I have a 6MT 04 TSX and have some manual transmission questions. If I am driving at 70 mph in sixth gear and have to break to 40 mph and then accelerate in sixth gear, the engine revs at a lower sound. I guess I'm not in the appropriate gear. I'm new to manual transmission so I'm usually a gear off sometimes, if I don't look at the speedometer. If I use a gear and hear that low reving sound, is that bad for the car? I shift with the clutch pedal pressed all the way but lately, when I shift from 1st to 2nd, it doesn't feel as smooth as the rest. The shift nob feels like its going into it's slot but it's a rougher push that with the rest of the gears. Anything wrong or are manuals like that. And how come letting off the clutch is smoother in the rest of the gears than in 1st and 2nd. I have to pay more attention to letting the clutch out more slowly in 1 and 2 than in any other gears? Is that normal? Thanks.

 

The attention you pay to the 1-2 shift is normal, especially on this car. It is due to the gear ratio of the 1st and 2nd gear.

As for the rougher push you described, that's normal too. The 1-2 shift is generally very notchy, but it gets a little better as you drive your car more. This rougher shift only happens to me when the car is cold now. Once warmed up, the shift goes in with very little effort.

 

I don't know where the thread is but it has been discussed many times. To answer your question accelerating from 40 in sixth isn't bad for the car because the revs are around about 2000 but you might want to put in fourth or fifth if you do that a lot. Also the 1-2 shift isn't smooth, but a little jerky and there's really nothing you can do about it. It might smooth out over time but that is a characteristic of the transmission from what i've found from driving. I've put 12,000 miles on my car so far and the mine has got a little bit smoother, but now I don't even notice it.

 

Would the short through shifter help the jerkyness of the gearbox. You are talking about the shifter feel and not the car jerking, correct?

 

My 1-2 goes smooth as far as the shifter goes. For the actual footwork, this is the hardest gear to get used to, especially once you pass 5000RPM, to catch and go will always be ruff for a while until you practice fine tuning the shift.

If you drop the tac below a certain level and try to accelerate it'll have that lugging sound. Which is okay just make sure it doesn't drop below 700RPM. When I slow down I usually just pop in neutral and then when I need to pick up, just rev match and go in whatever gear. Memorize the tac at specific speeds.

Hope that helps!

 

Getting a short shifter will probably won't affect anything unless you're used to fast shifts with fast clutch drops. Since I'm launching and racing maybe less than 0.1% of the time I'm on the road I don't worry about that.

From day to day driving I don't find the need to shift fast

 

You're right about not being in the ideal gear, but it's not that big of a deal unless your RPMs are really low (~700), then the engine will shake violently ("lugging"). Other than that, it's ok. If it makes you uncomfortable, shift down a gear.

Not all MTs are like that, but ours is. There's ways to get around it, but it's something you'll have to get used to.

Yes, that's normal. It happens because your car is putting more torque to the ground than the higher gears via a larger numerical gear reduction. This opens up the possiblity of a jerky shift. It's possible to eliminate the jerks (rev matching), but that's something that will come with practice. You'll always have pay more attention to the way you let out the clutch from a stop in first gear. That's just how it is. With some practice, you'll be able to do it with almost no thought at all.

Keep it up. You'll get the hang of it soon.

 

thanks for the info

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