fair enough it was kinda late here too. i was thinking that if the differential gears were the same just a different ratio that if a person really wanted to they could swap the auto diff gears into the manual and get what i'd guess would be the best of both worlds. hope that makes more sense(honestly i couldn't come up with the word differential last night)

 

Man, that smaller twisty track looks like fun. I could just imagine them guys drinking beer, eating sausage and taking an MR2 out for a spin.

Oh wait, that's me I'm imagining.

 

I test-drove both transmissions before I bought mine. I didn't like the way the automatic always seemed to be downshifting on the slightest grades around the Pittsburgh area. So for commuting, I'd argue that the automatic is actually the louder and less efficient of the two choices; hence, the lower EPA mileage rating for city driving.
Plus I didn't want to pay the extra money for the automatic, along with the extra complexity in the car.
If I did more highway driving I'd want the automatic. More than 2 hours with the manual transmission starts to make me crazy.

For comparison, I used to own a 1974 Fiat 128 SL that turned 4000 RPM at 60 mph in 4th (top) gear. It would redline at 100 mph. The Italians knew how to build a high-revving engine! Not bad for only 75 HP with a carburetor and 1.3 L. The xB reminds me a little of that driving experience, but without the electrical problems....

My car was white:

 

I bought my wife a XB last month and she loves it. I agree about the high RPMs in 5th at highway speeds I don't like it. Does anyone know the gear ratio of 5th gear on the echo or yaris transmissions? It would be really easy to replace 5th gear on this transmission.

Thanks
Craig

 

FWIW, the 2005 and 2006 auto and manual xBs are both rated the same for city mpg (31mpg in 2005, 30 in 2006). But based on the folks posting at the fueleconomy.gov site, the manual gets better mileage. (Obviously, it's a self-selected sample and the usual caveats apply.)

man. vs auto
33.6 vs 27.4 (2004)
31.5 vs 30.0 (2005)
33.2 vs 29.3 (2006)