A mate of mine has picked up his temporary company car, a mk5 Golf 1.6 FSi and it has a 6 speed box, is there any reason why it needs to be a 6 speed ?
really...... you would of thought they would of changed the length of gearing rather than add another.
Go drive a Mk4 1.6 and you'll understand why they put a 6 speed box in the Mk5 - the engine is turning at a buzzy 4000rpm at 80mph in 5th. If you just lengthened the 5 speed gearing or put wider spacing between each ratio, the 1.6 wouldn't have the torque/power to pull all that weight around and still keep up with the competition.
From our road test in the October issue of Volkswagen Driver: The Golf 1.6 FSI has something else going for it. The six-ratio gearbox, fitted as standard, not only helps keep the engine on the boil, by providing a much better spread of gears to keep it near its high torque peak, but it also shifts smoothly and quickly. Its a major improvement over the six-ratio gearbox in the Mk 4 TDI and GTI, used primarily for its physical strength, which earned a reputation for being deliberate at best, at worst notchy and recalcitrant.