Is the new Ford 6 speed really that BIG a deal?

Besides the far better transmission, torque was increased slightly, but more importantly at a lower RPM. This effectively gives the motor a flatter horsepower curve, so it makes more power most of the time, it just can't rev above 4,000 RPM and make the high peak HP like the old version. But with the old transmission, that peak HP had a narrow range so it often wasn't usable.