MPG .... 5-Speed vs 4-Speed

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by swng

http://drivingtv.canada.com/

At around 4:50 remaining is when they talk about the engine and transmission options. Here's the options:
1. 1.8l engine with 5 speed manual
2. 1.8l engine with 4 speed auto
3. 2.4l engine with 5 speed auto (maybe only available with AWD)

At 3:27 remaining they mention that they asked a Toyota engineer why the 4 speed automatic was used in the economy model. They were told that it's a new design that's lighter, more compact, and has different gearing (more optimized for economy) than the 5 speed.

I would add that it is probably still cheaper to manufacture, and people buying the smaller engine tend to want to pay less...and that people buying the bigger engine care less about FE and more about acceleration, so the 5 speed might be geared for that.