I'm gonna buy a xA and I do a lot of freeway driving and so I'm torn about manual vs. automatic. I've heard the manual whines and begs for mercy at 80 mph and wishes for a 6th gear. Does the automatic seems less strained at higher speeds? Thanks for helping me decide.

 

I wouldnt know how the manual might handle at the higher speeds but I can tell you that yes, you can definitely hear the strain as soon as you push it past 65 in an automatic

 

I ordered my 05 xB with an Auto mainly because of traffic around here, and also because of all the posts on here about the gearing of the manual. Here's my opinions on the matter...

It comes down to what you are looking for in your box--if you want to have fun, get a stick. If you need a daily driver and spend a lot of time on the highways, don't care a whole lot about acceleration and beating v6 mustangs off the line, get an auto.

As for straining, I haven't noticed much until I get above 80 with the auto. 65-80 isn't bad but the 80-100 acceleration on the auto is sloooow. Once it's there though, it runs just fine (cruise control).

Then again, running at 100 you can pretty much watch the gas gauge move towards 'E' in real-time.

In summary:
stop and go traffic - get an auto
speed and the open road - get a manual

 

I have an 05 xA, auto, and at 80 mph its doing about 3200-3500 rpm. I have read that the manual, at 80 mph, is doing like 4000 rpm. On my daily commute, I do about 20 miles on the interstate at 80 mph. The engine is making some noise, but its not horrible, its not like the sound at WOT (wide open throttle). I could in no way imagine having the manual and it running 4000 rpm at 80 mph everyday. BTW, at 4000 rpm, the sound is a bit more horrible than at 3200-3500. Im installing a different muffler soon. Depending on how it sounds, all of the above may change, or not.

 

Yes at about 80 the engine is at about 4000rpms. I have an 05 IIP xA and was scared the first few time it climbed that high. I have read that the motor/tranny combo was designed for that but take some getting used to. I hope someone stumbles across a different 5 gear that will work in the tranny for a lower Highway RPM range 1-4 could stay the same and swap out 5th for a highway gear.

Anyone know if this has been done?

 

I cant get over the fact that they were built with the 5 sp manual not being as much of an overdrive as the 4 sp auto. Normally, it seems that its the other way around with most cars.

 

The manual does have overdrive, though, right? Now I'm leaning toward the automatic though I think the manual would be more fun. I'm really torn.

 

In 26 years of driving....my '06 IIP xA is the first auto tranny I've ever owned...and I love it. I actually never thought I'd like an auto, but wife twisted the old arm and we're both happy with the decision.

 

Thats just it, the manual's overdrive, 5th gear runs at a higher rpm @ 80mph than the automatic's 4th gear. I am sure that the manual is probably more fun to drive getting up to highway speeds, but I couldnt live with that droning for about an hour everyday during my commute.

 

So, spawnconnery, do you own the automatic? Right now I drive a 94 Nissan Sentra with an auto transmission. Even when I drive 85 mph the engine is very quiet and low rpm's. I don't know if I could get used to a high revving LOUD car. I do a lot of highway driving and usually drive about 75 mph. I would love to drive a manual again, since my last couple of cars have been automatics, but I just don't know.

So...all of you with manuals...the noise doesn't bother you at 4000 rpms?

 

you get used to it or turn up the volume on the stero

 

100 mph=5k rpm

 

Ratios in the xA and xB are the same, here's a topic that discusses RPMs at speed:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=61257

 

Transmission whine really doesn't bother me at all. Think of it as a straight cut gear sound. Yummy!

The Focus I had before my xA had a massive amount of gear whine in 5th gear. The manual transmission in the xA (or at least mine) has a whine in first gear.

 

I do own an 05 RS2 xA and it is an automatic. I drive it everyday to work and home at 80mph for most of the trip. The engine noise is noticeable, but not too loud and horrible. I could not imagine having a manual and it winding even higher at the same speed, but thats my opinion. Before the xA, I was driving a geo metro and it has no tach, so I dont know how high it was revving, however, I did drive it at 85 mph everyday and the engine did make noise, but I dealt with it. I have not driven or ridden in a manual xA at 80 mph to see how it would be, so it might be tolerable.

I dont hear transmission whine at all with mine, just the revving of the engine.

 

The noise at high RPM's is mostly the engine not the tranny. I drive my 05 xA everyday 30 miles each way and like everyone else said, you do get used to it. 80mph at about 4k equals noise from the engine and tranny.

I drove a VW jetta previous to the xA and in 5th gear at 80mph, I was under 3K. The first few times i drove my xA at 80mph, I thought I was still in 4th gear. After drving it for the last 7 months I don't really notice anymore.

 

i have a 2005 scion xb and i have a cai cat back exaust and mine gets up to 90 on the onramp no problem!!! and its an auto!!

 

Mine's an '05 auto and gets up to freeway speeds with no problems at all. No excitement, no worries.

At highway speeds the "noise" in the vehicle is primarily 'road noise' and 'engine noise' - heard primarily as exhaust note.

The auto tranny is essentially silent - as it should be. With the auto, the engine also turns at a much more reasonable RPM 'at cruise' (70-80MPH).

Yes, it's noiser than an M-B or Lincoln, but it's as quiet or quieter when compared to most other econo-cars - and it's a charming box to boot!

I've driven MUCH noiser new cars...

 

Yeah, those that say the auto is slow, especially at freeway speeds, need to reset your ECU and train it right this time. I can tell a difference in the way the car responds after I was messing with my grounding kit and disconnected the battery. I didn't get to let it idle long enough after that and now it's shifting much sooner than before. It'll get reset again for HIN this weekend, so I'm hoping to let it run longer this time...

The CAI helps too. These things are so light, you have to be ready if you're going to get off the line faster than me. And with the xB's short 1st gear, they'll be shifting while I'm still accelerating...

As far as noise, I find that wind and road noise are worse than engine or drivetrain noises

 

I just picked up my 06 xA Automatic tonight. I drove it 70-75 on I-287 with a 3000+/- rpm. No struggle or whine. Still had room to accelerate. Much better than my 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport