Bruckell LeGran automatic upshifts too easily

When I drive the LeGran with an automatic transmission, it loves to upshift. Seriously. Let off the throttle even slightly, and it shifts up, killing any acceleration; floor it, and it takes at least a second for any power to hit the road. Sometimes, it will even upshift when you press the gas! Turning is especially clunky - the car effectively coasts through turns, even if you floor it mid-corner. Is this intended, or is it a bug?

 

Thats how 1980s non-electronic automatics were. Even some late 1990s electronically controlled autos are like that. Slushboxes shift up to save fuel, but if you want to go faster, you must fill out a form 3-5 business days in advance to downshift.

 

Lol, is that true? Automatics were just plain awful back then? I mean, the Moonhawk's auto doesn't do that, and it's even older...

 

The Moonhawk wasn't designed for """ultra""" high fuel economy

 

Am I missing something about car history? Automatics were good at one point, but then they decided to start making them shitty for some reason? I'm not exactly demanding my LeGran drive like a BMW M3, but I just don't believe an automatic transmission could possibly be this garbage.

 

What happened in the eighties is they tried to make automatics more fuel efficient, which made them shit.

 

I see. So I guess it's realistic?

Off-topic: why is there even such a thing as an automatic transmission anymore? Couldn't you just have a manual where the clutch and gearshift are (optionally) controlled by a computer?

 

Too hard and would cost too much.
Conventional automatics are fine, though they are being phased out by CVT and advanced automatic transmissions

 

Smart Fourtwos have automated manuals if my memory serves correct.

 

So do some Peugeot 3008s

 

Yeah but IRL there is kickdown switch, which drops a gear or two pretty fast, in BeamNG there is no such that I know of, so shift down takes longer than it should.

80's TH200R4 etc. were just fine when tuned, you could control shift up and down with loud pedal position, but if kick down did not work, that was horrible.

 

Automatic transmissions from the late 70's early 80's were abysmal in mostly every way. There is a classic Motor Week video of them testing some Chrysler, maybe the Voyager or something, and when they did the 30-0 brake test, came to a stop and went to accelerate away, the car almost stalled out...that car probably had 65 miles on it, it was a brand new model. They focused on smooth shifting and gas mileage over any semblance of performance. The LeGran fits that bill. Its a boring, terrible badge engineered clone of the GM A-Body cars, and those IRL had absolutely sluggish and underwhelming, albeit smooth and economical transmissions. That broke easily.