Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Well, actually I see no reason to not use the 6-speed automatic featured in the Sonic, but getting rid of that 4-speed is already a good move.
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Price is a major factor in that. The 4 speed auto that it currently has is used in a billion other small cars on the Asian markets. We got it here in the Aveo, Yaris and one or two small Suzukis (I believe). A lot of the Chevrolaewoos use them.
It's cheap and reliable.
The 6 speed auto would make the car much more expensive as they'd have to start building them mechanically different for the US market.
The CVT would be a great idea for such a small car. You can have the low gears to get up to speed and you can have it run down the highway at 2000RPM. Just not possible with 4A and 5M transmission currently available.
My fear with the CVT is that it's going to drive the price up and drive people to other cars, or it's going to hurt reliability. Small cars don't have the greatest reputation for reliablity ... I'd hate to see that continue to happen when GM sticks a bunch of unreliable CVTs in cars.