Now, a lot of praise is given to other manufacturers for having more gears in their automatic transmissions, but I put forth the notion of what those extra gears actually do better. Now, let's assume the general scenario of a person casually commuting to work. Slowly starting out from a light, the engine will rev up to probably about 2500 rpm, then shift, and this cycle will repeat until the speed settles off and the transmission can settle in the gear that is the best suited for the chosen cruising speed. Let's assume that this speed is 110 kmph (68 mph). In my truck that would be 4th gear @ 1800 rpm approximately. Now, with a 5 speed transmission, what advantage would it have over a 4-speed in this situation? The manufacturers are not going to make the top gear any taller as it still has to cater to the average highway speed travelled, which implies that the gears inbetween are just closer together. I don't anticipate any real quantitative advantages for a 5, 6 speed tranny over a 4-speed under normal driving conditions. Conversely, when you throw performance into the mix, yes, I agree that the closer ratios will pay dividends into making your vehicle faster. My question is, though, why is everyone concerned so much about 5 and 6 speed transmissions? Is it all a matter of perception, or does everyone really want to floor it from every light? GM automatic transmissions are second to none in the industry. Always smooth shifting, efficient, and reliable, I don't see any other logical reason to lust after more gears other than the fact that, "we have less gears than the competition." I see a parallelism here between this and the issue with the top of the line engine (inline 5) in the Colorado/Canyon/H3. It seems that the number of cylinders is more important than other factors. Here's another comparision. I heard an advertisement on the radio this morning on how the Honda Pilot has the best fuel mileage for an SUV that can seat 8. How is that relevant to anything? How comfortable are the 8 people in that vehicle? How heavy is the vehicle? How BIG is the vehicle? Incase some of you don't seem to notice the point I'm making, general engineering is not always something that society takes into account when buying. Bigger is better, More is better, regardless of what that even means anymore.
Let me be clear now, I want GM to improve more than anyway, but in no way would I put them down for having 4-spd transmissions like so many people do. I posted this thread first to start it as a tech question but then it evolved into a discussion of perception vs. reality.
Let me be clear now, I want GM to improve more than anyway, but in no way would I put them down for having 4-spd transmissions like so many people do. I posted this thread first to start it as a tech question but then it evolved into a discussion of perception vs. reality.