Autoblog

AZMike @ Jan 13th 2008 1:10PM

I'm always confused about all the big-to-do about how many speeds an automatic transmission has.

my '06 Ram (5.7L HEMI) has a five speed automatic, and quite honestly, I can't tell the difference between this and the four speed automatic my last Ram had. I'd be perfectly happy with a three-speed with a lockup torque converter. for me, simplicity equals durability, and cheap maintenence. high tech stuff is great for tiny cars; leave it off the trucks.

I could see this being an important feature if you were trying to get a little teeny engine to do a bigger job than it should, but if the engine is big enough for the job, the transmission doesn't really make much difference.

if my truck is moving, it has a trailer behind it, and is pulling at least 5,000 pounds. a "short" trip for me is 7,000 miles in less than ten days, and that covers every type of terrain and altitude. I would imagine by now (68,000 miles) that I would see a dramatic difference between the four and five speed automatic, but I don't see any.

the one thing I don't like about the five speed automatic is having both the "tow/haul" and "O/D off" switches on the end of the gear shift lever. you have to punch the button twice to get to the "O/D off". I've never even needed the "tow/haul" mode, even pulling up steep mountain grades with a 45MPH headwind.

I applaud GM for keeping the four-speed automatic for as long as they have.

AZMike