'07 versus '06

West coast dealers will have them.

One of Toyota's engineers had this to say about the new

"The old five-speed automatic transmission was much more expensive than the new six-speed automatic. The new transmission has 20 percent fewer parts and reduced weight. I don't know how much less it costs to build, but from the start of development, engineering was working to reduce parts and increase performance."

Interesting that he didn't have anything to say about reliability.

'Available,' does that mean it will be optional or standard equipment?

mike hunt

It looks like 4 cylinder Camrys get a five speed automatic and 6 cylinder Camrys get a 6 speed automatic.

(!) Sounds like people may want to pick up a 2006 with the now-proven transmission before getting a 2007 with a cheap knock-down tranny.

The 07 looks more Frankenstein-ish of styles from other makes (such as the G35 mix others posted) than innovative. But it's less bland to say the least.

Fewer parts sounds like a good starting point to me. I'd take this risk, if I were in the market for a V6 Camry (but I don't need that much power and I like my fuel economy). I'd rather take a chance on this transmission than a first-year transmission from Ford. I wonder how those CVTs are holding up?

Still, 6-speeds has got to be reaching the limit for marginal return; it can't be very much more efficient or useful than a 5-speed. I wonder if it shifts faster? That might make a difference in performance.

I've only seen photos but I thought it looked good. I'm not a big fan of the looks of the current Camry. This one looks, somehow, similar but better.

I have not seen any technical reports on the 6-speed transmission but my guess is that there is another planetary gear set. The number of speeds does not have any bearing on how "fast" a transmission shifts. A fast shift will be more efficient although the shifts will feel harsh.

As a general rule, more gear ratios will mean better fuel economy and/or performance. The limiting factor in the number of gear ratios is the extra weight, cost, and complexity that come with more gear ratios.

I've hear rumors that the next generation Lexus LS will have an eight speed transmission...

Like the Fusion, seems the smaller engine could make better use of the extra gear to help it stay up on the torque curve. ;)

mike hunt

I'm with you there! I see the same "reverse" thinking on many different makes - more gears mated with more horsepower and torque instead of with less horsepower and torque, where the extra speeds would improve performance.

So, what would be the 6th speed? Ultra overdrive?

I was looking at a Mazda 5 and the epa figures were almost identical for the manual and automatic. I think they were 1 mpg different City and Highway.

My Father has a CVT in a Freestyle. It has been flawless. Very good transmission (sourced from ZF in Europe). Interestingly, the Five Hundred and Fusion both use Aisin Warner Automatic Transmissons (if you don't get the CVT i the Five Hundred). Since this company is primarly owned by Toyota and is a prime Toyota supplier, don't you supppose the awesome, wonderfiul supper great Toyota 6 speed automatic is the same as or at least very similar to the piece of crap 6 speed tranmission sold in the Fusion? Oh what a feeling. Moving forward....;

Ed

Additional gear ratios are generally added between existing ratios rather than at the high end.

An extra planetary gear set would probably add about 2 or 3 inches to the transmission's overall length at the most.

Many of the Toyota auto trannnys are made in Durham NC and Virginia.

Maybe not - it might just need an extra clutch pack or two, and a smarter computer to run them all. You can get several different gear ratios out of a planetary (both speed increase and reduction) depending on which of the three elements is the drive, driven, and stopped/locked part - but AIUI they usually only use two.

They might have come up with a way to shift a few of the existing planetary sets into additional useful ratios.

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Reduced parts count is normally a big factor in improving reliability, so I would expect the new tranny to be more reliable.

Merritt