P or N at traffic lights for automatic cars? We explain for AMT, DCT, CVT Torque converters

The popularity of automatic cars has picked up in India like no one would’ve expected. With the rising number of cars and poor road infrastructure, the traffic has obviously been on a rise. Sooner or later, Indians couldn’t ignore the value proposition of paying even extra to move to an automatic car. The ease and comfort it provided on Indian roads, far exceeded the price that the consumer was paying. This rapid shift has also led to people who’ve not known how to optimize your car’s performance based on the kind of automatic transmission chosen by them. One such confusion that a lot of first-timers face is what to do with the auto transmission when you’re at a red light. Let’s try to clear the air around this.

Automated Manual Transmission (AMT)

Automated Manual Transmission or AMTs are by far the newest and most popular choice amongst automatic cars. The reason circles around the AMT availability in almost all budget-friendly and mass segment cars.

For AMT owners, it’s important to understand that the mechanical of the auto transmission is similar to the manual transmission. Except, that the clutch activity and gear shifts need no manual intervention. When your car comes to a complete stop for a long duration of time, the transmission automatically shifts to first gear and engages the creep mode which will move the car ahead as you release the break in slow-moving traffic.

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Engaging the brake for a long duration of time while the AMT is in drive mode will put unnecessary pressure on clutch plates and the gear transmission itself. It will also impact the brakes way more than you can imagine. It’s advisable to move to neutral whenever the car stops for a long duration.

Torque convertor

The torque convertor is an easier transmission to work around in heavy traffic areas and long stops. They used to be widely used before AMT and newer technology was introduced. During a standstill, you could simply keep the brake engaged in the torque convertor. It won’t have any impact on the transmission but the brakes will wear out eventually. So, for extensively long stops, it’s advisable to shift to neutral to save the brake pads.

Continously Variable Torque (CVT)

CVTs are just next to AMTs when it comes to popularity. The cause for popularity is dependant on its wide availability, just as is the case for AMTs. Even with the creep function in the modern CVT, keeping the car on drive mode during long stops will cause substantial pressure on the plates of CVT and as a result, heat up the transmission. To avoid this, it’s advisable to keep the vehicle in parking mode, if the stop duration exceeds 30 seconds.

Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT)

Dual-clutch transmissions are the most advanced version of automatic transmission. India is speeding up in this segment as well, with more and more manufacturers making it accessible and affordable to the market. However, for long stop durations and heavy traffic areas, DCT can heat up extremely quick, especially when it is engaged in drive mode during slow-moving traffic. It is highly recommended to keep it in neutral during long halts. As the car starts to move, the transmission cools down rapidly.

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