4 Speed Auto vs. 6 Speed Manual
 

Greetings,

Originally I wanted to get the manual because I drove them both but we got the automatic instead because my wife thought she would drive it but needless to say after she drove it a few times she got real nervous and said its too big for her. Anyways, fast forward to over a year later and I'm still rolling my 07 with the automatic and pretty much since day one I've been less than pleased with this automatic trannys performance.

Especially its tendency to not want to pull 2nd gear strong up a hill and shift into 3rd instead then when you push the go pedal down it takes quite a bit of travel before it kicks back down into 2nd. Its real hilly in Oregon and this transmission is constantly hunting and I'm less than thrilled. Took it to the local dealer 3 different times where it was flashed etc. and its pretty much the same. Took a drive with the top Master Tech and he pretty much explained to me that its just the way it is. Realistically, its tolerable and other than that I love my JK. The weird thing is if you just totally floor it like a madman so it revs up to like 5500 rpm before it shifts it actually feels like its shifting right, but then again who drives like that all the time except maybe like Jim Rockford or something?

So to make a long story short I go to the dealer this evening on a whim and when I show up there is like 5 salesman just standing around with zero customers. I meet with one guy and I told him I want to drive the same exact JK but with a manual. We jump in and I almost start drooling. Shifting is a bit notchy cause its new but I can actually feel the motor like when I first test drove one back in 2007. We go up some pretty steep hills and it pulls real nice so we go back and run the numbers and because of the sluggish market we are real close to making a deal. Maybe in the morning depending on what you guys tell me.

Now the question is, I've read several 6-Speed horror story threads here and I'm wondering if I should pull the trigger on it or not? I only drove it 5-6 miles but I didn't hear any funny noises and other than a little notchiness the thing shifted flawlessly and you could actually feel that the motor has some power. Anyone with some positive and/or negative feedback on your 6-speed?

I haven't had a problem with my 6spd. I don't do any rock crawling, so it fits my purposes totally. I find that especially having the 4.10s, the 6spd is able to provide a decent amount of power for the 3.8L to push.

Hope you get what you're looking for.

I have hand no real problems with mine... other than it coming out of 2nd gear when it's like... -25F degrees or so while going slowly, so that's pretty much a non issure 99% of the time for me.

The 6-speed is a fun transmission if you like shifting, I have 3.21s and Rubicon wheels/tires so I do a lot. It's ok with me, 4th will get me up any hill with power to spare. At 25,000kms there is still some notchyness, especially in 2nd gear, however after awhile you don't think about it and you just enjoy the drive.

As a side note, you'll probably notice it is very easy to stall this thing compared to most vehicles. It's tricky if you start in second all the time like I did with my old stock tires.

I know exactly how u feel about not getting the manual the first time. I say if you're happy with the deal "DO IT". I think I should've tried trading mine in on a manual instead of swapping gears for 33"s.:dontknow2:

One good, one bad.

My 07's still no problems.

The guy I gave my stock bumpers to today blew his clutch pretty quick, but it was covered and no issues since.

The 6-speed rips through mountains.

Sounds like you want the manual, I say go for it if the financial aspects are tolerable.

Why not move the lever to 2nd and keep it there as long as you want? If you think it needs 2nd, put it there like you would if you had a manual.:thinking:

2751 miles on my 6 speed, and I'll tell you, I'm glad I didn't get the auto, I had one in my TJ and it was the same as you described, a real PIA to get it to downshift when going uphill.

I say get the manual if thats what you've been wanting, you wont be happy otherwise. When I had my TJ, I loved the 6spd. in it, and never had a problem with it, even after injesting a bunch of water in it. Sounded like it was full of rocks, but changed the oil in it, and it was good to go again, no problems with it at all. Besides, I've seen a lot of problems with the automatics as well.

I hate to keep harping on this, but what is so "PIA" about moving the lever, as you would if you had a manual transmission?
I have always had manuals (since 1968) so I can agree manuals are great. But, I now have an automatic. I make good use of the overdrive on/off button and the selector lever. If I feel a downshift is needed, and the computer doesn't agree, I can force it to shift. Nothing hard about that.:driving: