Chrysler officials said in a press release this month, that from now on, every manual transmission they offer will be a 6 speed - all 5 speeds are gone.

this includes everything, from the neon, to the srt4 to trucks to the charger(if they ever make it).

although I'm not a big chrysler fan, I have to give credit where credit is due; excellent job. now if only everyone else would follow suit...

who knows, maybe we'll be joking in ten years how we had cars with only 5 gears!

 

Good job Chrysler. It seems that every company that makes a 5-speed says that they did so because it didn't need a 6 speed and that there was no performance difference. However when the 6-speed comes out they change their tune a little bit. Look at the Evo and the new version (MR or RS, I forget) that now has a six speed.

It would be nice if the Cobalt had a six speed, but I'm sure that will happen in the next few years, when Lutz gets the transmission end of the organization modernized.

 

Sweet Six Speeds!!!!!!

 

you could always swap in a 6-speed from a saab. I think in a couple years(2 or 3) the cobalt ss may get a 6 but who knows.

anyone hear about the new M5 it has a 7 speed

 

I read in a review that the seven speed in the M5 (I think its an SMG), is too busy, they complain that it has too many gears... we'll see where this goes i guess.

 

I wouldn't mind a 6speed...however, my 5spd is just fine (except for being at almost 4k rpm when going 75mph). The only time you'd use the 6th gear is on the interstate anyway, so it doesn't really see that much action.

 

The six speed would allow them to space the other 5 gears closer together, keeping the car in it's powerband. I guess you'd have too many gears when the amount of shifting you have to do negates that gain.

 

sweet...6 speeds own....it's about time one of the companies got smarter

 

yeah, it's an SMG (for anyone who doesn't know what that is, the shifter is like on a bike; push it foreward to gear up, backward to gear down, or sometimes vice versa).

and they're lying; there's no such thing as too many gears

 

I disagree, if you need 7 gears there is something seriously wrong with your power band that you need to shift that much to stay in it.

 

I don't think it's a question if it needs it, its a question of whether it actually increases performance enough to be worth the extra cost. It may not even do that, but even the percieved status value of being able to say "Yeah my M5 has a 7-speed SMG trans in it" is enough to convince buyers of it's value. And of course I don't think they have another option to choose from.

 

nope its an F1 style paddle shifters behide the steering wheel with different shift programs and all

we may get a six speed faster than we think I forgot the pontiac G6 is supposed to get a 6 next year with that 3.9l in the performance model

 

actually, it does have a shifter on the driver's side; the steering wheel shift peddles are redundant, just like on the grand prix comp G(tap shift).

and keep in mind, it wasn't long ago that a 5 speed was considered unnecessary.

 

on boosted cars like the cobalt, the 5 sp will be more beneficial. The taller the gears, the longer the car stays in it's boost range. Same applies to turbocharged vehicles.

close ratio 6 speeds are really good for high revving n/a cars. and for highway driving assuming the final drive gear ratio is rather aggressive.

 

that was always dodges bragging point when i looked on their site for the srt-4... "gearbox is only 5 speed, enough power that 6 speed isnt necessary" blah blah....pooed on their parade!