four-speed
nounEtymology The sense specific to a manual transmission came from an era when manual transmissions in passenger cars were usually four-speeds but automatics were usually three-speeds or two-speeds.
1
Of a transmission Having four forward speeds.
- My car has a four-speed transmission. It is not as efficient as my daughter's five-speed.
- Power is derived from a British United Traction Limited "A"-type 150-h.p. six-cylinder horizontal diesel engine; this drives through a fluid flywheel, and thence through a free wheel unit to a four-speed epicyclic gearbox.1958 April 23, “Diesel Railbus for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 275:
2
A transmission that has four forward speeds (it might or might not be a manual transmission); (metonymic) a vehicle with such a transmission.
- four-speed manual
- four-speed automatic
3
Historical, Informal, Specifically A manual transmission with four forward speeds; (metonymic) a vehicle with such a transmission.
- A: Was your dad's Mustang a four-speed? B: No, it was an automatic.
- Coordinate terms
- two-speed, three-speed, five-speed, six-speed