Looking into a new mid size truck. Have an 09 ridgeline that I tow a harley with. Suits my needs now. I am hearing horror stories about the chevy,gmc and toyota with their 6 speed trannies. In order to get the mileage they all came out with them. All have similar complaints that they bog down and constantly search for the right gear. I will be curious how honda's is. especially since they don't offer a tow mode. Most complaints on others are in normal driving, hills with no trailer.
6 speed tranny any good?
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Me and a buddy towed my loaded 4500lb box trailer with his 2012 MDX (that has the 6at) from CA to Iowa and back a couple years ago. Most of the trip we maintained about 80mph with adaptive cruise control.
On steep hills it would peg the throttle, drop to 3rd and run at over 5k rpm until things leveled out. Most of the time was spent in 4th and 5th. On slight rolling hills it will change gears pretty much every time the grade changes as that is what was required to maintain the speed with about 9000lbs of combined weight and a flat face trailer. The tranny hasnt missed a beat with 65k on it now and he flat out abuses it every day. We made that round trip in 4 days.
Ooh and the average fuel economy for the trip with the trailer was 8.5mpg hahaha
On steep hills it would peg the throttle, drop to 3rd and run at over 5k rpm until things leveled out. Most of the time was spent in 4th and 5th. On slight rolling hills it will change gears pretty much every time the grade changes as that is what was required to maintain the speed with about 9000lbs of combined weight and a flat face trailer. The tranny hasnt missed a beat with 65k on it now and he flat out abuses it every day. We made that round trip in 4 days.
Ooh and the average fuel economy for the trip with the trailer was 8.5mpg hahaha
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I drive a 2014 Ram 1500 with a 5.7 and a 6 speed. I never noticed any gear hunting. I notice the cheap interior but no tranny problems.
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Ooh and by the way, the 6 speed automatic is a 4-shaft design. It is closely related to the 4-shaft 5at found in the 06-14 ridgeline. It is a fantastic transmission though some people have had to replace torque converters due to shudder it isnt very common with the newest software.
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