Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Wagons/Estates
Chrysler expands use of five-speed auto
Chrysler has announced that it will be installing the W5A580 five-speed automatic
transmission in the 2006 Dodge Magnum and Chrysler 300 that are equipped with the 3.5 L V6. The 42RLE four-speed will
remain the sole offering on vehicles sold with the 2.7 L V6. Additional capacity at the Kokomo, IN plant that supplies
the Mercedes-derived gearbox is credited with allowing Chrysler to make this change. Claims of less shifting make
little sense given the addition of one more gear, and EPA mileage tests don't reflect promises of better real-world
fuel economy, but it's a safe bet that the well-spaced ratios and proven reliability of this transmission will
ultimately yield a better driving experience for those buyers that somehow resist the temptation of the Hemi.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Viggo 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
it's not about less shifting and more mpg, it's about acceleration performance..
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Joel A 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
"it's not about less shifting and more mpg, it's about acceleration performance.."
And following the latest trends for five, six, and seven (?) gears of the competition. Next to the use of push-rods, the lack of such is one of the biggest complaints one hears about domestic models, especially GM vehicles.
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Craig 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Pushrods are not the problem. Crappy design is. Drive the HEMI and tell me how bad pushrods are. That engine is smooth, powerful, torquey, and refined.
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iQuack 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
A 5 speed A/T makes a big difference in smoothness and efficiency--especially with a 4 cylinder engine.
Before I bought my current, '04 car in August, '03, I drove a Mazda 6i which I thought I wanted until driving its lousy, 4 speed A/T with poorly chosen gear ratios. It also hunted annoyingly between 2nd and 3rd gears on hills.
Far better performance from the Honda Accord 4 with its 5 speed A/T was much of why I chose that car.
Seems to me that the additional gear would be better for improving the performance of a 4 cylinder car than a V6 or V8 which have so much power to begin with.
In any case, Chrysler deserves praise for this.
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Viggo 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
couldn't agree more about the automatic in the mazda6, it's a piece of crap.
additional gears probably improves the performance more for smaller engines than bigger but i guess chrysler and other car manufacturers don't want to spend extra money on models where performance aint the highest priority anyway.
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md 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
what about the manuals?
there must loose a lot of customers who want a clutch and a shifter. i will never buy automatic vehicles unless i loose my left leg.
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S P 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
"it's not about less shifting and more mpg, it's about acceleration performance."
No they're vitally important for better fuel economy also. People want everything these days, more power and better economy, and those are conflicting demands. A modern transmission is how you let people have their cake and eat it too.
From a performance aspect, it's true that larger torquey engines with wide powerbands are less in need of more gears than smaller peaky ones with narrow powerbands. A GM 3800 with a 4spd auto is just fine. But it's tough to keep a Celica GT-S solidly in the powerband even with a 6spd manual, and the 4spd auto on that car is a bad joke.
But engines will still only operate at "peak efficiency" over a much smaller range of RPM's (despite ultra-wide powerbands), and it's a moving target based on the torque output of the engine. The more gears you have and the closer they are together, the easier it is to keep the engine in that peak efficiency range to maximize your fuel mileage. It can make a huge difference.
The tradeoff of course is cost. More gears = greater complexity both in terms of hardware and software, and that drives costs up. But it's money well spent when you're giving the customer both better performance and better efficiency at the same time.
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S P 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Oh forgot to add...
" Joe Grace, senior manager of the company's premium vehicle platform team, says the five-speed transmission improves "real world fuel economy," even though the government ratings "remain the same": 19 mpg on the city cycle and 27 mpg on the highway."
Translation: Since the 5AT will show up mid-year as a "2006.5", we didn't want to bother spending the money to recertify the EPA ratings again for the same year of car. That will be done the following year for the 2007 cars. At least that's my bet. When Nissan updated the Altima 3.5SE from a 4AT to a 5AT in 2004, the EPA figures remained the same. It wasn't until 2005 that the 5AT was actually reflected in the EPA ratings.
The ratings will probably go from 19/27 to 20/28 or something, but not until 2007.
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