The Mitsubishi W6MAA 6-Speed (Evo IX GSR / IX MR, 4.583 final drive) is a six-speed manual gearbox.
First gear is 2.909:1 and 6th is 0.693:1. Divide one by the other and the overall spread is 4.20:1. That is a middling spread for a six-speed: enough first gear to leave a junction without drama, and a top gear that is not only for motorways.
6th is an overdrive at 0.693:1: the output shaft turns faster than the input shaft. Two of the six gears are overdrives. No gear is exactly 1.00:1, so there is no direct drive.
The biggest step is 1st to 2nd, where the ratio drops 33%. The smallest is 5th to 6th at 20%. On each upshift the revs drop by the same percentage as the ratio.
The final drive lives in a separate diff, so the speed table shows three common ratios: 3.42, 3.73 and 4.10. With a 3.73 final drive and 225/45R17 tyres, 6th at 6,000 rpm works out at 278 km/h (172 mph), and first runs out at 66 km/h (41 mph). That is how tall the gear is, not a top speed. Drag and power decide that. At 70 mph in 6th the engine turns about 2,440 rpm.
Ratios
| Gear | Ratio | Step |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2.909:1 | - |
| 2nd | 1.944:1 | 33.2% |
| 3rd | 1.434:1 | 26.2% |
| 4th | 1.10:1 | 23.3% |
| 5th | 0.868:1 | 21.1% |
| 6th | 0.693:1 | 20.2% |