I just got a 2007 GT 5-door last month, have about 500 miles since. I got the 5-speed ATX since my wife doesn't drive MTX.
Something that REALLY bothers me is how unresponsive the transmission is. Under medium acceleration, it upshifts way too early, and puts me into 5th gear when cruising at 40 mph. It's difficult to maintain speed in this gear at 40, the engine feels like it works too hard. Additionally, to increase the speed in 5th is very sluggish, which brings me to the my second dissatisfaction.
It's also way too slow to downshift. A medium amount of pedal does not cause a timely downshift to increase rpm's. I can of course stomp the pedal, but this creates too much power for my needs. The unresponsive downshifts are problematic when cruising at the aforementioned ~40mph when a little acceleration power is required, and likewise for turns, when 2nd is needed out of the turn instead of 3rd.
Previously, I drove a '02 Camry for 3 years (we were a 1 car family until we moved to the burbs), and the 4-speed ATX shifts were much better regulated than the 3. Also, the Camry had near imperceptible delay between gears. Sometimes the 3 has a 1-2 second delay between shifts.
Overall, I'm very happy with the 3's handling, but in terms of powertrain, our Toyota is much, much more refined. Not to mention for a car with about the same size engine (2.4l vs 2.3l), and weighed 400 lbs more, averaged about 5mpg better.
Something that REALLY bothers me is how unresponsive the transmission is. Under medium acceleration, it upshifts way too early, and puts me into 5th gear when cruising at 40 mph. It's difficult to maintain speed in this gear at 40, the engine feels like it works too hard. Additionally, to increase the speed in 5th is very sluggish, which brings me to the my second dissatisfaction.
It's also way too slow to downshift. A medium amount of pedal does not cause a timely downshift to increase rpm's. I can of course stomp the pedal, but this creates too much power for my needs. The unresponsive downshifts are problematic when cruising at the aforementioned ~40mph when a little acceleration power is required, and likewise for turns, when 2nd is needed out of the turn instead of 3rd.
Previously, I drove a '02 Camry for 3 years (we were a 1 car family until we moved to the burbs), and the 4-speed ATX shifts were much better regulated than the 3. Also, the Camry had near imperceptible delay between gears. Sometimes the 3 has a 1-2 second delay between shifts.
Overall, I'm very happy with the 3's handling, but in terms of powertrain, our Toyota is much, much more refined. Not to mention for a car with about the same size engine (2.4l vs 2.3l), and weighed 400 lbs more, averaged about 5mpg better.
