Advantages of 6 speed transmission

alan4cult

What are the advantages/disadvantages of 6 speed transmission? It is becoming more and more common.

Owen

Avantages :
Better fuel economy
Less engine stress
Less engine noise in the cabin making a more relaxed drive

Disadvantages :
Can't think of any

sentient_6

I've a 6 speed. Great for the fuel definately. I'd be putting up into 6th at just 80kph. While you'd have to drop back down to 4th or 5th for any great acceleration, its grand if your just holding that speed.

Mr Benevolent

Bah, 6 speed manuals are way behind the times. Some autoboxes are up to 8 gears now

alan4cult

Confab wrote: »

Bah, 6 speed manuals are way behind the times. Some autoboxes are up to 8 gears now

Ya, but you pay for them too!

lau1247

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Disadvantages :
Can't think of any

Gear changes?? but what's one more right?

johnplayerblue

lau1247 wrote: »

Gear changes?? but what's one more right?

Gear changes a disadvantage? Never, love working through gears and another would be the icing!

Mr Benevolent

johnplayerblue wrote: »

Gear changes a disadvantage? Never, love working through gears and another would be the icing!

Try being a lorry driver.

alan4cult

Is the 6th gear positioned on the bottom or the top, generally?

alexmcred

Bottom on the Golf I had and the x1 has it on the bottom also

sentient_6

alan4cult wrote: »

Is the 6th gear positioned on the bottom or the top, generally?

Bottom on mine also

murphyebass

i have an alfa gt and its the first 6 speed I've driven.

I have to say its great for fuel, reduces noise and just a nice cruising gear.

If I was changin which I'm not things I'd look for in my next car would be..

Has to have ..

Air Con... you'd be surprised how much use this gets.
Cruise control... same as above.
and lastly 6 speed.

Green Hornet

I used to have a 6 speed Civic 1.8L. Pain in the ass changing gears. Forever changing gears.

Changed to a 5 speed Accord diesel and find it much better (although I'd imagine I probably wouldn't require as many gear changes with the diesel in any case). Not forever changing gears. I assume that I'd probably work out better in relation to fuel economy alright if I had the 6.

salad dodger

I normally wind up skipping 5th and going straight from 4th to 6th. Generally only use 5th when overtaking

Gumbo

alexmcred wrote: »

Bottom on the Golf I had and the x1 has it on the bottom also

sentient_6 wrote: »

Bottom on mine also

bottom on my S3 and bottom on my E90 also.

Barr

I think a 6 speed box is one gear to many.Give me a 5 cogs any day.

sentient_6

When i was learning to drive & doing the test it was a pain coming down through all the gears alright. But i block change alot now. 6 -> 4 -> 2, or 6th straight to 3rd for bends i know i can take in 3rd etc etc.

Must see how i get on going straight from 4th to 6th as i've only been skipping gears for coming down.

tossy

alan4cult wrote: »

Is the 6th gear positioned on the bottom or the top, generally?

Do you mean on the gear stick or in the actuall box? in the VW mark 4 based cars such as golf,octavia etc the difference between 5 and 6 speed boxes is that the 5th gear cog in the 6 speed box is the new cog - 5th gear in the 5 speed box and 6th in the 6 speed are the same length.

6th is great for economy i can see 30mpg (on a descent)

Anan1

Barr wrote: »

I think a 6 speed box is one gear to many.Give me a 5 cogs any day.

+1, feels like you're rowing the car along.

Matt Simis

Green Hornet wrote: »

I used to have a 6 speed Civic 1.8L. Pain in the ass changing gears. Forever changing gears.

Changed to a 5 speed Accord diesel and find it much better (although I'd imagine I probably wouldn't require as many gear changes with the diesel in any case). Not forever changing gears. I assume that I'd probably work out better in relation to fuel economy alright if I had the 6.

6p might not be matched well to such a small engine or its just a badly engineered box/engine setup.
On the diesel you have that backwards, diesels have a narrower power band and therefore need more gear swapping, not less. They benefit hugely from more gears and autoboxes (hence the new 8speed autos).

The problem with less gears is due to the nature of ICE, both petrol and diesel, they have specific torque sweetspots that, without gears, will not line up to your desired speed very well at all. The more gears you have, the more time you can spend in the power band and the greater efficiency you can extract from the engine. So more gears will always be better as long as the human element is up to it (or use one of the new mega autos).

Stephen

I had a 6-speed Civic 1.8 when I was in Ireland and found it great fun to drive, and very economical too.

Can't say I'd hurry back now after getting used to American V8s since then. Currently driving a 5.3 litre Chevy Silverado 1500

GTE

tossy wrote: »

5th gear cog in the 6 speed box is the new cog - 5th gear in the 5 speed box and 6th in the 6 speed are the same length.

Thats ****e. . . . The 5th gear swap is a popular mod in the USA. They get a longer(correct term?) gear to replace it.
I love 4th in my diesel Golf and I use 5th only when I know I can use it so I dont think Id miss the current 5th cog if I did the swap.

120 at near or over 3000 rpm isnt great IMO.

Green Hornet

Matt Simis wrote: »

6p might not be matched well to such a small engine or its just a badly engineered box/engine setup.
On the diesel you have that backwards, diesels have a narrower power band and therefore need more gear swapping, not less. They benefit hugely from more gears and autoboxes (hence the new 8speed autos).

The problem with less gears is due to the nature of ICE, both petrol and diesel, they have specific torque sweetspots that, without gears, will not line up to your desired speed very well at all. The more gears you have, the more time you can spend in the power band and the greater efficiency you can extract from the engine. So more gears will always be better as long as the human element is up to it (or use one of the new mega autos).

Makes sense alright. I guess the reason I dont need to change as much is that the 2.2L diesel has enough torque to accelerate well (provided I'm in the right rev range obviously) while the 1.8 petrol is just not as powerful and required gear changes to get the same acceleration?

I think the Civic 1.8 and the diesel Accord have the same BHP but the Accord feels like it has more "grunt" as a result of better torque?

Cookie_Monster

I'm forever trying to put the GFs car in 6th the odd day I'm driving it, it's very frustrating not having it

frank gooding

big diff in a 1.8 petrol and the diesel accord.

The low end torque means less gear change by default this woulld be true even if the accord had a 6 speed.

In my bro's 5 speed passat recently on the drive back from galway.
Great road, but this highlighted where 6th gear would have come in very nice.

PaulKK

I find I only really use 6th in my car when driving at 100kmph+

Its labouring at anything lower than that.


Anyone who says its annoying to have an extra gear is having a laugh,
its a cruising gear, you don't use it when your up and down the box on windy roads etc.

angry_bob

Green Hornet wrote: »

Pain in the ass changing gears.

You're having a f*ck*ng laugh, if changing gear is to much for you, buy a bloody automatic.

GTE

angry_bob wrote: »

You're having a f*ck*ng laugh, if changing gear is to much for you, buy a bloody automatic.

Calm down, living up to your name will get you standing in the naughty corner.

angry_bob

bbk wrote: »

Calm down, living up to your name will get you standing in the naughty corner.

**** off dipstick.

Eoin

take a week off

Edit - that's your 4th and last ban from motors. This one is permanent.

@bbk - please don't backseat moderate or feed the trolls.