VOTE: Your Transmission 6MT? Butter smooth? -or- Problems?

[Pkush]

New driver, stalled my car like 6 times on the way home. Since then stalled 3 times, one of which was because i was sleepy and started the car in gear and let of the clutch.
Pretty rough when cold, but again, it's 0 F here right now. shifts fine, it's not buttery smooth but nothing out of the ordinary.

[Calum]

Originally Posted by Thorpedo

Hahah yes, Mr. Pedo. Many forums/games have "Thorpedo" blocked as as user name as it includes the word "pedo".

Thanks for the advice! So the mix made a big difference? I don't drive mine in the winter either so its only really the first shift to second in the morning where I experience resistance. Just FYI, pretty much any motorcycle/powersports shop around can get Motul fluids, you just need to ask!

I can't say i've noticed that you're from halifax before, Yours isn't the one with the intercooler clearly visible through the "mouth", is it Why the hell haven't I seen you at autocross or AMP?!?!?!

Compared to Motul 300, the mix made a huge difference. Compared to the stock fluid it feels about the same, which is to say, it's still a little crunchy going into second when it's cold, but once it's warmed up everything works well.

Now, as this topic has been covered ad nauseam in the maintenance section, I'm going way off topic.

Nope, that would be Dan Marshall's car. He's on here, but he just left on the Freddy on his way to the Gulf so I doubt he'll be able to get on much. He's got some horrible screen name that ends in 69, I can never remember what it is. He's an electrician in the Navy. Seems like a decent guy, but maybe a little in over his head with that turbo kit.

I went to AMP twice with an old car, those were the only two times it ever broke down. The first time the alternator belt fell off and the second time it over heated. Both times there was no apparent cause even after going over everything with a fine tooth comb. That car saw well over 300 drag races, with dozens of those being hot lapped, and was beat to hell on the streets for over 270K Km's. It never let me down even in the slightest, except at AMP. I used to do 5000 rpm launches all weekend and would drive the car home from Miramichi without fear. I took those two break downs as a sign that maybe I'm not meant to be there. Besides, it's just not really my thing, I love to drive and mod, but I hate the idea of moding a car to fit a rule book. I've gotten hell from a few guys for not going out though. Maybe I should give it a try, I could try to beat Neil MacInnis's record for how often he got lost in an auto slalom.

[Decay107]

Butter smooth at above 4000 RPM, a little notchy below that and there is a lot of track time on my gearbox. I've experienced many worse feeling transmissions, and very few I liked more (S2000/RX8 comes to mind).

Edit 5/14:

Intermittent grind noticed going into third, gear oil is probably due for a change. Will report back after. For reference, car has 14000 miles and around 25-35 hours of track time.

[2much]

its not butter smooth nor problematic. It's a decent six speed, its no honda though.

[Caspeed]

I've been shifting gears for over 50 yrs. I had a bit of notchiness for the first 2K miles. I put on a KartBoy and a heavier knob. Shifts like a dream after breaking in. BUT!!! Your gears shouldn't grind if you feel the gear box. If it's resistant to go into gear don't force it. Listen to what your box is telling you. Most of the complaints I've read sound to me like poor shifting technique. These aren't racing gearboxes. I used to shift my racecar (Hewland box) both up and down with no clutch and never had any wear issues with either the gear dogs or the dog rings. Despite having 3X the power it was design for. Do what the box allows you to do and don't force it. Shifting is an art, take the time to perfect it.

[Snake]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

OMG! No way! I R Pro Driva and my skeelz are aboslute. It has to be the gear box!

bwahahaha

If it happened after 20,000kms/miles, I'd believe it was driver error, but mine started crunching into second from 300kms, basically after it rolled off the production line. I didn't crunch it, miss shift or rape it and still don't. I also don't try to force it into gear when it's cold or try to flatshift/fast shift the box. I also don't rev the car over 3000rpm till it is up to temp. Can get it to not crunch when cold if I double clutch up gears.

Once it's warmed up it's smooth (except since this latest oil change) and no crunching, but we're in 2015 so I shouldn't have to deal with a crunching gearbox when it's cold (I live in Melbourne Australia so cold is ~10 - 20 degree C, not -12 either).

I've driven nothing but manuals since I learnt to drive 12 years ago and this is by far the worst gearbox I've ever experienced. It is also the first new car I've ever owned, previous cars that had run 300,000kms+ and had better shifting boxes than this!

Also, I'd believe it was driver error if it wasn't over 30% of owners answering that they have trouble with the gearbox. Sounds to me like a design or quality control issue, not 30%+ owners breaking their gearboxes/not knowing how to drive.

[T-Steve]

I've got 40 years of driving manual transmissions: 66 F-150, 76 Vega, 79 Mazda, 79 Scirocco, 84 Subaru, 88 MR2, 89 Toyota truck, 90 Suzuki Sidekick, 05 Corolla. I've never had gear crunches or worn out a clutch in less than 80K miles. My '89 Toyota truck's transmission was fantastic!

My BRZ's transmission is generally okay, but about 30% of the time the 1-2 shift crunches, even if I do it fairly slowly.

2nd is fairly difficult to get into when it is below 40 F. Shifting overall is almost normal when the transmission is REALLY WARMED UP.

Something is definitely odd about these transmissions. I'm waiting until this summer to see if the warm weather helps.

[Black Tire]

I have driven manuals daily for more than 30 years. My car grinds into second when cold – that is when it will even go into second. Some days it will go in just fine when cold, other days it is so stubborn that I just skip second altogether and go right to third. When it is behaving badly, even double clutching will not completely fix the crunch.

When the gearbox has warmed up, it shifts like a dream. If I have the time, the trick is to let the car idle for 2-5 minutes with the shift lever in neutral and my foot off the clutch. Then it usually shifts fine, unless it is seriously sub-zero.

[babydriver]

The Aisin 6 speed manual tranny used for the twins is the AZ6, also used in the Mazda Miata MX5 roadster, the Mazda RX-8 and the Lexus IS200.

Here is a link to the Aisin website:

http://www.aisin.com/product/automotive/

[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by Black Tire

I have driven manuals daily for more than 30 years. My car grinds into second when cold – that is when it will even go into second. Some days it will go in just fine when cold, other days it is so stubborn that I just skip second altogether and go right to third. When it is behaving badly, even double clutching will not completely fix the crunch.

When the gearbox has warmed up, it shifts like a dream. If I have the time, the trick is to let the car idle for 2-5 minutes with the shift lever in neutral and my foot off the clutch. Then it usually shifts fine, unless it is seriously sub-zero.

I'm kind of stiff and cranky before I get warmed up. It may be temp related for sure. I'm in Miami and we just had a cold spell....it lasted 24 hrs and dropped to 57F...not anything like many of you experience. So my trany is always comparatively warm. I'm not saying that there might not be some issues, but, many of them are driver induced. I've read posts by someone complaining that they have to lift off the gas when shifting...WTF??? For better or worse this is a mass produced inexpensive street car, not a purpose built racecar.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by babydriver

The Aisin 6 speed manual tranny used for the twins is the AZ6, also used in the Mazda Miata MX5 roadster, the Mazda RX-8 and the Lexus IS200.

Here is a link to the Aisin website:

http://www.aisin.com/product/automotive/

Not exactly. The TL70 was developed for and is, so far, unique to our platform.

Kaizen Factor article

[zooki]

37 degrees F outside this morning. Cold shifting like butter. 60,000 miles on the car, Pentosin fluid(10,000 miles on this change), Kartboy shifter. Very happy with the way it feels.

[wbradley]

The only thing I might have adjusted on my FR-S is the clutch. Compared to the WRX the clutch pedal feels very light, which is OK. I just find that the friction point engages with the pedal very high making me feel paranoid that it isn't fully engaged. Might adjust the pedal to actuate the clutch a bit lower.

[Teseo]

2nd gear its bitch when cold but after a while its smooth. Im using
factory trans oil