How would you rate the auto trans in the Yaris?

[detroiter]

I'm just curious what others opinions are on the Yaris transmission? I'd say it's decently smooth but it seems sometimes like it's a little rough/chuggish when it shifts gears at certain rpms.

[yaris-me]

I think it's because of the DBW. The ECU is adaptive and if you drive slow the shift point may lag and the throttle seems indecisive. I feel it too sometimes. Drive spirited and the ECU will adapt.:thumbsup:

[Attere]

With how I went from a '76 F100 to the Yaris... >_> I love the auto trans. Lol.

It's pretty smooth seeing as the car isn't a luxury vehicle..

[Bob Dog]

I drove one on a rental. Rough and chuggish is an apt description. I found it a lot slower and clumsier than my 5 spd. I wouldn't own a car with as low horsepowerwith an automatic, but with a 5spd. its just fine. Sorry AT owners.

[gfx3d]

it not so slow ,but its ok for moderate drivers

[41magmag41]

I find the auto does an excellant job. I find the car spirited when I want to drive it that way. I bought the car for its economy and low operating costs. I think those of you you try to liken it to more expensive car and/or sport car are missing the point of the car, good basic inexpensive transportation. If you don't like the way it handles, ride or its cost move on to something else.

[Bob Dog]

:burnrubber:I like the car fine...with a 5 speed, Oh yeah and with a TRD suspension, installed for what the autotranny cost

[gokartride]

good basic inexpensive transportation. I agree...based on the overall design of the rest of the car, I find the AT to be just great!!! It's pretty smart, too!!

[dinamix]

selling point for the auto was
-better resale value
-GF or friends can be drive it when im drunk(most people i know dont drive stick)

cons
-slow
-slow
-boring

overall its great..if i wanted a 5 spd i woulda bought a sports car

[WeeYari]

I don't believe it was the intent of the OP to start an A/T vs M/T discussion. He is looking for input of the auto tranny in the Yaris, relative to that of other manufacturer makes and models.

[Bob Dog]

Was the originator talking about an auto or a manual? Its hard to tell. I don't want to get into this argument again, a lot of good folks drive ATs and really like them and I really don't like to offend them. With me however, if you can't shift it, I don't want it. I also hear people bitch about manual not going into gear properly, but with the exception a few very rare shifting errors (which I consider to be my fault), I have no problem with this mine goes into gear just fine. I guess all I'm saying is ,folks ,which would you rather drive a near Minicooper, or a much more dependable cousin to an Aveo? Forgive me if I offend, as it is not my intent and I know my wants and needs are not everybodies wants and needs.

[MadMax]

I love mine, but it is definitely not as smooth as our Honda minivan. However, it definitely shifts better than my Jeep.

The ability to shift when I want, or just let the transmission do it itself, is what I love the most. As I've said before, you can always manually shift the auto, but you can never get the manual to shift automatically!

The bottom line is the Yaris AT is far from perfect, but it works pretty well and I would give it an 8 out of a 10.

Cheers! M2

[sammy]

I think the tranny shifts fine. For a small economical car it wants to get to the 4 gear quickly and keep the R's low for more economy. If you feel the trans. shifts to sluggish or to much 3/4, 4/3 put it in the 3 position vs the D position just be careful not to over rev. it. This will help in city driving and keep performance there just remember when it screams shift me, bump it to the D position.

[Forrest]

I agree...based on the overall design of the rest of the car, I find the AT to be just great!!! It's pretty smart, too!!

Totally agree !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

[xtremesniper]

I think the auto transmission is fine. I like it. It has just enough kick to accelerate quickly (despite what most reviewers seem to say). My only problem with it is sometimes (as mentioned by someone else here as well) if you try to accelerate from a certain rpm or gear, it seems slower to get up there than at other speeds. But pushing further down on the gas fixes that problem promptly. ;)

Again, unless they've changed something in the '09, I really don't get why people say the automatic has slow acceleration. It gets up there very quickly for this kind of economy car.

[LtNoogie]

I think it shifts too early. That's why I shift my AT by hand when I want to do spirited driving.

[yaris-me]

Remember, during warm up the AT won't up shift to fourth and the ECU delays the up shift.

[JumpmanYaris]

Mine was ok untill i put some 18's in it :laugh: you can really tell the difrence when i put the stock wheel for winter so much faster, I would rather had gotten my self a manual but wife dont know how to drive it. Overall i like the AT.

[nemelek]

Around town the A/T is great. However when I take it to the mountains it keeps shifting between 3 and 4th gear.

[JumpmanYaris]

Around town the A/T is great. However when I take it to the mountains it keeps shifting between 3 and 4th gear.

Same here

[Marthos]

Around town the A/T is great. However when I take it to the mountains it keeps shifting between 3 and 4th gear.

The D position is really Overdrive.

3 is Drive.

You should pull the shifter toward you into 3 (Drive) for climing big hills/fun in the mountains.

Check your Owners Manual, Thats what it says, I swear (Overdrive/drive not the mountains part lol).

Edit = 2007 Owners Manual Pg 125

D : Normal driving (shifting into overdrive possible)
3 : Enginebraking (shifting into overdrive not possible)


If D is overdrive then 3 is Drive

Engine braking only happens if your off the gas pedal.

Page 127 g Good driving pratice

has the info about using 3 when the trans keeps shifting from 4 to 3 and back to 4 and towing.

[R2D2]

I'm very happy with the AT in the Yaris. I like the way the selector is set up and find it very user friendly. My favorite feature is the great engine braking due to DFCO and being able to easily drop gears as needed. As stated above the AT is looking to get into fourth ASAP if you drive conservatively and I find it will hold fourth a very long time (good economy) when climbing if your driving easily. (I very rarely push the accelerator down more than about 20 percent.) I drive quite conservatively and find it very smooth and intelligent when driven this way.

I find the shifts have a great balance of firmness-not harsh and not "slushy"

If your driving aggressively I find it "knows" this and will kind of "lock out" of fourth (meaning it waits much longer than usual to shift into fourth) in anticipation of more spirited driving until you settle down a bit. I noticed this during my first tank of fuel when I was giving the engine a good aggressive break in.

The AT is NOT for those seeking ultimate performance as in any other application. However I find when I need to push it a little to merge in heavy traffic it is more than adequate. I don't think you can compare an AT with a MT. All I can say is the Yaris with the 5 speed must have some pep!

I'd give it 9 out of 10. Hope it lives a long time!

R2

[Yaris Hilton]

Mine is fine.

[supmet]

Auto FTW.

If your car is boosted then you can drive a manual, but honestly, reading the forums I see nothing but people complaining about squeaky shifts, ornery gears, too loud at cruising speed, blah blah blah with the MT. I can cruise at 85 without hearing my car. And honestly someone might beat me in a straight line, but I'll keep up with you on curves with gear limiting.

As far as weird shift points, don't floor it at the bottom of a gear going up hill - its your car telling you, "You know, you could have easily stopped at that yellow - you were only going 20 and uphill at that"

[ern-diz]

Auto FTW.

If your car is boosted then you can drive a manual, but honestly, reading the forums I see nothing but people complaining about squeaky shifts, ornery gears, too loud at cruising speed, blah blah blah with the MT. I can cruise at 85 without hearing my car. And honestly someone might beat me in a straight line, but I'll keep up with you on curves with gear limiting.

As far as weird shift points, don't floor it at the bottom of a gear going up hill - its your car telling you, "You know, you could have easily stopped at that yellow - you were only going 20 and uphill at that"

LOL...i don't know how, with one less gear, an AT would be more quiet than an MT at freeway speeds...i'm thinking your definition of quiet is a little different than most peoples lol...my MT shifts great, is more responsive than an AT and i'm CERTAIN has better fuel efficiency due to the additional gear.

[Maxh91]

and i'm CERTAIN has better fuel efficiency due to the additional gear.

I dont own a Manual but i have heard that the AT 4 speed and the MT 5 speed have same RPM at 90 or 100 Km/h. But a MT can be shift early.

[supmet]

LOL...i don't know how, with one less gear, an AT would be more quiet than an MT at freeway speeds...i'm thinking your definition of quiet is a little different than most peoples lol...my MT shifts great, is more responsive than an AT and i'm CERTAIN has better fuel efficiency due to the additional gear.

You're right about FE, and I don't know how the freeway speed noise works out, I just know its never the AT people whining about the noise :D

Drive what you want, I'm just poking fun back at the people making fun of the ole slushbox.

[ern-diz]

You're right about FE, and I don't know how the freeway speed noise works out, I just know its never the AT people whining about the noise :D

Drive what you want, I'm just poking fun back at the people making fun of the ole slushbox.

i can feel you on that!

[TRDMarty]

When I oredered my 2008 ''S'' with an auto, the salesman looked at me like I was actually kidding. I'm sure the rest of you & where you might live have a freeway that you have to do your daily commute on and it just SUCKS to sit there. Here in So Cal, I have to sit everyday for 1 to up to 2.5 hours. There was no way I wanted to give my left leg a workout. As far as how my auto tranny works, no problems. The shift points are within reason and alittle soft but thats to be expected. Little car, little engine, little tranny. Again I'm happy with my choice of auto over manual tranny.

[bronsin]

I think its pretty smooth but its the first Ive owned in 40 years of driving. One thing though. I was planning on passin' this guy on a back road and it took a while for an opportuniy to present itself. When it did I pinned my ears back and let her rip! And....nothin'! There was nothin there! Now in my five speed ECHO Id have dropped it into third and floored it and be doing 80 real quick. I mean Im not afraid to die you know what I mean? But this auto trans just has no beans. If you want beans...

[TRDMarty]

It's not the tranny that has no beans. It's that little engine with the 4 squirrels turning the wire wheels in the their cage. Add turbocharger, add supercharger, add beans. Maybe feed the squirrels a peanut.
I'm with you on this, just not enough beans.

[bronsin]

It's not the tranny that has no beans. It's that little engine with the 4 squirrels turning the wire wheels in the their cage. Add turbocharger, add supercharger, add beans. Maybe feed the squirrels a peanut.
I'm with you on this, just not enough beans.

Actually the ECHOs (and Yaris's) engine has as much horsepower as a 1970 BMW 2002 tti had. I blew by a left lane blocker in my 01 ECHO at 106 mph once. The five speed transmission gets the power to the wheels in a very forcefull way. And the solid lifters dont float at high rpms either! The auto trans just didnt have the means to convert the power into SPEED. Of course this is my first experience with it so maybe its me thats the problem!

[Bob Dog]

An AT comsumes power to operate and also does not allow the most efficient use of the rpm curve when accelerating to roadway or highway speeds. The less HP you have the more important it is to use it efficiently. I can sure understand an AT in stop and go commuting though, constant extremely repeatative shifting in the first and second gears can turn into a real bitch after a rather short stretch of time.

[Vang]

its ok for what you get, but when i go uphill its a pain...

[Yaris Hilton]

You guys complaining about the power of a Yaris with an automatic must've grown up in another world.

[ern-diz]

You guys complaining about the power of a Yaris with an automatic must've grown up in another world.

just outta curiousity (because i drive a MT so, your comment wouldn't apply to me), what do you mean by that? i'm not following you...

[Altitude]

I've never liked any AT vehicle and will never buy a vehicle that doesn't have an MT option. I know this doesn't add to the discussion, but hands down MT FTW!

[Yaris Hilton]

just outta curiousity (because i drive a MT so, your comment wouldn't apply to me), what do you mean by that? i'm not following you...


I mean that the car has a great deal of power in my opinion. Someone who would complain about that has been accustomed to very high performance vehicles. As we've discussed in another thread, the Yaris has comparable power to cars that once were considered high performance machines, like the BMW mentioned above, or like the early '80s Z28 Camaros and such. I used to have a '71 Ford LTD with a 429 cubic inch V8 with 10.5:1 compression, and it'd outrun most of the early '80s American "muscle cars." My scientifically calibrated rear end thinks the Yaris sedan with automatic transmission accelerates about like that big Ford did, and the top speed is about the same. The people who above complained of how little power an AT Yaris has are very hard to please indeed.

[ern-diz]

I mean that the car has a great deal of power in my opinion. Someone who would complain about that has been accustomed to very high performance vehicles. As we've discussed in another thread, the Yaris has comparable power to cars that once were considered high performance machines, like the BMW mentioned above, or like the early '80s Z28 Camaros and such. I used to have a '71 Ford LTD with a 429 cubic inch V8 with 10.5:1 compression, and it'd outrun most of the early '80s American "muscle cars." My scientifically calibrated rear end thinks the Yaris sedan with automatic transmission accelerates about like that big Ford did, and the top speed is about the same. The people who above complained of how little power an AT Yaris has are very hard to please indeed.

gotcha...thx for the clarification :thumbsup:

[tomato]

Sorry, can't help you, I have M/T. Curious to see what kind of answers you're getting, though. Subscribed.