How bad is the Auto Trans on tC? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

serith · 02-05-2005, 12:42 AM

Ok, I'm just wondering how bad the auto transmission is treating all of you tC owners out there that picked it over the 5 speed. I live in central new york, and I have to deal with bumper to bumper traffic all of the time. And wether it's to and from work or school, there are too many annoying hills. Oh, and I live on a damn hill! I'm just wondering if i forego getting the stick if i'll regret it with choosing the automatic. Does the auto require a good shove to get it to downshift? Is there overdrive? If driving it normally, does it quickly shift through the gears, or does it take its time? I think I'll just deal with the side effects and get the stick, but I'm just wondering how life would be if i chose the auto...

sciontc_mich · 02-05-2005, 04:13 AM

I joined to let ya know.. figured i've had the auto tC for 7 months now.. and it's the best auto I've ever used. On hills, there isn't a problem with shifting, it is smart enough to know to hold gears when going up hills and when going down them. There is a lot of power in the tC's engine so a "good shove" on the gas will usually just accelerate the car quickly going further usually caused a nice downshift and the car just really takes off (you'll hit the car in front of you if you do this.. it's quick)..

I haven't noticed any lag with the transmission, it's always in the right gear all the time.. I have driven stick before and when I would drive stick i would want to hold the gear around a corner.. I've noticed this auto does that.. It's also quite smooth.. hardly can tell it's shifting which is pretty good for an auto.. I have never been able to notice it downshifting as I am stopping, but watching the tachometer I can see that it is.. only time the shift was something I could feel is when I hit the gas to downshift and it shot up to 5000 rpms.. This is when I had to make sure I steered around the person in front of me that I was going around, otherwise i would've smacked into them it was that quick!!.. I love the car and the auto doesn't detract from the car's sporty nature at all!

Have you been able to test drive an auto? I think you should.. you'll see what I am talking about. The stick is decent, but a little too notchy for me when I test drove a couple of them. Plus there have been people with problems with the manual in that the transmissions are getting replaced for problems. Not to persuade you against the manual, just letting you know. it's one reason I went with the auto.. I think it's the best auto i've ever had in any car. hope that helps.. oh and at highway the rpms at 70 are 2800rpms with the auto.. the manual at 70 is 3500 rpms.. since it's geared lower.. just to let ya know..

serith · 02-05-2005, 12:28 PM

Wow, that's awesome. I'll definitely try to make it out to my scion dealer (it's not exactly next door which sucks) to test drive one. I don't think I'd mind getting the automatic seeing with how pleased you are with yours. I also have another friend who got the auto in his xA, but he doesn't know how to drive a stick, but he loves the tranny anyway.

Ty for the quick response

sciontc_mich · 02-05-2005, 01:38 PM

hey you're welcome for the response. I would imagine the tC's trans is a bit different than the xA.. because the torque in the tC's engine is so much more.. Yeah definitely get out to a dealer and try out the auto, let me know what ya think.. I'm curious to get your reaction to it. But yes I am definitely pleased with mine, I used to have a honda civic (1996) with a manual transmission. Now that manual was "smooth as butter", but in this auto, I don't even miss the manual.. I know it scared me i thought i'd miss it, but it's that good. People have said the manual is quicker, and yes it's geared lower for faster acceleration, but it's like 1/2 second quicker 0-60mph.. not much in my opinion to really notice.. so yeah let us know how it goes at the dealer

serith · 02-05-2005, 07:49 PM

YAY!! I live in central new york, and the only dealership i WAS aware of, is out in yorkville, NY, where my buddy bought his xA. But as of yesterday, Romano Toyota of E.Syracuse on erie blvd now has them--it's about a 2minute drive from my house, woot. Anyway, I just stopped over there and they had two.... with sold stickers!!! But I finaly got to see one in real life, and all i can say is that it's everything I thought it was. I spoke to someone there and he gave me his card and we setup a time to meet next week for a test drive and possibly take this further (hopefully!). The downside is that he said he wont be getting any 5 speeds for a couple of weeks, but he'll have more auto's there in a couple of days. So i guess ill get what i wanted, which is to test drive an auto. I'll post how it goes later

91MR2quickNA · 02-07-2005, 03:18 AM

tC Manual 0-60: 7.4s

The tC automatic is a direct carryover from the 02-04 Camry's. It should do better than the heavier Camry in 0-60 time.

sciontc_mich · 02-07-2005, 04:04 AM

it may be the same transmission but the gearing is different in the tC than the camry.. I've driven the camry with the tC's engine and an auto.. much more lag in the gearing.. the tC is more responsive.. might be the same transmission but the gearing is different.. much improved over the camry's implementation of it

TMakX2K2 · 02-07-2005, 08:18 PM

I think 7.4 and 8.1 are two different times. I guess it all depends on how you plan to use the car. I thought about getting an automatic, but I really plan on modding my car over time so I figured it makes more sense to get a manual.

What do others think?

chris0 · 02-19-2005, 06:54 PM

sciontc_mitch is correct in pretty much all that he said. the At is geared differently than the MT, probably to overcome what are usually shortcomings with ATs. at takeoff if you're not careful it'll whip your head back, and the accelleration at passing speeds is quite fun. I just recently went on a 5 hour drive on some very twisy, technical roads. there was a manual tC ahead of me for a good part of it and I was totally able to keep up, including coming out of corners. (I think I actually may have out accellerated him on the longer straightaways.) he was behind me for a while, too, and it seemed like he kept up just as well as I had. mind you, neither one of us is an expert driver, far from it, but I think that levelled the playing field.

in other words, I believe the AT tC to be at least the equal to the MT tC.

chris

sciontc_mich · 02-20-2005, 06:47 AM

thanks Chris0.. I also agree with what you said that the auto tC and manual tC are similar.. other than the initial snapping your head back kind of thing.. Purists will argue that the manual is 0.4-0.5 seconds quicker to 60mph than the auto.. but i think they did a good job on the auto to keep up with the manual..

91MR2quickNA · 02-23-2005, 03:04 AM

The gearing isn't any different you guys. It's the same U241E as the Camry, but the shift programming is definitely more aggressive. However, it's still not as efficient as a manual.

It's funny what the transmission control module can do: Comfort vs. performance.

Now if we can get Toyota to give us the 5-spd auto ... it'd be much fairer.

U241E for both Camry and tC:
1st 3.943
2nd 2.197
3rd 1.413
4th 1.020
Diff.: 2.740

sciontc_mich · 02-23-2005, 03:19 AM

a five speed would more of a fair comparison.. i agree..

changing the software on the transmission computer for more aggressive shifts, is welcomed.. it's amazing that this is the exact same trans in the camry.. sheesh! night and day difference

fufu · 02-24-2005, 05:47 AM

The AT gets better gas milage than the MT.

blownrx7 · 02-26-2005, 09:12 AM

get the manual transmission, you will be glad you did, traffic asside... im on long island in traffic everyday... theres traffic upstate? ha. anyway yeah it will be annoying at times, but then theres the times on the open road or in the twisties where you will praise the day you went with the manual. plus you dont want people to be checking out you car in the parking lot and look in the window and say, "its an automatic.. lame"

if you want better gas mileage get a prius. thats no excuse

Toysrme · 02-26-2005, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Now if we can get Toyota to give us the 5-spd auto ... it'd be much fairer.

You wouldn't want it after a week if you value performance at all. The gears would be much too tall for the engine to lug through. You would definately need some form of FI to pull through them.

Toyota has never been known to change their gear ratio's around so it's fairly doubtful the i4's will see a 5 speed A/T in any part of their line. Especially considering the mileage most get with the 4 speed.

The number of gears is a moot point to begin with. It's all about what you do with the power you have. The more acceleration gears you put in a transmission, the more time you spend shifting instead of accelerating.