering 1.4L 16V Sport Semi-Auto

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General Considering 1.4L 16V Sport Semi-Auto

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Astro500

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Hi,

As the subject.

What is the semi-auto like? Any reliability issues? I'm moving from a Peugeot 206 Auto - had to fight Peugeot to fix a serious gearbox fault from new, and the 207 is too expensive for what it is IMHO, so looking around.

I understand Fiats are actually built by Skoda now? Is this correct?

Any electronic problems? I've read the sticky about problems with the CANBUS system if you take the battery off, but once this is sorted out, is it generally OK?

I might very well be placing an order subject to responses here, and a test drive. For features/cost, it seems unbeatable.

Many thanks!

Astro500.
 
306maxi said:
That is most certainly not correct. The 500 is built by Fiat in Poland.
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Glad to hear that, imagine if it was. Far too horrible to think about.

But have you noticed how much the Fabia looks like Skoda have taken a look at the new Suzuki Swift and thought we can make something that looks like that only uglier. They succeeded
 
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Hi,

OK! Thanks for clarifying.

Anyone know anything about the auto?

Astro500.
 
Hi,

I found some videos on YouTube - it has both full and semi auto modes - PERFECT!

Are there any downsides to this?! :cool:

Astro500.
 
zanes said:
Worthwhile remembering it is a robotic manual, rather than a true auto.
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Operation is the same as a true automatic though. As long as it changes gears itself it doesn't matter to people whether it's got a torque converter or not :)
 
True, but I remember there's been a bit of a kick-off about the new jazz's auto. Admittedly, I've never driven the 500 dualogic, and iirc our old a-class with the semi-automatic was fine, even at 175000 miles. But thought it would be something worth mentioning.
 
Hi,

I read a rather long post on someone who was having issues with the clutch on the DualLogic, and in that there was also mention of the fact it is essentially a manual box with hydraulics attached to where the clutch cable would go?

Is this a fair assesment, or an over-simplification?

Is the box a hack, rather than a considered design?

How long has the DualLogic been around, and what long-term problems are there with it? I tend to keep my cars for around 5 years. Is it reliable?

Best regards,
Astro500.
 
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Dualogic has been around a while, as have many types of semi auto transmission. And yes all it is is a manual gearbox where the clutch and gear selection is fully electronically controlled. However there is no comparison to a proper auto in use. They may be more efficient and economical, but they are slow pulling away, unresponsive and fairly unreliable. There are a great many issues with the dualogic transmission on this forum and generally on the web with all types of similar gearboxes. To me its a cheap cop out, yes it saves space and money and a few MPG over a real auto, but if you want to enjoy your car fully, get a manual or a proper automatic. Dare I say even a CVT is better. They will also get through clutches quicker than a correctly driven manual.

However....if you drive one and you like it, it is of course your money and noone will laugh at you for buying it, but I personally wouldnt bother, spend the money on leather seats.
 
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auto_blanco said:
Dualogic has been around a while, as have many types of semi auto transmission. And yes all it is is a manual gearbox where the clutch and gear selection is fully electronically controlled. However there is no comparison to a proper auto in use. They may be more efficient and economical, but they are slow pulling away, unresponsive and fairly unreliable. There are a great many issues with the dualogic transmission on this forum and generally on the web with all types of similar gearboxes. To me its a cheap cop out, yes it saves space and money and a few MPG over a real auto, but if you want to enjoy your car fully, get a manual or a proper automatic. Dare I say even a CVT is better. They will also get through clutches quicker than a correctly driven manual.

However....if you drive one and you like it, it is of course your money and noone will laugh at you for buying it, but I personally wouldnt bother, spend the money on leather seats.
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I wouldn't say there have been that many problems. There are lots of people running dualogic Panda's and very few problems. Of course there will be more problems than a normal manual because there is more to go wrong but that's just common sense.
 
auto_blanco said:
, but they are slow pulling away, unresponsive and fairly unreliable. .
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Not sure where you got that info from, but they are quicker pulling away than a standard automatic as the torque conversion on a standard automatic wastes energy and drive.

I have owned a CVT Punto and also a host of other auto cars (I also have a auto Discovery 3 Land Rover) and this is more efficient both in fuel and acceleration. I did also own a Alfa 156 Selespeed, which was a similar system and the clutches did not wear out quicker than a manual unless you drove it wrong, the same as with a standard manual car.
 
poggy said:
Not sure where you got that info from, but they are quicker pulling away than a standard automatic as the torque conversion on a standard automatic wastes energy and drive.

I have owned a CVT Punto and also a host of other auto cars (I also have a auto Discovery 3 Land Rover) and this is more efficient both in fuel and acceleration. I did also own a Alfa 156 Selespeed, which was a similar system and the clutches did not wear out quicker than a manual unless you drove it wrong, the same as with a standard manual car.
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Yeah some people get strange info or are just fearful of new technology. Slightly off topic but very relevant I remember David Lapworth of Prodrive/Subaru World Rally Team fame saying that since they switched from straight forward H pattern dogboxes in their cars to semi-auto boxes they haven't had ONE single selection related failure and Subaru went semi-auto in the mid 90's.

Now obviously not everyone buying a 500 is Colin McRae (RIP 2 years yesterday :( ) and not everyone bangs the gears in like him but it does show that there is actually a potential for a semi-auto to REDUCE wear on the box.

To the OP, I've not heard anything that would make me worry about dualogic tbh though I'm a manual person myself and would never go for a dualogic box though i'm keen on the DDCT boxes Fiat are developing.
 
RobW said:
test drive one, even a Panda 1.2 and make your own mind up, seems that most people that diss them have never actually driven one :rolleyes:
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Definitely. It's all subjective anyway so there's not really much point in going on others' opinions when you can just test drive one yourself and come to your own conclusions. :)
 
Im sorry, hill starts in a dualogic are a hilarious combination of slipping clutches and lack of movement, I HAVE driven one and I didnt like it at all. I do thousands of miles a year in proper Autos and proper Manuals and Semi-Autos just dont compute to me, and trying to make it go up hills is fun, it suddenly wll just change down for no reason and then change back up again after a short while of wasting petrol making the engine scream. It might work better with bigger engines, Alfas, Stilo 2.4 etc because they have so much more torque, but with a little engine I just cant believe how sluggish they are pulling off on hills. A torque convertor gets you going instantly and thats just better.
 
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