Why a 4spd not 5spd AT

[CB900F2]

Hey guys..

I was wondering why do you think Toyota went with a 4spd AT rather then a 5spd for the Yaris?....

What would the technical reasons be you think?...

The current gen Honda Fit and previous gen uses a 5spd AT for example...

hmmmm...

thanks Guys!

[thebarber]

$.

[eTiMaGo]

Exactly. Toyota builds these cars, especially the USDM versions, to be as cheap as possible. For example, Japan has a CVT option for some models, and Europe has a tiptronic kind of AT (MMT), but I believe it is still a 4-speed.

[gid]

we were talking about that yesterday while looking at YARII at local dealer . Like to see what's new to pass the time and for therapy to see if we can resist the itch :drool: to buy :help: :biggrin: . Got the Y.T.s :eyebulge: and other withdrawal symptoms at this moment :barf: . Would be nice tho :thumbsup: .

[thebarber]

would be nice....but to engineer a new transmission when the 4AT is fine isnt in toyota's best interest....besides, it works better for yaris owners if you ever need to replace the tranny....can grab one from an echo, xA or 1st gen xb as well as yaris....

[2006fronty]

....can grab one from an echo, xA or 1st gen xb as well as yaris....
Yep, i like the fact that our engine/transmission has been around for a while, replacements or rebuilds shouldn't be that hard to come across

[eii]

Yep, i like the fact that our engine/transmission has been around for a while, replacements or rebuilds shouldn't be that hard to come across

Didnt know that, good to know:w00t:

[Altitude]

The greater question is - why would anyone buy an AutoTrans at all? On any car?

MT FTW!!

[ddongbap]

Same reason why a part of Honda modding became so popular.

AT is so much easier to drive when you're lazy, or hate traffic.

[Forrest]

The greater question is - why would anyone buy an AutoTrans at all? On any car?

MT FTW!!

After almost 50 years of driving all sorts of vehicles, it is nice to have an automatic car. One can grow to appreciate not having a clutch !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also remember driving cars and trucks with NO power steering, many bad clutches, poor headlight quality, windshield wipers that worked on a vacumn and poor tires.
Cars today are a joy to drive and appreciating the AT is a pleasure for old bones !!!!!:thumbsup:

[GeneW]

Hey guys..

I was wondering why do you think Toyota went with a 4spd AT rather then a 5spd for the Yaris?....

thanks Guys!

Why would someone experiment with an economy line? If you keep it simple and reliable with your economy line it keeps down warranty costs, tooling and lets you push development costs onto more high profit end products.

Gene

[watersoilair]

Wouldn't the 4 speed transmission get poorer fuel economy over speeds of 90km/hr? I was told that 5th gear is like an overdrive of sorts. For instance.

If I were to drive 90km/hr in 4th gear it would definitely be at 3000 no questions asked. If I were driving in 5th gear at 90km/hr it is ~2700rpm. The split seems to happen ~85km/hr when both 4th and 5th gear runs at 2500rpm.
The tach gradually moves up to 3000rpm and above as I drive faster. ~3000rpm at 120km/hr and ~3200 at 140km/hr.

[Bob_VT]

It was not too long ago that automatics had two speeds that developed into 3 speeds for a long time...... then came the 3 speed plus overdrive (which is the current 4 speed)..... no need for a 5 speed in an econo box.

Hmmmm the same people who demand the 5 speed auto rarely have any knowledge of what used to be the standard before they were born...........

[eTiMaGo]

screw 5-speed, let's see an 8-speed auto from a Lexus in the Yar...

[Dorkinheimer]

The tach gradually moves up to 3000rpm and above as I drive faster. ~3300rpm at 120km/hr and ~3500 at 140km/hr.


Over 3000 RPM, it's a very unpleasant drive, if you're taking a long trip.

Same thing with the 2009 manual Corolla, it spins to darn fast over 110 km/h

[eTiMaGo]

Wouldn't the 4 speed transmission get poorer fuel economy over speeds of 90km/hr? I was told that 5th gear is like an overdrive of sorts. For instance.

If I were to drive 90km/hr in 4th gear it would definitely be at 3000 no questions asked. If I were driving in 5th gear at 90km/hr it is ~2700rpm. The split seems to happen ~85km/hr when both 4th and 5th gear runs at 2500rpm.
The tach gradually moves up to 3000rpm and above as I drive faster. ~3300rpm at 120km/hr and ~3500 at 140km/hr.

Then again, on the 5 speed manual, we run at about 3000RPM at 100km/h too... I think the gear ratios for AT4 and MT5 are pretty much identical?

[thebarber]

typically if they add an extra gear they just add another gear from 2-3

my xrs 6speed had the same 1st as the base 5speed, and 6th was the same as 5th in the 5speed....but the gearing between 1st and 6th were closer than in the 5 speed (*actually first and second might have even been the same as the 5speed and instead of 3rd being really tall (like in the yaris) it was lots tighter....cus nothing beat landing in lift in every gear (and is also the reason that the 2zzge w/ an auto sucked so bad))

[IllusionX]

Then again, on the 5 speed manual, we run at about 3000RPM at 100km/h too... I think the gear ratios for AT4 and MT5 are pretty much identical?

100kmh is closer to 2700rpm than 3000rpm.


speaking of many speed automatics.. i've driven a 6 speed auto gearbox mini van and a CVT ford freestar. Seriously, i would take the CVT anyday over more speed gearboxes.
It's so much fun to continuously accelerate @ redline than having it jerk all over the place at each gear change.

[kimona]

According to a Motor Trend report for the 2007 Yaris sedan with 185/60/15's:

Manual transmission at 60MPH = 2600RPM.

Automatic transmissin at 60MPH = 2500RPM.