hypervish

I personally always test drive, because I want to get a feel for how the ECU reacts to WOT, and partial throttle. I want to make sure it downshifts when I want it to, and upshifts when I want it to. Many cars are programmed how they will not downshift till you are already in the passing lane and about to get run over by a semi because the car didn't drop the gear fast enough. I also test drive to see how it handles, and how light/heavy the steering is. Car reviews don't tell you all of this, and if they compare it they are usually comparing it to something not even in the same category.

mmarshall

Many, if not most, of today's automatic or automated-manual transmissions have either shift-paddles on the column or a device on the shift-lever itself, be it a button or a separate shift-gate, for manual control of the up/downshifting. You can select any gear you want unless the computer determines that doing so will overspeed the engine.

<VENOM>

10% is a small number, probably all the toaster over base models that most view as A to B transportation