I owned a 1st gen xB with the 5-speed and enjoyed driving it. It was like the speed of light compared to the auto version. I now have a 5-speed Yaris LB and it is faster than my old xB.

Recently, I've driven:

xB auto - mushy feeling, ill-defined shifts, sloppy
xB 5-sp - funky linkage, quicker than the auto

xD auto - very good, crisp shifts, executed quickly, better feeling that the xB transmo. Actually could downshift around corners and use it like a manual.
xD 5-sp - haven't seen one yet

Questions:

How does the xD 5-speed feel in comparison? Is it noticeably quicker? What about real-world mpg between the two transmos?

Thanks.

 

i have only seen ONE xd where i live. only ONE driving, never ever did i see it again. They just don't sell here....

 

I cannot make a comparison because I haven't driven an AT xD, but I can tell you that I am really enjoying the MT. When I test drove it, I was a little wary because I though the shifting was a little stiff, but ever since I got my own, there hasn't been any problem. I haven't driven stick in six years, so it's a bit of an adjustment for me, but nothing too difficult. I'm definitely looking forward to finish with the break-in period and push my car and utlise that MT advantage a little bit.

As for the fuel efficiency, I'm on my third tank right now and according to the calculator, I am close to 43 mpg. On the previous tank, I got around 39. Everyone on this forum says that the calculator is off by about 2, but even when you factor that in, that is still great mileage. Once I start driving faster, I think I'll be more in the region of 34-36. My commute is about 60% highway.

superboxcarxb, I live in NJ and I *still* haven't seen another xD on the road and only one xB2 on the road.

 

coolfrood, did you try the XB2 stick? I went from my 87 300zx to the xb2 stick test drive and hated it. something about the clutch just wasn't right.. im hoping that the xd stick doesn't feel the same (i dont see why it would, completely different setups and all). the xb2 felt extremely dead - i couldn't tell where the clutch was, when to give it gas coming out of a shift, etc. from your standpoint, tho, the xd sounds like a fine MT...

 

I haven't tried the xB2 stick so I couldn't tell you how it compares with the xD. I can tell you that the xD shift doesn't feel dead to me. It's a matter of personal taste though, so I guess in the end you would really have to test drive it to figure out how it feels like. When I test drove the MT xD, I though that the gear shifts were a little rough, but once I got my own, I didn't feel that way at all. I'm still struggling a little bit with clutch control -- the car jerks a little when I release the clutch in the 2nd and 3rd gears, but I attribute it to my lack of experience in driving a stick shift.

I know that zoltiz has a manual too, perhaps he can offer his opinion too.

 

you definitely need to go back and drive an xB w/ auto tranny! try using the S-mode shifting and see what it feels like! my xB flys when using S-mode and really uses the gearing well and shifts smoothly - it is like having an auto stick...

see this discussion:

http://www.clubxb.com/forums/f65/14390-driving-s-mode/

 

I've driven everything but the xD manual. I must say the xB manual is particularly funky. Both the linkage and clutch feel like they're both in different cars.

When I drove the xB auto I was alone and did not intuitively know about S mode and had quite a problem understanding what was going on. In fairness, I should retest one again.

I'm still mostly interested in the xD manny. Ironically, an xD auto costs what an xB manny does! They are priced too close together. The xB has real room but you take a kicking at the gas pump. What to do?

 

After driving a standard tranny for the last 25 years, the xD that I purchased was the auto, kinda tired of shifting in traffic. If I was buying a car for recreation and not a commute, I would buy a standard but I do not miss the standard and the auto shifts fine and the sequential shifter works fine when you want to force the the car to be in a specific gear.

 

you got the S-mode in the xD also? i did not know it was in that Scion also - mine drives really nice!

 

i'm still torn. odds are, im going to keep my 300zx since it's so old and won't really rake anything in at the dealership.. so getting the xd auto is tempting. our xa is still a lot of fun when i want it to be, but not shifting up and down these hills with the traffic we get is so much less stress than driving stick (its impossible to predict people around here!! one second youre going 70 in the fast lane, then 50 for no apparent reason).

i've read so many varying opinions on gas mileage - epa is close, but a lot of stick xAs claim much higher than stated. a few autos do as well, but much less to the extent of the manuals. how about the auto xds? hows the gas mileage vs you stick xds?