If a master mechanic said it has 5 gears total he/she may be including reverse. Never the less, just let it go man. This is getting to be unproductive.

 

Thanks Nateson!

 

Maybe you misinterpreted what you were told or maybe they were just messing with you.

 

It's a four-speed with either overdrive or a torque converter.

 

 

andrewjc, one more contributing factor to mull over. The mere fact that the fiesta is just coming out means you wont find one used and quality and other bugs have not come to light so you'll have to figure stuff out on your own at first. Let us know your impressions and your decision, Good luck. If they don't want to work with you on the price have them throw in accessories.

 

Amen to that! He's right!! You should not buy a car the same year it comes out. Wait for another MY to buy one.

 

i usually say never buy the first of anything, but i am driving a 08 xD. so much for my words of wisdom. Fiesta will most likely have all the same quircks we complain about with the xD. creaks, rattles, etc etc... buy what you want. if the price is right, i say swoop on it. but i know this, I bet the Fiesta will not be as bouncy on the roads as the xD since it's longer. I am getting tired of that bounce. but it's a price i pay for not wanting stock suspension.

 

So you talked to "all" the master techs?
It's a 4 speed automatic.. 4th gear is an overdrive. Then you have the torque converter lock-up which almost feels like a shift and will lower rpms as well..

 

so how is that not a "gear" per se? if it "feels like a shift" and lower's rpm's, that's another gear ratio to me.

 

overdrive is a gear on manual trasmissins. usually the 6th gear

 

Overdrive can be on any transmission. It simply means that the output shaft is turning faster than the engine in that gear. 4th and 5th on the manual xD are both overdrive gears. This is pretty much irrelevant, since the final drive changes the ratio again. Most automatics these days are overdrive in the top gear (any gear ratio higher than 1 is overdrive).

The auto is a 4 speed. What you are describing, as others have mentioned, is the torque converter locking up. Not a different gear ratio, just locked in on one. The torque converter allows the connection between the engine and the trans to slip, so you could just as easily say that the car has infinite gears.

Try this: Drive along the highway and blip the throttle a little. You'll feel the torque converter unlock and the RPMs will go up a little. Now let it lock up again and move the gear selector down. Now you have downshifted one gear, into 3rd. If it were a 5 speed, those two scenarios would produce the same result, which would be shifting from 5th to 4th. However, the result won't be the same, because in the first test, you are simply unlocking the TC. In the second, you are downshifting one gear.

The mechanics working at Scion/Toyota dealerships aren't going through much special training. One of my friends' brother-in-law is a mechanic at the dealership where I bought my xD. He doesn't know anything about them other than what the "book" says to do when there is a certain problem. They don't work on transmissions, either. They replace them if they break. He's trained as a diesel tractor trailer mechanic. The other guys that work there are the same... just grease monkeys. They could quit Toyota and go work for the Honda or Kia dealership in a minute. No special training required.

 

The torque converter is a fluid coupled device..
When you take off from a light the fluid couples the engine to the tranny.. but there is slippage. So the TQ lockup
mechanically ties these pieces together so there is no slip and more power is transferred and not wasted in slipping.
It's not a gear, the coupling occurs before the tranny..

 

so unlocking the TC then shifting it to 3rd produces the "double shift" i'm feeling?

 

this-----> He doesn't know anything about them other than what the "book" says to do when there is a certain problem.


what more do they need to know? how about this one?

"if you put a big brake kit on a Prius, how does the regenerative braking still work?"........sigh....that was asked to me at a Toyota dealer.


but this lack of training and knowledge is what is making retail suffer so badly. it's what took Circuit City down. I will always believe that since i was part of those cutbacks and harassment from the company. anyway....

 

Well I'm not interested in a Kia Soul but a decent read http://www.insidercarreviews.com/blo...-2010-kia-soul This is one of the more positive reviews that I have read.

 

Manual or auto?

 

auto


that's with cruise.

 

Can anyone with a manual comment on this?

 

Yes