HUH???? 5 gears = bad, 3 gears = good???? Either you need to pay better attention in auto class or someone needs to slap your instructor. It's totally the other way around.
Gear ratios for the AW4 are: 2.80, 1.53, 1.00, .075 (overdrive)
Gear ratios for the AX 15 are: 3.83, 2.33, 1.44, 1.00, .079
A 5 speed is going to handle both hills and highway MUCH better than an auto. 1st gear in a manual transmission is lower than an auto's first gear, and the final drive 5th gear is higher than the auto's final 3rd gear......
If I had to run 33's...... I'd WANT a 5 speed trans.......
'Noob. Yes, you can run 33's.......... but you're gonna hate it on mountain highways. The auto trans is going to CONSTANTLY down shift on the slightest of hills, your gas mileage is gonna decrease significantly because of the higher RPM's from the down shifting to maintain speed. Noteable loss of power/acceleration.
You've got 3:55's in your axles now. 4:56's would be perfect, 4:10's would be helpful.