A common complaint in the 04-05 models was that the 1-2 gear spacing was so large it made it difficult to make this shift smoothly.

Does anyone know if any of the gear ratios have been tweaked for 06? (I've seen Acura do this before in the middle of a model cycle, lest anyone accuse me of being nuts... )

 

I think it's exactly the same.

 

Oh great, I hated the gearing in my old car.
1st was too short, 2nd was too tall. Made for the worst 1-2 shifts.

 

Hmm, thinking about going for the manual. Not too familiar with driving manual though, but am willing to learn based on recommendations from AZ. What do you mean by a gear being too short or too tall? I've heard things like 6th gear is too tall and so the gas mileage isn't great on the highway, but what does that mean exactly? Thanks =)

 

Short gear ratio=RPM high for a given speed
Tall=RPM low for a given speed (good for economy, bad for performance).

On the TSX, you lose like 3000 RPMs when shifting from 1st to 2nd, so you lose a huge amount of power doing this shift and it doesn't feel smooth at all. 6th gear is set a bit short compared to other cars, but I like being able to pass on the freeway without shifting. Besides, Sauceman and others have shown that you can still get outstanding fuel economy with the 6MT.

 

Wait a minute, you really lose 3,000 RPMs on the 1-2 shift? That can't be right, so you HAVE to rev the engine to 5500 just to not completely bog it going into 2nd gear (Theoretical 2500 RPM)? That seems recauculous to me...

 

Oops, had short and tall reversed. Thanks =)

So, what are some shift points for a manual newbie like myself? Like, minimum rpm to shift up into next gear so you don't stall, and maximum to downshift so you don't blow your engine? And when going after performance vs good fuel economy?

 

take a look at this .pdf file. pretty good information here...

http://www.littlemini.us/technical/heelandtoe/learnstick.pdf#search='how%20to%20drive%20stick'

 

It depends on the car. You just get a feel for it.
Do you have a 6 speed TSX (or plan on getting one)?
Have you ever driven manual?

I wouldn't worry about shift points until you actually have some hands on experience with driving a manual car. Over-thinking it will only make things worse.
And even then, you'll realize that you rarely look at the tach during driving. Just listen to the engine.

I don't even know if it's possible to stall other than in first. You might bog the engine if you're RPM's are too low, but you won't stall it if you're in motion.

 

I'm considering trading in for the 06 so I can get a Navi, and pick up the 6MT as well. I've had a couple hours practice in a friend's G20 in a parking lot. Use sportshift all the time on my 5AT, so I have a good feel for what speeds the 5AT will let me shift down on.

But I guess I need to master the sunroof first huh

 

After driving an auto tsx I said to myself "Wow that's a nice automatic... i could almost see myself driving one..." and then I tested the six speed and it was all over. Really sweet shifter

 

I'm talking about shifting past redline in 1st, and 3000 rpms is an exaggeration; if you shift fast you probably lose more like 2000 RPMs. In normal driving you don't notice anything bad shifting from 1-2, but shifting at redline in 1st isn't smooth for even the best drivers because of the shape of the K24's powerband. You lose over 30% of the engine power while shifting from 1-2; since you start 2nd gear no longer 'in VTEC yo'.

Hondata's reflash aims to address this 'problem' by lowering the VTEC switchover RPM and raising the redline. Someone with Hondata can problem tell you how successful the reflash is at smoothing out the 1-2 shift.

 

How would the supercharger affect this issue? =P

 

That's not right. A Hondata'd 6MT TSX when shifted at 7600rpm lands at 5000rpm.

 

Doesn't Hondata lower the VTEC to 5000 from 6000? It's one of the reasons I'd consider going for it if they ever release for '06.

It's also a little annoying for regular daily driving that the difference between 1 and 2 is so large. Just makes it harder to smoothly accelerate.

On the positive side, I have no problems with the shorter 6th gearing. I still average 32 or 33 mpg on the highway and the car is hardly broken in yet.

 

Yes, but I was mentioning the example because they set the fuel cutoff at 7600rpm so that you could land in highcam. So the RPM drop is 2600rpm, not 3000rpm.

If you are shifting at redline, why would smoothness be a concern? If shifting at 3000-4000rpm was not smooth, that would be a more valid complaint.