In Defense of The 6-Speed Automatic.

As a car and driving enthusiast, the driving experience takes precedent above everything else in a car. Style, speed, brand, all those attributes mean nothing if the car isn’t engaging to drive. And nothing makes a car more engaging than a manual transmission. That’s why 99% of car enthusiasts prefer a manual transmission over an automatic. In fact, every car I have owned has been either a 4 or 5-speed manual. For this reason, car enthusiasts have initiated viral campaigns like #savethemanual which routinely find their way onto Facebook, Twitter, and Car Throttle: we like, upvote, share and retweet with pride, because we value the experience and engagement that the manual transmission brings. However, there is an undeniable and disturbing trend in cars today: increasingly complete lack of driver engagement. Cars that normal people can afford are being engineered specifically for comfort and efficiency, and the price of that comfort and efficiency is loss of engagement. For decades, engineers have struck at the system that offers some of the most engagement: the transmission. First they made it automatic, and now they are threatening to eliminate one of the most engaging variants of automatic transmissions, the 6-speed. Save the manuals, yes, but lend a thought to saving the humble 6-speed too.

Why would I, a self proclaimed car enthusiast, want to save one of those evil and vulgar automatic transmission? That’s a good question, but first off, I don’t want to save the automatic transmission as a whole, not that it needs saving. After all, almost all new cars come with an automatic as standard. I don’t hate automatics either, however. A well made automatic can be engaging, and can bring something to the driving experience, though not on the level of a manual transmission. However, in a push for better fuel efficiency, many new cars today either come with 8 or more gears, or a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission.) While both of these transmissions indeed help the engine utilize fuel better, they often mute any remaining dregs of fun or engagement that the car has to offer. Here are a few reasons why.

The logic is simple: the more gears you have, the more often you are shifting. The idea behind having more gears is to keep the engine RPMs as low as possible, which means that the engine and transmission are working less, wearing less, and most of all, requiring less fuel to operate overall. But, that also means that your car spends less time in the powerband, this is usually in the higher rev range where the car’s horsepower and torque spike. By spending less time there, the engine is working less and uses less fuel. Which is great, right? Well, this is only kinda true. It is good that the engine is working less when the car is at speed, but getting there can sometimes be a problem. When in a WOT (wide open throttle) situation, the transmission has to shift more to get up to speed, and it has to hold itself in a gear longer than normal in order to keep the engine in the powerband. This can cause the transmission to jerk into gear, because the transmission has to shift fast enough to stay in the powerband, while maintaining speed, and with each new added gear to play with, there is even less room for error.
A CVT is run by a belt and pully (or drum) system that solves this problem by eliminating the need for gears altogether. However, this doesn’t solve the problem of the powerband. The belt still has to move along the pully, and this means that the car can feel slow as it builds up power, or as if it’s always “looking for a gear,” until the engine finally hits the powerband and things really start moving. When attempting to pass other cars, both problems surface yet again. A conventional transmission downshifts to boost back into the powerband. A 10 speed, however, can downshift multiple times while trying to find the right gear. This occurs in both a WOT situation as well as in cases of gradual acceleration. The transmission will downshift once, and then again because it lacks the ready power needed to accelerate quickly. This can lead to the car jerking into gear, and with a CVT there is “lag” for the time it takes the belt to move to the right position on the pully or drum.
Further disadvantage is the fun factor, or lack thereof. One of the reasons driving enthusiasts love manual transmissions is because we can hold it in gear all the way to the redline, to get every ounce of power out of the engine. An automatic, especially ones with a high number of gears, tend to shift well below the redline and it makes for a smooth, if far more sedated, driving experience. If your car has a manual mode, as some contemporary luxury automatics do, you can rev it up to redline if you want, but some systems will shift it automatically to avoid potentially damaging the engine. Furthermore, a 8, 9, or even a 10-speed automatic may not work as much as a 6-speed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the transmission experiences less wear over time. Instead of 6 gears capable of wearing out, you have 10: all the more parts that could individually fail and leave you stranded. Even with a CVT, the belt could start to slip or even snap which will also leave you stranded.

A 6-speed automatic transmission, while slightly less efficient, is still a very good transmission. It has long been the standard for automatic transmissions, and for that reason it is the most mechanically refined variant of automatic transmission on the road today. When well maintained, the transmission can last well over 100,000 miles with no issues. Shifts are smooth and predictable, if a bit on the long side. While yes, that means it works harder, so the engine noise may inconvenience your sing along with NSYNC, but you will use all the power that the engine can give you. In a WOT situation, the transmission will shift one gear at a time: it won’t have to skip a gear or hold it longer to stay in the powerband. When passing on the highway, the transmission will downshift once and you can pass with ease, with little or no delay in power delivery. This quote from Roadshow on Mazda’s 6-speed automatic sums it up:

"It never is trying to search for a gear." -Roadshow

More and more, automakers are switching to 8, 9, 10-speed, or CVT transmissions in order to boast of greater comfort and fuel efficency. Chevy, Honda, Toyota, Subaru and many others now all offer a car with a selection of the transmissions listed above, which seems to spell doom for the humble 6-speed. In fact, if a car doesn’t come with a 8, 9, 10, or CVT, and another car in its class does. Critics will say it’s behind the times, and that the manufacturer is robbing you of performance or efficiency in exchange for cheap, proven tech. This has been the case with the 2018 Mazda6: it was given a refresh which featured a new turbocharged engine, mated to a 6-speed automatic. Critics love the car’s styling, interior quality, and have overall praised it as one of the best Mazda6s ever produced. But there has been a common thread in the reviews pertaining to its 6-speed transmission. Journalists and YouTubers alike have criticized the 6-speed as old and outdated, suggesting the new Mazda6 falls short of the Camry or Accord in performance on account of its transmission (the Accord has a 10-speed, and the Camry has an 8-speed.) To blame the “lack” of performance on the transmission is ridiculous: the Mazda weighs more, and the car was designed to be more luxurious with a better ride than the standard Camry or Accord, to name a few relevant factors. Not to mention that this is a refresh, not a full redesign and reengineering. The Mazda6 is also touted as being more fun and engaging to drive, regardless of the “outdated” transmission. This looks to be a simple case people assuming new and more is better, but the truth is, sometimes it’s not.

The lowly 6-speed may be old, but it delivers one of the more engaging driving experiences available in any automatic transmission. I hope you will join me in trying to save the lowly 6-speed from being decried and pushed out as old and obsolete. After all, didn’t they said the same thing about the manual transmission?