I was thinking about that the other day and here is what the bottom line is.

If you want to really feel the power of this car you have to be above 5000 rpm. Possibly above 5500rpm. That is a given and everyone agrees with that.

Now, gears 1st, 4th and 5th are excluded automatically from the "have fun equation" because:

1st gear: there is no fun here, you are going too slow no matter where the tach is.

4th: Not fun to be at 140mph

5th: It wont even go to 5500 rpm possibly, bottom line this is an irrelevant gear when it comes to fun.

SO:

That leaves us with 2 FRICKING GEARS!

This car has a 2 speed automatic tranny as far as I am concerned.

It gets worse though:

Now, if the fun is from 5250rpm to 7000 rpm that translates to the following in 2nd and 3rd gears:

2nd gear: 55mph to 70mph
3rd gear: 85mph to 115mph

Now, you have to agree that the latter (3rd gear) speed is illegal to the point that you are going to jail. Now I am not saying I have not been there (the speed, not to jail), but it is not a comfortable speed to be for a lengthy time.

And that leaves us with 2nd geear which is rediculeous.

THAT IS WHAT PISSES ME OFF WITH OUR TRANNY, not the fact that it is NOT a manual.

NOW TO THE NUMBERS:

Here is the gear ratios of our CLS:

1st 2.563
2nd 1.551
3rd 1.021
4th 0.653
5th 0.470
Reverse 1.846
Final 4.428

As you see 4th is way under 1. Shit look at that.

Here is the auto BMW 330Ci:
1st 3.67
2nd 2.00
3rd 1.41
4th 1.00
5th 0.74
Final 3.38

4th is DIRECT as you see. Now these are MUCH nicer ratios. This tranny would make our car a different car on the road.

OUR 4th is LONGER than the BMW's 5th!!! GIVE ME A BRAKE!!!


Here is the manual BMW 330Ci:
1st 4.21
2nd 2.49
3rd 1.66
4th 1.24
5th 1.00
Final 2.92!!! (This is SO short! no wonder the 5.9 secs in 0-60mph)


5th is DIRECT as you see. This car needs a 6th gear. Too much noise and gas consumed at that 5th gear.

Finally the M3:

1st 4.23
2nd 2.53
3rd 1.67
4th 1.23
5th 1.00
6th 0.83
Final 2.92

OUR 4th is WAY LONGER than the BMW's 6th!!! GIVE ME A BRAKE!!!

NOW, combine our long ratios with the fact that are engine makes good power at high RPM, above 5000rpm and it...gets painful to squeeze power off this car

And that is why you should seriously consider the 6th speed manual. I dont know what the ratios will be but I can assure you it cant get worse that what we got now. I till be longer than the M3's I assume but MUCH better than our super long ratios to the point where it mames me yell! "ACURA what were you thinking?"

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

I'll save my dough for an SMG equipped M3.

Good info though. I would do it if I could afford it.

I would get PDG this time around

 

when the 6-speed does come out,

would a swap be possible????

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2001 CL-S
Black/Black
Moonroof Visor
35% Tint All Around
Black Wood Dash Kit
Sportswing spoiler
My Bitch
aka Deadly-CLs

 

I predict that the 6 speed CL tranny will have 5th and 6th gears as overdrive gears.

To get a direct drive ratio, you'll have to be in 4th gear. Then again, 4th will probably be around 1.15 or so....

But I do expect 5th to be overdriven, probably around 0.93 and 6th will be the fuel mileage gear, probably around 0.70, which means (yup, you guessed it!) NO POWER in 6th gear at normal highway speeds. You'll probably need to downshift to get any real passing power from 60 MPH.

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99 M3
dead CL-S

Tom2: The Voice Of Reason and Captain of the Bullshit Police.

 

I agree with Tom.

I bet the ads for the manual CL are gonna taut the wonderful gas mileage... not the blistering performance. hehe... that just seems to be the Acura way.

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2001 Acura 3.2 CL Type-S
San Marino Red (Navigation)
PIAA 19173 Ion Yellow Fogs • Valentine 1 • Xephyr CAI

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." -Albert Einstein

 

Totally agree they @$#$#@ up when picking the gear ratios. Here's from MT:
1st 42mph
2nd 69
3rd 105
4th 147
5th 147

A big change to the final drive ratio lf 4.43 would help (let's say 4.9), but the right thing is to change each gear something like this:
1st 32
2nd 61
3rd 83
4th 105
5th no change

with these gears we'd accelerate like hell and keep our rpms low in 5th while cruising. One of the dumbest things on our cars is the gearing.

We should write Acura a letter summing all the stuff up we want fixed.

Kevin

 

Oh, and don't forget- Acura will most definitely change the final gear ratio too....

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99 M3
dead CL-S

Tom2: The Voice Of Reason and Captain of the Bullshit Police.

 

Any speculation as to what the ratios for the manual 6spd for the CL-S will be? I can't afford it... But nice to wonder.

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Red 3.2 CL-S.
"Life is too short not to be Italian." -Paul Sorvino
"How do you expect your date to turn over if your engine doesn't?" -Original
Proud member of "I didn't hit the curb like a dope and scratch my rims" club.

 

Who knows what the CL will get, but here's the Legend's ratios:

1st 2.937
2nd 1.692
3rd 1.151
4th .868
5th .682
6th .521

The Legend's 4-6 are all overdrive, but 6th is shorter than our 5th. I don't know what the Legend's final drive is.

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2001 Silver 3.2CL Type S
Spoiler, Navi, Cupholder 2.0, 35% tint all around
Charter member of the Scratched Rim Club

 

Regardless of the gearing of this new 6-spd box, the advantages of the manual tranny will most certainly optimize the engine's performance. Less power lost to the wheels, a better ability to launch, quicker shifts, and ability to power shift ..

The CL-S/TL-S is still gunna being marketed to a segment that is conerned w/ fuel economy, so if 5 and 6 are overdrive -- who cares --> your 1/4 mile and 0->60 times will improve noticeably, and w/ I/H/E .. happy driving! If you want a car that'll pull to its top end .. you better get one that'll handle accordingly at those higher speeds (stock) .. like an M3. After a few trips past 100mph in the TL-S, I'll save my "nautical" adventures for the sea, rather than attempting lane changes w/ the stock suspension.

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2002 Acura TL-S
1999 MB E320 4-matic
M3_Killer .. in the snow
1998 Isuzu Rodeo
M3_Killer ... off-road
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" TARGET=_blank>Click Here for Pics!
</A>

 

thats what the extra gear is for but the real issue is a mission that can handle with little(clutch throught out bearing lightened fly wheel) or no moddifacation, the power upgrades we all seek



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'01 3.2 CL typeS
H&R o.e.'s 1.0/1.0
AEM cold air w/bypass
---PIAA 19224----
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Llumar platinum plus
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GS-R,87 GT,supra...and more to come
-----------------
'98 ACCORD V-6 sedan
16" coupe wheels
215/55/16 nitto's
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How about a reason NOT to buy the 6-speed CLS. It'll still be FWD...

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'01 CL-S|Sundance Gold|Spoiler|35% Tint|Bridgestone Potenza RE730 225/45/17
a study in pimp daddy gold

 

But RWD will never happen. They'd either have to take it off the Accord platform (raising price), or move the whole platform to RWD. (not gonna happen) I'd be happy with a manual FWD CL-S.

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2001 Silver 3.2CL Type S
Spoiler, Navi, Cupholder 2.0, 35% tint all around
Charter member of the Scratched Rim Club

 

Gas mileage!


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2001 Acura 3.2CL Type-S
Satin Silver/Ebony
No Navi/No Spoiler
Competch springs
35% tint
PIAA 19169 bulbs
K&N 33-2178 air filter

The Aviation Zone

 

Even though I don't know all that much about what the numbers actually mean (Gavrill, please feel free to explain what a specific number means for a gear ratio), just looking th those numbers is sickening. You don't have to be a genius to know what the overall result is--poor low end acceleration.

I drove in a GS300 the other day with four people in it and it had a way better feel of instant-on power right off the line. Arghhh!

I also wonder how much the new CLS is going to run--the TLS went up in price a good bit.

What a pain it's going to be to buy the new car and have all the mods taken off that same day and put on the new car. Can you say labor?

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Black/black CLS
Comptech headers, springs, swaybars
Koni yellows
Polarg M6 road lamps
Solaris Hi beams
Potenza RE730 225/45/17
Red AEM CAI
Denso Iridium plugs
35% metallic tint

 

Agree up to 4th. You also forgot 6th.

So if 4th goes to 105 then 5th should be at 147 and 6th 147 as it will be very long. But probably not as long as our 5th now in the auto tranny.

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

I can cope with that. 0.93 for 5th is great. But a direct ratio would be even better. JUST like BMW does it.

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

Probably yes. Most companies use different final ratios between their auto and manual trannies. So I'll take that too.

I just want the gear ratios of the first 4 gears to be much closer together and 5th close to a direct ratio. Such a setup combined with 225mm summer tires, will change the character of this car completely.

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

See now, THAT sucks. If the ratios of the CLS manual are like the above, I might not even bother and stay with auto.


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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

This car is very stable at high speeds. Why are you saying that. Now, being at high speeds and going straight that is not doing an apex.


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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

Gas mileage and the "character of this GT" right?

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

Yes but get ready for AWD. Sooner than we all think. Might see the TL get it first. Might ONLY see the TL get it. We'll all find out soon.

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

You got it guy. That's all it means. It also means that because our engine is fun at high rpm, one could add:

"the overall result is--VERY poor low end acceleration"

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Gabriel
CL Type S
Mag Racer #1

 

has there ever been a 6 speed on a fwd car?

 

The 2nd generation Legend had FWD, 6 speed manual, long. mounted engine. Who knows about the rest of automotive history, but I'm sure someone else hase done it before too.

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2001 Silver 3.2CL Type S
Spoiler, Navi, Cupholder 2.0, 35% tint all around
Charter member of the Scratched Rim Club

 

Hey Gavrill,

the reasons I didn't include 6th is I'm sticking (no pun) with the automatic. There's just too much bumper to bumper traffic in Atlanta. My last car, Prelude SH, was manual of course. It was sweet and all that, but I just got tired of it. In addition to the gearing changes, I'd like less slop in the shifts - harder, tighter, more instant. I guess that's torque converter changes that need to be made. Probably .2 seconds improvement in 1/4mile. But you never know, I might go manual again.

Kevin

 

The new Toyota Celica GTS is available with a 6 speed. The following new FWD cars will have a 6 speed: Acura RSX Type S, Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, VWs with 24V VR6, Ford Focus SVT, etc.

 

don't forget a manual should drop some pounds off our overweight baby....

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2001 Black CL-S Navi, spoiler, visor, PIAA 19169s