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My first ever automatic was a big old Jaguar. It worked perfectly with just 3 forward gears, 1^st, 2^nd and Drive. Having just 3 gears wasn’t a problem, after all it was an automatic so after a while you didn’t even realise the car was changing gear.

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Move on the lifetime of my children and my latest car, an E Class Mercedes has a silky smooth 7G,  7 speed automatic gearbox with paddle changes on the steering wheel for those that like to play at F1 racing drivers – in an E Class Mercedes – I know, I should grow up!

So I was surprised to read that the next E Class will come with a 9G, 9 gear automatic gearbox. The box will be launched in Europe later this year and in the UK next year. Mercedes say there is method in their madness as the new gearbox will reduce CO2 output and improve MPG but changing gear 8 times simply to get out of your garage seems a tad over the top to me – but what do I know?

If it means I contribute to the well being of Sussex and save money on fuel who am I to argue?

I am often asked about small autos and what CVT auto is? CVT stands for Continuously Variable Transmission and tends to only be fitted to small autos. Such as the Micra. Unlike a traditional auto which operates in a similar way to a manual, automatically changing between gears the CVT system consists of a belt that slides up and down two cones, effectively providing an infinite number of gear ratios. Unfortunately Read more »

I have been asked on many occasions what a DSG gearbox is. As the question came up in the latest edition of What Car I thought I’d cover it. The simple explanation is that unlike a fully automatic box which has no clutch, just a torque converter, a DSG or Direct Shift Gearbox is an automated manual box with two clutches. Whilst in one gear the next gear is effectively pre-selected which allows for much faster gear Read more »