I would say that the five speed auto in my mom’s Honda Fit is one of the best. It would hold a lower gear when going up hill, downshift when going down hill. It would even hold the current gear when it senses abrupt throttle release, which helps you slow down as you reach for the brake pedal. When the torque converter is locked, it stays locked even when the throttle is completely release. No mush when you reapply the throttle. My problem is that it isn’t an AMT, which would be even more efficient.
There doesn't seem to be any new small SUVs with manual transmission
A lot of vehicles have been going that way.
Back in 06 when I bought my 05 4runner…The Pathfinder and 4runner were only made in Automatics. My 98 Pathfinder was a 5-speed manual.
People just don’t want manuals anymore. When I bought my new Pathfinder in 98…it took the dealer a long time to find a 5-speed.
My new 14 Highlander only comes as an automatic.
As soon as the H:ydramatic automatic transmission was offered on the 1940 Oldsmobile, manufacturers did there best to kill of the manual transmission. I had a 1947 Pontiac, a 1948 Dodge and a 1954 Buick with the three speed on the column manual transmissions and these cars shifted very well. On the other hand, I had a 1955 Pontiac and a 1965 Rambler Classic and the three speed shift linkages were terribly engineered and didn’t shift well. In the 1960s, if you wanted an American car with a smooth shifting manual transmission, you had to buy a 4 speed manual with the floor shift.
I remember when the Ford F-100 first offered an automatic transmission back in 1953 along with GMC. I couldn’t fathom why anyone would want an automatic transmission in a pickup truck. Now, a manual transmission isn’t even available in a half ton pickup truck.
I think most of the public was ready to quit shifting gears in the late 1940s. When the Hydramatic was made an option on the 1948 Pontiac, 85% of the 8 cylinder Pontiacs and 50% of the 6 cylinder Pontiacs that year were sold with the Hydramatic automatic transmissions. We had neighbors who bought new 1949 Chevrolets and traded them I in 1950 to get the PowerGIlide automatic transmission that became available.
My dad was one of the last holdouts for an automatic transmission. When the option was about $150, he made the statement “I can shift a lot of gears for $150”. He also made the statement “If you can’t shift the gears, you shouldn’t be driving”.
My brother’s 1951 Packard with a flathead straight eight has a two-speed automatic with LOW to be used only on hills. In normal DRIVE, you start in 1:1 high gear on the torque converter, then at about 20 mph the converter locks up and you’re good to go. Now we have 9-speed automatics.
In Europe and South America…Manuals still outsell automatics.
@insightful–I remember when Packard introduced that transmission. It was first an option on the 1950 models and called Ultramatic. Before that time, there was an electric clutch option available so that the clutch worked automatically if you switched it on, but you had to move the shift lever. However, if you bought the Borg-Warner automatic overdrive and had the overdrive engaged, you could shift gears without the clutch anyway because you had free wheeling up to 28 miles per hour when you could release the accelerator and go into overdrive.
I have a sort of hobby of reading magazines about air cooled VW Beetles from the 1950-1970 era. One thing you notice straight away reading these magazines are comments like this. “My car which I’m refurbishing is on its third replacement engine, but the manual transmission is original, never rebuilt.” A manual transmission working just fine for 60 years, never needing to be rebuilt? Makes a person think, eh?
I’d say buy a make that offers a manual transmission. Especially avoid the newer automatic transmissions, they have as many as 8 speeds, and are not nearly as reliable as a manual, and are very complicated – i.e. expensive – to repair. If you insist to use an automatic for some reason, consider buying an older model, something pre-2006. Or maybe the best thing is to just keep the one you have.
A friend of mine is an automotive journalist and swears by manuals. He gave me a free car and driver T-shirt that reads “save the manuals”. Sort’ve a campaign to thwart the disappearance of manuals these days.
The hydramatic in my 50 cadillac shifts rather smooth and is a 4 speed.