Ford based Rienza - manual or auto gearbox ??

Have seen a couple of auto gearbox Rienzas advertised recently, both with cab aircon which I'm looking for.  My other half would like an auto, says she'd drive it if we got one, but I'm concerned about reliability, fuel consumption and performance, as compared to a manual box.  Any advice out there please?  Also, I assume the auto is 4 speed, can anyone confirm?   Fianlly, is the Ford air-con any good?

Hi malpearson.

Sorry, my Rienza is 5 speed manual with no air con. It gives 28-29 mpg. The basic engine is very reliable.

Not much use I know, but I hate seeing unanswered posts, Hope someone can oblige.

Davy

Hi Mal, Ford Auto boxes come in various ratios, early boxes have 3 speeds, then they introduced 3 speed with overdrive, then 4 speed, finally there is the Tiptronic which has a gearstick but no clutch pedal and can have 5 or 6 gears. so you can choose auto drive of play with the gearstick. Conventional automatic gearboxes are very reliable, I've been driving one for 40 years with no problems, then had a Tiptronic (Durashift) for 3 years in 2003 with loads of problems. Basically it was a standard gearbox with actuators that push the clutch in/out and change gear for you (you have to go thru the gears you can't go from 1st to 3rd, so electronics played a big part in the faults I had, conventional gearboxes are more mechanical in their selection of gears.  What year are you looking that will give you a guide to the type of auto box it has? (Always ask what type of gearbox it is). Standard 2.5 diesels do 26-30MPG you can knock off 10-15% for an auto unless its all motorway driving then they are about the same, maybe 5% less. I know this is tempting fate but Diesel engines with auto boxes have less strain on them hence go on for ever.  
PS My wife always promises to have a go at driving, been waiting 40 years with no luck. Mind you its a brilliant way to drive it takes all the effort out of driving and makes the holidays more relaxing.
Hope this helps.
Jim

Hi all,

Interestingly one of the deciding factors in the purchase of our Rienza was wether my wife felt happy driving it. She had only driven cars before the Motorhome was purchased. She never showed interest in towing our caravan.

The large window in the back of the Rienza was usefull in making the visibility mimic that of a car. Not sure if even I fancy a van with absolutly no internal rear vision, even though I drive Transit minibuses daily which have limited visibility due to the seat headrests.

Reassuring to know that should the need arise she is happy to drive.

Davy

I can pretty much echo the previous comments, having owned Fords with 3-speed and 4-speed "conventional" autos (sometimes referred to as slushboxes), and now one electronic 7-speed auto on a VW.

The older boxes tend to be rather ponderous and acceleration tends to be poorer with a diesel because of few gears and a power band very low in the rev range. But they are (in my experience) pretty reliable, and you can get a bit more performance out of them by manually holding lower gears.

The latest electronic gearboxes are - in my experience since buying a van with one in March - still in their infancy in relative terms. Mine is fantastic for town and motorway driving, and a frustration for everything else. Given that many drivers only ever do town and motorway driving, I can understand why they are designed as they are. But if you do a lot of driving on tiny, bendy roads, or in mountainous country, you will probably find that, with 5, 6 or 7 gears to choose from, it will mostly choose to be in the wrong gear!

At this point, defenders of DSG (and similar) boxes will say that you can simply choose to select gears manually. And that's true, but my view is that if you have spent several thousand pounds on an auto box option, you don't really want to find that you can't use it for a significant proportion of your driving!

I Have a six speed manual Rienza (for sale but no air con)!!! and a friend until recently had the durashift five speed Rienza.    I've driven his and found it ponderous ...... and I am generally an auto fan.   He also admitted that the six speed was a superior drive all round.    As Jim stated in his post, check which version you view.

Good luck with your search....the Rienza's a great van.