[furyrider]

Originally Posted by VPJ74

I'm curious about how AMT users manage slopes while driving AND parking?

Managing slopes/ghats/inclines in an AMT is not that difficult if you enter the said section while on the move. The difficult bit is when you have to accelerate from a stand-still. AMTs usually have a creep function which acts as a pseudo-hill hold under normal circumstances. However, if the incline is a steep one - like a ramp of a shopping mall, we have to manage with the parking brake. In such scenarios, engage the parking brake, and slowly release your foot on the brake. You can feel the revs building-up since the vehicle wants to creep forward, then accelerate while slowly disengaging the parking brake. You will get away with minimal back roll on most occasions using this technique. This might sound like a lot of steps, but, trust me, once you get the knack of this, you will start doing this subconsciously.

On the flipside though, AMTs are inherently confused gearboxes. They shift gears as per a pre-programmed algorithm and it might not work as intended on all occasions. For example, my Santro AMT thought it was a good time to shift to second gear while I was climbing out of a basement parking. After a lot of jerks and sputters and almost coming to a standstill (may be a second or two after the unwanted upshift), the vehicle went back to first gear and somehow dragged itself out. Since then, I made it a point to always use the manual mode to control gear changes while on such ramps.

If you are planning to purchase an AMT, please try to test drive the shortlisted vehicle before you put your money on it. An AMT might not suit everyone. There will be a learning curve if you are using an AMT for the first time. For a jerk-free ride, one has to spend some time with the vehicle in the initial days to understand it's behaviour. Once you are through the learning curve, one will start to appreciate the convenience they offer while getting more or less the same FE as a manual.

Originally Posted by VPJ74

Can you pls clarify why it has to be done "before" ? If the AMT is similar to a manual but with an automated clutch, then what is the risk of doing the above "After" as in manual we can switch off the car -> apply hand-brake -> slot into a gear?

Unlike a MT where the gear lever is directly connected to the gear box through a gear rod (a mechanical link), gear shifts in an AMT are taken care of by the ECU which only works when the engine is running. As soon as you turn off an AMT with the gear engaged (in either D, N, R or M modes), the gearbox is locked in the last state it was engaged in - that is to day, if you engage D mode, the ECU slots the vehicle into first gear. As soon as you turnoff the vehicle, the vehicle turns off with the first gear engaged.

[efgritesh]

I have done extensive trips including some of the difficult ones with my ZDI AMT, and here is what i want to share.

For me, I had my first and only incident with the car when it was almost brand new and i got transaxel warning lights in stop and go traffic on a narrow steep climb to carla caves. Car stalled in the middile of road with lot of burning cluth smell and was refusing to start. Maruti manual says you shd take the car to safe place and leave it for somet time to allow cooling of gear shift mechanism. But please note, if the car is on steep incline in traffic jam like condition, it might not be very easy to take it to a safe place in first place.

Leasson learnt, I dont get overboard in such conditions and am a bit consious of the fact that I am driving AMT and thats all it takes.

I plan to do Laddakh someday and would love to hear experience of someone who has done circuits like Laddakh in AMT, but either there are very few who have done it or they are not on forum. Based on my experiences in last 3-4 years, I think it might not be a good idea to get into such situation with fully loaded vehicle, not sure if the weight plays significant dynamics though.

[cityslicker86]

Last month I had driven to Panchgani with my family in my Celerio AMT. Bear in mind that the car was fully loaded (4 of us with our individual suitcases/bags and food) and that it has a small 65 HP engine. We did not have a problem in driving up the hill, other than the fact that low power and full load meant that the climb was slow (mostly in 2nd gear). But that didn't matter. One doesn't want to drive fast on the hills anyway, especially when there are other vehicles on the road. I was able to keep up with the other vehicles. It was raining as well so driving fast was not an option anyway.

While driving upwards, I used the parking brake effectively and left the gear changes to the AMT. It did a better job than I could manage in the manual mode (I had never driven on the hills before). Even in city, while driving up flyovers in heavy stop and go traffic, I use the parking brake when I have stop and start on the incline. It acts as a Hill Hold fantastically well.

While parking on an incline, again I have so far used only the parking brake and left the car in neutral. It has never rolled away.

Hope that helps.

[vineetklkrn]

Originally Posted by VPJ74

A lot of cars with AMT transmission do NOT have Hill Hold? As the AMT's just have a D-N-R shift and don't have "P", how safe is it to drive them on inclines or park them on inclines?

Some AMT's have a HILL-HOLD but what about the cars without Hill-Hold and AMT when driving on hills? How safe/unsafe is it to rely only on the Handbrake only?

How reliable would this be after say 3-5-7 years use to rely only on handbrakes for incline parking?

I had an unforgettable experience while I was on a trip to Coorg. The car I am talking about is Dzire AMT. I had parked the same on Downhill at one of the viewing points with the handbrakes on. However when I wanted to take it out, I released the handbrake without turning the engine on. This was a disastrous mistake as the car started rolling downhill and breaks were not engaged as the engine was off. Luckily there was no one in front and after a two-three meters, I managed to pull the handbrake again. It was quite a scare for me. After this incident I always make sure that I turn on the power before releasing the handbrake.

[Arun_S]

I have driven Celerio AMT Extensively.

According to me, AMT's are just pain, when driving in hills\Inclines.

First time i took it to Kodaikanal, place was full of traffic jams, as another member mentioned had to use brakes and accelerator, Clutch got fried. I tried switching off the engine in manual mode, wait and then switch on and move, had to face excessive honking and abusive words as I was delaying lot of people. From that time on, I don't even take it to even Shopping malls due to fear of getting stuck in Ramp and clutch burning out.

I am not comfortable switching legs, left leg for brake and right for the accelerator due to a bad instance, were my brother crashed the car doing this.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Which AMTs have hill-hold? Most cars rely on the AMTs creep function to act as hill-hold.

The other important thing with AMTs (just as with manuals):

Eg. if you decide to park the car on an incline and keep the engine running (say, driver wants to take a break and step out while passengers sit inside), ensure you keep a stone next to the tyre to stop the car from rolling. In the absence of P, the car can very roll back - you can't rely just on the handbrake.

Maruti's have started offering Hill Hold and ESP in their AMT, which is one the primary reason why I bought Swift after canceling Nios. The latter has smoother AMT but was a bit of struggle for in-experienced drivers in inclines. When I bought, Swift was the cheapest car on sale with ESP, now I believe Wagon R and Celerio get too.

When on an incline I always park in D mode with handbrake engaged.

[rajeshks777]

I have 2 AMT cars and clocked more than 35000 km. Let me tell you my approach.. I may be wrong in a few things..

While parking I always put the car in Drive or Reverse gear first and then stop the engine.. if you change gear after stopping the engine then gears wont change.. its like that in AMT. Simple.

Hand break is always ON while parking irrespective of where I park. I do both of these to prevent accidents and to make life tough for car thieves also

In hills, the major problem I faced in AMT cars is while going down. AMT gearbox (Tata) simply get confused and delays changing gears.. RPM goes up with loud noice.. so nowadays I put it in manual mode when there are too many hairpins involved.

My Nexon got hill hold so never faced any problems while going up.

Once there was an interesting incident in Cumbum medu.. I was going up in my Tiago and suddenly in a turning a Tipper truck came and blocked the road.. its steep climb.. I reversed the Tiago to give way and there was not much room available for any error.. car was in the edge.. my wife screamed, in-laws were shocked .. I put handbreak, changed to sports mode, accelerated and gently released the handbreak.. Tiago moved forward gently..

[aditya79india]

I feel that of all the AMT options available in the market, Maruti provides the most evolved system in its cars. The system has incorporated improvements with each product release.

Last June I took a trip to the hills on the Delhi - Chandigarh - Palampur - Manali - Rohtang pass - Spiti - Chandigarh - Delhi route in a 2021 Dzire Zxi+ AGS.

The Palampur - Manali hill route was specially bad Mandi onwards for about 100kms. Steep, narrow, broken, muddy you name it and it had it (except axle bender). I must say my opinion of AGS stands corrected. Yes at times I did switch to manual for short durations, but then many BHPians on the forum demand pedal shifters on DCT/Slushbox automatics as well. So I guess at some level we all wish for manual control in specific situations. So if you are driving a latter date Maruti AGS car, go ahead - conquer the hills.

[RijuC]

I am not going into any technicalities of AMT, advantage or disadvantage etc. I'll just share my experience with an IGNIS AGS/ AMT in the hills.

We went to Pangot (taking the route from Kaladungi) from Delhi. And the uphill journey was mostly by a newbie (actually first timer) driver in hills. The AMT was left in D mode and she didn't use it to M mode at all. I switched over to Steering from Sukhatal T-point to Pangot single lane route for about 20 km long. Continued in same D mode and not using the M mode. We didn't face any problem anywhere. However there was no considerable traffic hold anywhere hence can't confirm how it will perform in uphill incline traffic jam situations.

While returning, I mostly drove in D mode. Please note I do not drive fast in hills, mostly keep a limit upto 40 kmph unless it is an all weather wide highway.

In the foothills, I faced a trouble on relatively flatter road sections. A Baleno full of inquisitive chaps was not giving me pass neither they were going ahead. They were very interested to go in parallel, overtake me and slowdown again. I could understand their intention and slowed down. But I was not able to overtake them safely in undivided highway full of trucks and good carriages. After couple of such incidents I changed over to M mode and could finally overtake using one down. Initially I was hesitant to switch over to M and shift the gears manually because it was not my car. Later I used the M mode for some more overtakes.

[Sudipt Dutta]

And how do you do steep, long descents. Ride the brakes?!

[X-Saint]

Originally Posted by vineetklkrn

It was quite a scare for me. After this incident I always make sure that I turn on the power before releasing the handbrake.

One should never release the handbrake without starting the engine, this is applicable even in manual transmission too. It seems to me that one should learn driving from reputed driving schools which teach some very few basic things, such as engaging the parking brakes before stopping the engine, checking the car's neutral position before starting the engine, and checking the hand brakes before pressing the gas pedal.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

I drive an old Suzuki Grand Vitara AT and drive it extensively in the hills. I can count the number of times I had to use a hand brake while going up slope, on my finger tips. Slot into D and simply keep the brake pedal pressed, lift and the car doesn't roll backwards but moves up as you input the accelerator. No issues ever. The only problem I have faced driving an AT on steep, off road slopes is that at times the car will come to a complete stop while going up and will take a some seconds before deciding to keep moving up.

For a normal automatic transmission i.e: torque converter, DCT, CVT etc ; yes, that is as you described. However, OP is asking about AMT specifically which is very different and honestly an inferior type of automatic. It is possible to stall a car with AMT and it is possible to roll backwards in D too, both of which are basically impossible with other types of automatic transmissions. From my experience, a test drive XUV300 with the AMT stalled just trying to get over a speedbump.


To answer OP's question, you pull the handbrake up or use your left leg to hold the brake down and then mash the accelerator and slowly let go of the brake and hope that the car's computer decides to let the clutch out properly.

[RijuC]

Originally Posted by Sudipt Dutta

And how do you do steep, long descents. Ride the brakes?!

I do not give any input to A pedal in such case and usually press brake pedal in relatively flater section or before entering the curve for the bends. It is a mix of both you can say. Too much use of brake heats up the entire area of the wheel rim central zone. Earlier I never did it, but last time while going down from Landour to Dehradun road I stopped at one place and rested for 20-30 minutes after I came down and joined Dehradun highway. Landour was too steep and very challenging for me.

I am providing a link of the YouTube video where I uploaded the dashcam clip. This was infront of L&T guest house at Mussoorie. Landour downhill sections video is also there. But this was in my Manual Swift.

https://youtu.be/gRGE2yhlmm0

Landour downhill:

https://youtu.be/klQeM-w3HpE

Speeds in respective sections are visible in these dashcam clips.

[kpkeerthi]

Uphill or down I would use nothing but the 'M' mode while driving around in the hills for total control. The system isn't smart enough in 'D' mode to figure out the right gear on the hill tarmac, and could get dangerous especially during downhill driving.

Moving from standstill at times needs some assistance from parking brakes. I say 'at times' coz even though my Swift didn't come with hill-hold it almost always does keep the car held while moving from standing on an inclination.

I keep the car parked with the lever slotted in D (/M) or R depending on slope.

[Meph1st0]

Originally Posted by Sudipt Dutta

And how do you do steep, long descents. Ride the brakes?!

This is one thing I liked about the AMT in Tata Zest. AMT on flat roads upshifts at ~2100 RPM. However, while going uphill or downhill, I have seen the shifts happening around 2500 - 3000 RPM depending on the slope. So at no point you are freewheeling and you are in control. But then again manual mode gives the best control especially in situations when the car hesitates to downshift.