5sp vs 6sp manual

Hi all. I apologize if this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find much info. Hopefully I didn't just overlook it.

Does anyone know the differences between the 5sp and 6sp manuals available in the Sportwagen? Other than the extra gear of course, haha. Looking at the 6sp gearing, it seems as though gears 4 and 5 are practically identical, but I read that the 6sp has two output shafts (one for gears 1-4 and another for 5-6) so it's obviously of some kind of benefit. It's too bad the 6sp is only available with AWD. Why couldn't VW just put the 6sp across the line...

Basically, is the 6sp significantly better than the 5sp in the standard Sportwagen (non-GTI/R)? Is there really a benefit to having the 6sp over the 5? Would it be worth getting AWD for the sole purpose of getting the 6sp stick? No, I do not need AWD, and I'm sure the 5sp stick is a more than capable tranny. Call it buyer's remorse, but it seems like having "more" (AWD + 6sp stick) would be better than "less" (FWD + 5sp stick). All this, despite the extra up-front cost, increased weight/complexity, and hit to fuel economy. I'm nothing if not irrational.

Fortunately, I'm in no rush to buy a new car. But I'm always reading and keeping my eyes open, just waiting for that perfect car at the perfect price. **dreams of Sportwagen GTI** Anywho, come on experts. Help me learn! Thanks for your input.

The 6 speed is the transmission from the GTI (or, well, the R because it has the AWD stuff, but they're the same), but the 5 speed is the transmission from the base golf. There's really only a benefit to the 6 speed when you start pushing big power, as it has been shown to not have an issue with 500+ whp (aside from clutch). The clutch seems to be better in the 5 speed though. I would get the AWD 6 speed if I had the choice purely for the purpose of launching at the drag strip and so my 2-3 shift wouldn't be quite so much of a drop in RPM, but I'm very happy with my 5 speed.

I drove both before I went with the 4motion 6M/T and I really liked the 5M/T because it had a relatively tall final drive and it wasn't that closely geared. The 5M/T was very easy to drive because the available torque from the engine allowed you to be very lazy about what gear to be in. The 6M/T seemed to have a slightly shorter final drive ratio in the differential, but a taller top gear. So at 70mph, the engine was turning about 2100rpm in top gear with both transmissions. That made it purely a choice of whether or not I need four wheel drive. Which I do. I'm in the snow belt and I'm a 911 dispatcher, I need to be able to get to work no matter what.

VW parts USA listing here:-

https://volkswagen.7zap.com/en/usa/golf+variant+sportwagen/gov/2016-796/3/

you get

5 speed MQ250
6 speed MQ250
6 speed MQ350 (GTI/R & AWD)

I don't know that if I would say the 6 speed it automatically better. It should handle some more power than the 5 speed since it is the transmission they put into the higher output cars, but I don't know if that's been definitively proven, and wouldn't happen unless you were REALLY pushing tons more power.

Gear ratio wise, the 6 speed is more aggressive. As an example the 5 speed in 2nd would hit 73 at redline (~7000 rpm) where the 6 speed will hit 63, so 6 speed will be quicker. But the 5 speed will cruise better in top gear hitting 99 @ 3000 where the 6 speed will hit 95 @ 3000.

Also remember, there is the Alltrack option as well which has the same 6 speed and AWD, with higher profile tires, so changes things slightly. In 2nd at redline, it will reach 65, and in top gear it will cruise at 98. This is purely due to the tire diameter being an inch more. I actually have this car because I had a hard time finding a sportwagen 4motion, and they weren't taking orders when i needed to switch.

As for the two output shafts, there really isn't any benefit from a user perspective. I think the only main benefit of that is the transmission is able to be more compact. If you feel like geeking out a bit at the engineering, this link is a diagram of the transmission from the mk6 (basically the same). It has only out output shaft still, but you can see the input can be routed to one of two different shafts, and from there, back to the output shaft.

I often forget 6th gear even exists.

It's superfluous in almost every scenario outside of long distance highway cruising in flat areas.

I still use 6 all the time, anything above 45. I fairly regularly skip from 4 to 6 though.
Certainly wish 6 was a better cruising gear though. I hold out hope that someday someone will have a gear swap kit for 6th. Years ago I had a 98 jetta and there were actually kits for 5th gear, pretty reasonable too.

Came here for fantastic feedback and was not disappointed. Thanks a bunch everyone, and sorry for the late reply. Still keeping my eyes open at this point, haha.

Curious, how much power can the 5spd handle?

Rogues Gambit said:

Curious, how much power can the 5spd handle?

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Plenty. Probably 450 torque, maybe a bit less.

GolfWang said:

Plenty. Probably 450 torque, maybe a bit less.

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Damn, that's Pimpy!

Thanks

There was one case of a diff blowing up which took the transmission with it on a very high torque stage 2 1.8t. I'm not sure if it was a fluke or not, but that can be prevented with an aftermarket LSD.