Which manufacturer makes the smoothest automatic gearbox?

[raspberry-26]

Want to buy a car that will be an automatic and will be driven 70/30 city motorway. The family has a Yaris Hybrid which is smoother when the traffic light turns green and I take off from a stop compared to a DSG passat in my driving school.

Apart from Toyota's hybrid gearboxes which gearbox offers smooth takeoffs in small to medium sized sedans, hatchbacks or small crossovers (I am not buying something as big as a GLE or as long as a 7 series considering I am driving only myself). Maybe the 9 speed from mercedes? I also heard well for the Aisin in some Volvos.

[raspberry-26]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 05 August 2026 at 08:47

[tallpaul26]

Toyota is a CVT? If so, explains why so smooth versus a DCT. Try something with a slushbox. The ZF8 in my BMW is sublime.

[Athlon]

DSG in my Seat Leon is superb.

Edit to add 2019 7 speed wet clutch box.

[Mammasaid]

No auto with gears will beat the smoothness of an EV. Not even close.

[hidetheelephants]

Mammasaid said:

No auto with gears will beat the smoothness of an EV. Not even close.

The OP's toyota hybrid is described as an eCVT; the ratio is infinitely variable so from the driver's perspective it's like driving an EV, ignoring the noise. It's going to hard to beat that for smooth driving.

[stevemcs]

Zf8 in a bmw, rule out anything dsg

[Master Bean]

THM 400 3 speed is very smooth.

[mikebradford]

Why limit yourself to an automatic? If smoothness is a priority. A electric car would be a better choice.

[Doggleg]

raspberry-26 said:

Maybe the 9 speed from mercedes? I also heard well for the Aisin in some Volvos.

The 9 speed in my wife's GLE 53 is terrible. It never knows which gear to be in at slow speeds. The worst gearbox I've driven in a long time.

[vikingaero]

Japanese CVTs are the best for city driving and they really make sense in an urban environment. PH is all about big bks Tiptronic or manuals driving on the door handles so there is hate for them.

When we drive to London we always take the Jazz CVT as there is none of the jerkiness in take off and stopping. Sure you can carefully modulate that in a DSG or slushmatic. Of course you don't get the power, but come on, most of London is 20mph.

[Jazoli]

My leased Tesla M3 has the smoothest powertrain known to man, maybe you should try one of those?

[ozzuk]

I'm on my second outlander (PHEV) and the autobox continues to shine, extremely smooth. In comparison I had a new Mazda Cx30 hire car recently, auto not PHEV and it was horrendous - really hesitant pulling away, hated it.

[raspberry-26]

stevemcs said:

Zf8 in a bmw, rule out anything dsg

Yes, so I have heard. But the 1 series comes with a ZF6 unfortunately. Also don't know how stable a 1 series will be at Europe highway speeds during trips - 80mph. But probably it will be fine as it is German. And I don't know if there will be a turbo lag which will make it more jerky compared to the eCVT of the Toyota.

[PistonTim]

hidetheelephants said:

Mammasaid said:

No auto with gears will beat the smoothness of an EV. Not even close.

The OP's toyota hybrid is described as an eCVT; the ratio is infinitely variable so from the driver's perspective it's like driving an EV, ignoring the noise. It's going to hard to beat that for smooth driving.

eCVT is nowhere near as smooth or as controllable as an EV powertrain.

[FoolsErrand]

If not an EV then the eCVTs are best (e.g. the Toyota/Honda hybrids). I was on the fence about getting a Volvo V60 but having been in a PHEV one the drivetrain was incredibly agricultural compared to either of the Japanese options.

[hidetheelephants]

It's literally two electric motors driving alongside the engine, there's no gear changing?

[cerb4.5lee]

The ZF8 auto is pretty good in my experience, and I've had that in both a 640d and X5 40d. The Merc 9 speed was ok at times in the GLE400d, but as already mentioned, it did have a habit of tripping itself up in the lower gears though.

[Mouse Rat]

Mercedes C/E class are the smoothest out of all autos I've driven.

[Mick Dastardly]

Can’t believe no ones mentioned Porsche PDK.

I’ve got it in both my cars and it’s so smooth and intuitive I never both with the flappy paddles or sequential changing.