[jetsetgo08]

Voted No.

The AMT's have improved drastically from their initial days. Given the scenario, as long as they can extract more kmpl when compared to conventional AT, my vote would be for an AMT for cheaper upfront cost despite a slightly compromised driving experience.

[ant_vas]

After driving Dzire AMT for over 3 years, i feel AMT serves the purpose of having a automatic especially if the running is mainly in the city.

For AMT:
- It's just a matter of time for someone to learn AMT characteristics and enjoy the stress free drive.
- Rubber band effect isn't there
- Manual mode in most car's provide the pleasure of driving when needed. (All those iMT fan's take note, its still an AMT but only with Manual mode)
- Engine braking is possible especially while coming down an incline
- better mileage than AT

Against AMT
- FrequentGear shifts especially at the slight incline would be an irritant
- Some car's don't offer Manual mode (Kwid for example)
- Head nod / jerks when gear change happens will be put off for some but can easily be avoided by learning when to lift your foot off the A pedal.

And i agree, this should be the default gear box instead of manual for all new cars.

[pradkumar]

Voted yes.
If Jatco or Aisin sets up shop in India to manufacture torque converters and CVTs, the cost will come down. Jatco was evaluating coming to India as per news reports some years back.
With increasing sales of automatic cars, it is high time they come here.

Pradeep

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

Maruti AMTs suffer from juddering and premature clutch wear. Tata, Renault and Hyundai also suffer from reliability and drivability issues.

Despite all it's obvious shortcomings, isn't it amazing it sells in pretty decent numbers.

After having used a Celerio AMT(sold in 2019) for 5 years and 17k kms, I'm willing to pay more than a premium to get a conventional AT over an AMT if ever I'm to be in the market for a small hatch again. AMT stands for Always Mental Trauma. To put it short, AMT sucks and it sucks big time ! Having said that, that car almost met the purpose in the 5 years it was with me despite two clutch changes. It was primarily bought for all the city run abouts. My neighbour had changed the clutch for his Celerio too. Even he sold it after 4 years or so. It was the cheapest automatic option available back in 2014. The only consolation was in the resale price. I had paid 4.65 lakh or so OTR and sold it for 3.75 lakhs. It was sold through a used car dealer friend. The only silver lining in otherwise a mediocre car was its steering. It had a nice heft and provided good feedback and handled pretty decent.

Yes I voted for a resounding YES.

[Sridhar K]

I voted yes but picked up ignis Alpha AMT for my wife since at that size, don't have TC/DCT/CVT options anymore. Would have picked a Figo AT or BRIO CVT had they not been stopped. Grand i10 TC is too old. In UK, Suzuki offers CVT in ignis but not in India.

Did not like the AMT one bit in XUV300D but Celerio AMT was manageable. The expectation is that AMT on Ignis is better than the Celerio basis tbhp review and my own test drives

[landcruiser123]

In reality, you'd be surprised about how many people know what transmission their car has. Manufacturers aren't going to change their options because of the preference of a few BHPians.

Tricky question, but 'yes' in the current scenario. The only reason is reliability. I can live with a not-so-smooth AMT for a entry-level beater car of the house. No AMTs in expensive cars (a la XUV 300) for me.

[pavi]

I voted yes.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

In reality, you'd be surprised about how many people know what transmission their car has.

Regarding your comment, this is very true. I can give another example on the 'number of gears in your automatic' understanding among people. Wife's relative graduated from a Punto (Diesel MT) to a Brezza Automatic very recently and while congratulating him over phone, he told the automatic is proper TC and not the crappy AMT. I casually told although it is a TC, it's an old 4 speed unit. Then he told, 4 speed went dead a decade back, now it's all 5 and 6 speed, mine is a 5 speed. I stopped the gearbox discussion then and there. Either he is misled by SA or he did not bother to check as 'which manufacturer in their right mind would offer a 4 speed automatic at this age'.

[FaizanShakeel]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

Would you spend more money to get a CVT or torque converter over an AMT? If yes, then how much more are you willing to pay?

YES!!!
I’d prefer paying more money to get a CVT or a Torque Converter. This is because, I had recently rented a Grand i10 automatic and a Grand i10 nios. We rented the cars in Goa, as my family consists of 8 people we decided to rent 2 small automatic hatchbacks. We were about to buy a small automatic hatchback then. Both the cars were considered as options. So we decided this is the perfect time to differentiate them. Here is my opinion.
Cars used:
1: 2017 Grand i10 1.2 Sportz (o) AT (torque converter)
2: 2020 Grand i10 Nios 1.2 MAGNA AMT

Both the cars have the same engines with almost the same tunes. The main difference was the gearbox. Here’s what I liked and disliked about AMT.

LIKE:
1: The car felt faster than the grand i10 AT obviously not the gearbox but the car as a whole.
2: Gave better Fuel Efficiency than Grand i10 AT.

DISLIKE:

1: The lag between the gearshifts is very irritating.

2:The car gets really jerky in the city

3: while parking, using R and D gears, any other automatic car would move when when you leave the brake. Whereas AMT takes time to do the same.

these points make the car really irritating when compared to other Automatic Transmissions.

Conclusion:
If there’s not a big difference between the pricing. Buy any other CVT or AT car.
AMT is no way smoother than other transmissions. Especially Maruti Suzuki cars that have AMT are not good.

[GTO]

Voted YES! And I would also like to mention that I will NEVER buy an AMT. It's way too much of a compromise. If an AMT costs 45000 and a proper AT costs 1 lakh, then the difference of 55 - 60k is merely 1800 - 2000 bucks a month on a 3 year loan. Go out for 1 dinner less, but please buy a good AT .

On the flip side, the problem that customers would face is, very few models give you the option of an AMT as well as a proper AT. Case in point = the XUV300. An extremely capable crossover in every sense - be it build, power, suspension, quality - but it only has an AMT.

The AMT is an easy fix for manufacturers. Here's why:

Originally Posted by GTO

Fully agreed! AMTs are suitable for economy cars only; those spending a million bucks expect the kind of refinement offered by torque-converter or dual-clutch ATs.

The problem for Suzuki is, it's a relatively small manufacturer globally. Hence, the company doesn't have the spare funds to take a risk on a low volume torque-converter AT that can be mated to the diesel. I know there were a lot of debates within Maruti on the AMT, but it finally saw the light of day due to its low cost nature & minimal R&D requirements.

When the Vitara Brezza comes with a petrol, it'll be easy for Maruti to use one of Suzuki's existing ATs. But Suzuki won't develop a new one matched to the 1.3L diesel.

This is also why we see so many petrol ATs in the mass market segments, but few diesel ATs. No one will offer a combination just for India where AT demand is minuscule.
USA = Petrol + AT
Europe = Diesel + MT
Japan = Petrol + MT

There are only a handful of countries where Diesel + ATs are popular. But even there, which mass market car of India can be sold? A manufacturer will never recover the R&D cost of developing a diesel AT from India.

You really have to hand it to Hyundai-Kia. They offer you such a wide variety of transmissions, including IMT, AMT, TC, DCT, 5-speed MTs, 6-speed MTs...

[RavSam]

I voted for no since it all depends upon price range and budget.
A 2000-3000 EMI difference is HUGE for people looking at a budget automatic offering.

The mileage savings are great and the headnod is very very minimal or doesn't exist except only when overtaking or going uphill.

If your budget is flexible by 1-2 lakhs along with the EMI difference then by all means go for TC or CVT which can be said in the case of Nexon, XUV 300 and the likes. But for something under 7-8 lakhs, AMT is the only choice unless you want to take a gamble with Datsuns.

Also remember that since more number of people use cars equipped with AMTs, you see those number problems. The large user base also somewhat helped in ironing out most of the AMT drawbacks. Don't drive an AMT with a pre-concieved notion and on the lookout for every gear change and jerk.

Would I pay extra for TC? Yes but only if I'm buying that premium of a car. If I look from the view of my budget, it's AMT for the win.

[asm3899_CHD]

I am an owner of a Celerio Amt and a Breeza Amt. Although i do not mind the jerky shifts and appreciate the higher mileage figures than a torque converter, still i voted yes due to the following reasons.
1. Numerous reports of Amt failures reported on Team BHP. This shows the unreliability of Automated manual Transmissions. Although, I personally have not experienced any failure till now. Celerio's odometer stands at 64k kms and Breeza's at 26k kms.
2. Sometimes the Amt unit on both my cars does not engage reverse when I shift. It takes 2-3 seconds to engage and when reverse is engaged a loud thud is heard from the engine. This is when I feel that something is seriously wrong with Amt transmissions.
3. My Celerio Amt sometimes starts jerking in the crawl mode. It feels like the car will stall and I usually brake in this situation or press the accelerator. This is the biggest negative in Celerio Amt. The Breeza Amt does not exhibit this behaviour.

[Sudarshan42]

Voted Yes. I drive a Baleno CVT, which is worlds better than the Nexon petrol AMT and the Swift/WagonR AMT (with the same 1.2L NA Baleno engine)that we test drove during the purchase process. Eliminated both due to the AMT, it can't hold a candle to the CVT.

I stand by the opinion that AMTs are great if your purchase is under 6-7 lakhs. Anything more, and your car just deserves a better transmission. Which is why I don't understand why something like an XUV300, which costs well over 12-15L rupees comes with an AMT.

[Sounak04]

Originally Posted by asm3899_CHD

I am an owner of a Celerio Amt and a Breeza Amt. Although i do not mind the jerky shifts and appreciate the higher mileage figures than a torque converter, still i voted yes due to the following reasons.
1. Numerous reports of Amt failures reported on Team BHP. This shows the unreliability of Automated manual Transmissions. Although, I personally have not experienced any failure till now. Celerio's odometer stands at 64k kms and Breeza's at 26k kms.
2. Sometimes the Amt unit on both my cars does not engage reverse when I shift. It takes 2-3 seconds to engage and when reverse is engaged a loud thud is heard from the engine. This is when I feel that something is seriously wrong with Amt transmissions.
3. My Celerio Amt sometimes starts jerking in the crawl mode. It feels like the car will stall and I usually brake in this situation or press the accelerator. This is the biggest negative in Celerio Amt. The Breeza Amt does not exhibit this behaviour.

I agree with all of your points. I have a Dzire ZDI AMT. It has clocked 49k kms and is exactly 3 years old. Till date, I have not experienced any failures (touchwood). Also, the reverse gear taking a few seconds to get engaged is apparently very common with AMTs. I talked to a service advisor and to a few other AMT owners and according to them, its perfectly fine.

To be honest, I'm quite happy with my AMT. That being said, my next upgrade will be a proper AT car only because the reliability factor of the AMT is always on my mind.

I do not have any issue with the smoothness of the gearbox because I know when the gearbox will shift the gears and thus, I can easily lift off my foot of the gas pedal.

[charanreddy]

In general Yes, but it depends a lot on the vehicle and implementation.

I hated. Literally hated the Brezza AMT.

My Nexon Diesel AMT is much much better. I don't feel the head nod except in rare circumstances. Happy to live with this for the next few years.

Most likely my next car may be a TC / DCT.

[amitayu]

I am not a fan of ATs and still prefer MTs. But of the given options, AMT is my least favourite as it invariably has a head nod. A proper CVT is the way to go for ATs.

But with Hyundai now bringing in the iMT, perhaps we can expand the choice pool?