4 speed versus 6 speed automatic

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Jun 25, 2009 | 10:19 PM

#21

dads toy

Burning Brakes

Joined: Apr 2009

Posts: 1,155

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From: Kansas City MO

I have had my 2007 a6 for a little over 2 months. I love it so far. great gas milage (around 32-33 if I stay around 65mph) never been in an A4 so I can't compare. paddle shifter is fun but I rarely use it since my main time in the car is comuting to and from work. I am going to track the car this fall. road course not 1/4 mile and I think the A6 will do well. good luck to you in what ever you decide.

Jun 26, 2009 | 04:08 AM

#22

blocc monster

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Joined: Mar 2009

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The a6 is faster and better i have had both 05 and 07. Off the line, topend how ever you want it the a6 is faster!!!!!!!!

Jun 26, 2009 | 08:27 AM

#23

richie15

Burning Brakes

Joined: Aug 2006

Posts: 919

Likes: 30

From: ST.PETE BEACH FL.

I have an '05,3:15 rear gear and I've always been happy with it.I'm sure the paddles are fun to play with every now and then but I've rented cars with a "manual" shift option and after a few runs from stoplights running through the gears put it back in D where it stayed until I turned it back in.

Jun 26, 2009 | 09:41 AM

#24

gota07

Le Mans Master

Joined: May 2005

Posts: 5,865

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From: Hope, Arkansas - '07 LMB Coupe

Cruise-In VIII Veteran

The launch control getting added to the 2010 manual trannies may change the thought that the auto tranny is the best pick for the strip.

Jun 26, 2009 | 11:12 AM

#25

LS WON

Team Owner

Joined: Dec 2002

Posts: 32,074

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From: San Francisco CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by chsmith112

I have an A4 and it works just fine

It's stronger than the A6 and alot of tuners are comfortable with it.

I would say A4 for drag racing and A6 for road courses.

One of the main reasons I went with this year even though it is the first year body the transmission has a great history in other cars and Corvettes known for its reliablity and durability. At the time in 2005 I didn't know how the first year of A-6 would be so I went with the 2005 A-4 with 3.15 gears.

Jun 26, 2009 | 11:14 AM

#26

LS WON

Team Owner

Joined: Dec 2002

Posts: 32,074

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From: San Francisco CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJoe

Care to expand on that with some real data? Have you actually driven both or are you basing this on hearsay?

I have an 2005 A4 and have never driven a A6 so I can't actually say from experience which is "better". I know that the A4 is virtually bulletproof and that is what I based my choice on when I bought the 2005 vs a 2006. Turns out that the A6 is a pretty reliable tranny also although there are many more tranny failure posts here for A6s than for A4s. Performance of the A4 with standard rearend (2.73) is similar to the A6 but with the "performance" rearend (3.15) may even be better. (Gas mileage suffers though as I get maybe 26-27 mpg on the highway with the 3.15 rearend.) The only thing I miss is the paddles, but I really don't know how often I would use them. I think after a while they are just a novelty.

If you like the 2005 otherwise go for it. If you think the paddles are a big deal go for the 2006.

Jun 27, 2009 | 09:35 PM

#27

jmess

Pro

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 608

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From: Oregon

Quote:

Originally Posted by keyplyr

A4 downshifts certainly do not "suck" IMO. Granted, it needs to be tuned. I specifically bought the A4 as the A6s I test drove were way too tame. The shifts were too smooth and I thought the paddles were silly and would never use them, but I do acknowledge that the A6 trans is no doubt more sophisticated from a tech standpoint; any newer model will almost always have tech advances from previous builds.

I had the A4 shift points widened & had the tables rebuilt & rev limits removed when I upgraded from 3.15 to 3.73. After that was done, voila... unbelievable!

(other mods)

We are talking about braking and downshifting for a corner and feeling the rear wheels lock up because the A4 is not smart enough to rev match on downshifts. This is really annoying and upsets the chassis balance on turn in. It sucks big time. The A6 is a far better transmission for a sports car.

Jun 27, 2009 | 10:27 PM

#28

need-for-speed

Team Owner

Joined: Feb 2000

Posts: 45,605

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From: Texas

CI 1-4-5-8-9-10 Vet

St. Jude Donor '03 thru '10, '17

Quote:

Originally Posted by LarryMJones

I would suspect there is a significant increase in gas milage with the A6.

I think it is the main factor in the 30 mpg reports from a lot of forum members. My TBSS DD with LS2 and A4 consumes gas in large quanities. I suspect the 4 speed is one of the reasons, plus the obvious of 1250 pounds more weight.

Remember the 6th gear is a double overdrive ratio coupled with a 2.56 rear gear. Cruises at 70 at about 1500 rpm's.
LJ

Larry - not that much difference in the final drive ratios.

The primary advantage of the A6 over the A4 is dividing the TQ curve into 6 slices vs. 4: i.e. - a lower first gear, etc.

Last edited by need-for-speed; Jun 27, 2009 at 10:30 PM.