Screenshot: Doug DeMuro via YouTube
A transmission can really make or break a car. Sometimes you’ve got all the right ingredients: a good engine, the right drive wheels, a pretty body and an excellent suspension, but the way gears are dispatched leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a real killer for a car’s vibe if you ask me. That’s what led us to our question from a few days ago.
We wanted to know what otherwise great cars were ruined by their shitty transmission. We got a hell of a lot of answers from you folks. Apparently, you all take this as seriously as I do, so kudos to you all for that.
We’ve got a little bit of everything here. New cars ruined by CVTs, older performance cars marred by their shitty single-clutch automated manual transmissions and just about every slushbox hooked up to a sports car you could imagine. Hell, there are even some straight-up garbage manuals out there that you guys covered.
So anyway, why don’t you sit back, relax and take a look at some great cars with terrible transmissions? It’s going to be a fun and hate-filled place for us all.
Photo: BMW
E46 with the SMG. Not only was it horrifically unreliable and terrible to drive, it also made finding an actual 3 pedal E46 difficult, since every website and used car lot listed it as “manual”.
Yeah, they aren’t very good. But, on the bright side it’s a really cheap way to get into an E46 M3, if that’s something you really want to do.
Submitted by: MikeofLV
Photo: Subaru
They aren’t bad transmissions for just car things, but Subaru’s whole thing lately is about adventure. The Crosstrek, Outback, Forester, the Wilderness editions…these are about getting off the beaten path and there couldn’t be a worse transmission choice for this than the Subaru TR-580 and TR-690. They have terrible crawl ratios, they torque limit like mad to self protect, they overheat and don’t warn the driver and they have an extremely high failure rate if used as advertised.
Say what you will about Subaru’s CVT, but I’ve done some pretty serious off-roading in a Crosstrek, and it’ll get you where you need to go. Granted, it’s going to be loud as hell the whole time.
Submitted by: HammerheadFistpunch
Photo: Ford
The infamous Ford DCT used in the automatic Fiesta and Focus models.
Numerous recalls, and no matter what Ford did, they couldn’t fix it. They finally had to admit fault with customers via a $30 Million lawsuit settlement.
Only a few of us got lucky. Myself included, as my Fiesta is about to hit the 200K mark, and it still has it’s original, untouched DCT, and still works perfect. But, so many others spent weeks or months with no transportation while Ford mechanic sat around and scratched their heads.
I’m always surprised these DCTs don’t get talked about more often. What were the fellas at Ford thinking?
Submitted by: Knyte
Photo: Alfa Romeo
I’ve got two examples of a good car ruined by it’s transmission, and they’re both Alfas. The 4C was supposed to be the Elise-fighting pure driver’s car, which had a manual steering rack, but no manual transmission ? WTF Alfa ? Then comes the best sportsedan to ever come along in almost a decade, and that too from Alfa, with involvement from Ferrari – The Giulia. And North Americans are shown the manual transmission AT the NAIAS, yet FCA / Stellantis takes away the option for the American market, and we’re stuck with the typical ZF Auto that’s used in like hundreds of other cars. That’s two Alfa Romeos that could’ve been in my garage, that were otherwise AMAZING vehicles, but let down by the transmission choice available
It would have been rad if we got a manual, but in fairness to the Giulia, the ZF8 is probably the best automatic transmission on sale outside of PDK.
Submitted by: Da Car Guru – 15,000 RPM daily driver
Photo: Oldsmobile
I recently test-drove a ‘66 Olds Cutlass with the Super Turbine 300 2-speed automatic transmission.
Yuck.
The transmission wasn’t the only deal-killer, but it was a major reason why I didn’t buy the car.
My God, the ‘60s were a hilarious time, weren’t they? Two entire gears!
Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I
Photo: Ford
I loved mine but that transmission was terrible. Constantly locked out of 1/3/5 when warm, R when cold, 1/2 a lap at THill and the clutch stuck to the floor. It would have been a forever car if the transmission had just worked. Also I’d give a shout out to the Evo 8/9 MR – loved that car as well but sold it when I got into track stuff bc the 6 speed was a timebomb.
Ah, Mustangs and their transmission. It’s a tough marriage that hasn’t gotten too much better over time.
Submitted by; CaliD00d
Photo: Plymouth
Usually when people talk about the shortcomings or disappointments when it comes to the Prowler, the first conversation piece is the engine, but I’m here to be controversial: the Prowler wasn’t an underpowered hotrod, it was a great sportscar that just looked like a hotrod.
2,900lbs, 250hp, RWD, near perfect 50/50 weight distribution, extensive use of aluminum and other lightweight materials, the transmission it used was even a transaxle, for its time it performed very well in handling tests and even in a straight line it wasn’t anything to underestimate. If I prattled that off in the context of something like a Nissan or Honda sports car, it would sound like a car I’m sure many enthusiasts would be drawn towards, but knowing it’s a Prowler would sour all those stats to most people.
If we can ignore that it looks like it should have a V8 sounding exhaust note, or that it’s designed to attract delusional old men, there’s really only one major shortcoming (ok, next to their MSRP): the transmission. Sure, they used a transaxle for weight distribution purposes, but the only transmission they offered in the thing was an absolute dog of a 4 speed slushbox. If they had of offered it with a 5 or 6 speed manual, I really think that on paper it would have been a dynamically excellent sports car, to the point where I could forgive the design and V6 under the hood, it just really seems like a lot of potential was left on the table with the Prowler because it was limited to that awful automatic.
You, my friend, are an enlightened individual. Would it have been cooler with a V8? Sure, but power was fine. What the Prowler really needed was a proper manual transmission to bring the whole thing together. Though, who really know if Chrysler had a manual that can be made into a transaxle and still hold that sort of power.
Submitted by: Cody Stewart
Photo: Dodge
Stiff as hell clutch pedals and long throw crappy gearshifters. For driving, you are miles ahead with the well sorted 3AT that was the “wussy option” of the time.
Shoot, go to a dragstrip and see the guys with the truly fast cars there. They run automatics almost exclusively. Given the purpose of a 60's muscle car is fast in a straight line, the automatic is the way to go and the M/T ruins them. Unless you are an investor or Robert Förstemann
PS Robert Förstemann is a bicyclist from Germany. I don’t think he would notice the stiff clutch pedals on these cars.
You’re really brave for saying something like this on this website. I sort of commend you, honestly. Also I want that guy to crush my skull.
Submitted by: hoser68.
Photo: Honda
Im gonna go with any manual transmission in a commuter car if you have to drive in traffic…
Change your life, not your car.
Submitted by: Bliq00
Photo: Porsche
Let’s go 911 with the “tiptronic” for this one. Really just a slush box with “some” degree of manual control, it would still upshift if it thought you were being bad.
It feels really unfair that even air cooled 911s with the shitty automatic gearbox are still incredibly expensive. I don’t like living in this sort of world. Do you?
Submitted by: J-BodyBuilder
Photo: Chevrolet
ALL the 80's econoboxes with automatic transmissions??
Buddy, did you read the prompt????
Submitted by: 4jim
Photo: Pontiac
In general, I think the slow development some automakers had with their auto transmissions.
I have a 2006 GTO automatic. The RPMs it turns going down the highway in overdrive is just too high for it. Don’t recall the specifics, but something like 2300 RPM going 70 MPH. I think the MT equiped ones get like 4 MPG better all because of gearing.
I had a 2007 Monte Carlo SS which has the LS4 V8, which was only 303 HP, but the fuel economy sucked. It wasn’t like it had some crazy gearing and we know LS engines can get pretty decent highway MPG. This car? Nope. On my mostly freeway commute to work and back over the course of a tank of gas, I’d be lucky to get 24 MPG. It was usually 20-22. The GTO can do 19-20 doing the same thing and it has 100 more HP with bad gearing. On top of it all, GM spent time and money going after AFM rather than improving transmissions and getting them out earlier.
Compared to my current 2016 Honda Accord Touring with a V6, it has 25 HP less and depending on who does the test, is equally as quick as the Monte. Now some might think the Accord would weigh a bit less leading to that result, but the Monte is actually about 60 pounds lighter than the Accord and no doubt the Honda V6 is a better design (except for the same problem as the LS4 and cylinder deactivation), but I think the far more modern and appropriate 6 speed auto in the Accord is a large part of how well it does and easily getting me 30+ MPG in the same driving conditions.
It feels like so long ago that you’d have to go for the manual if you wanted the best gas mileage. Those days are long gone now.
Submitted by: Dunahim
Photo: Ford
The MT82 6 speed manual behind the S550 and S650 Mustang’s 5.0L. Plagued with reliability and durability issues, depending on the year the MT82 wasn’t even rated for the torque load of a stock Coyote, like they came from the factory with a transmission that wasn’t even designed to hold the power the motor made, Ford knew this and didn’t care. The MT82 has improved little by little, year by year, but by 2018 when Ford started using the 10A trans everyone just jumped ship to that and the MT82 hate started to fizzle into irrelevance. It’s even more annoying when you consider that, for approximately the same money, Chevy and Dodge were both using the Tremec TR6060 in their V8 muscle cars which is just an all around much better transmission. Ford would use Tremecs in their Shelby Mustangs, and even in the Mach 1 and Dark Horse, so it’s not like they have some sort of issue with Tremec, they’re just cutting costs by using their janky in-house gearbox and saving a few bucks on their end.
I’ve never driven a Mustang equipped with this transmission, but I’ve only heard bad things. It’s such a shame, because otherwise the Mustang is such a great entry-level-ish performance offering.
Submitted by: Cody Stewart
Photo: Subaru
Beautiful Giorgetto Guigiarro design, H6/4 valve engine, AWD, some available with 4 wheel steering.
JATCO 4EAT transmission. Defective disintegrating torque converter clutch, low fluid pressure and evacuation causing clutch slippage and failure. Subaru didn’t have a 5mt that could handle that torque/weight. They should have just borrowed one.
It may be that if you drive the living bejesus out of it, it gets enough pressure to operate properly. A stock SVX won the Alcan Winter Rally from Seattle to the Arctic Circle and back and I think that must have been on a 4EAT trans. I don’t know, but word ON THE STREET is, the trans was its weak link.
I’m giddy every time I see an SVX in the wild. I don’t care if it comes with some mid-’90s automatic shit pile. Just look at this thing, man.
Submitted by: BrianMadigan
Photo: Mazda
Any Mazda RX-8 with an automatic. It really sucked any possible joy out of those cars by lowering redline to 7k and further reducing output of an engine that was already somewhat anemic. They also accelerated engine failure by using a block with 2 fewer ports that couldn’t burn the carbon out, plus only a single oil cooler compared to two in the 6-MT.
For all of its shortcomings, the 6-MT in those cars is arguably among the best I’ve experienced. The auto was just embarrassingly bad and magnified every possible negative by about 1000x.
If you bought an automatic RX-8, you should need to get your brain examined. It’s a symptom of having a terrible brain.
Submitted by: Hankel_Wankel
Photo: Maserati
The Maserati Duo-Select / CC gearbox example was like that of Mazda’s Rotary engine, people just didn’t understand the technology or how to maintain / operate them correctly, thus the former getting a bad rep. As someone who used to daily a 2005 Maserati QP with the Duo-Select, it was far more “engaging” and fun than the ZF-equipped cars, which just felt like a big Italian Chrysler sedan to drive (hmm…). The worn-clutch issues were due to people driving them in Auto mode and treating the car like a full-blown automatic. The same SMG argument can be made for BMWs earlier units, Ferrari and a host of other OEMs that were using the technology, before the advent of DCTs. I mean, Lamborghini and Pagani are still using SMGs, there’s gotta be a business case of some kind, especially when both companies also have DCT models. If you wanna see a bad gearbox, look at Ford’s DPS6 (Focus / Fiesta) DCTs that used a dry-clutch system, and had both unreliable software AND hardware.
I always thought that little gear selector knob was so cute. Maybe it’s just me.
Submitted by: Da Car Guru – 15,000 RPM daily driver.
Keyword: These Great Cars Were Ruined By Their Transmissions