Does anyone think the recommended shift points for the 6MT stated in the manual are a little ridiculous?

According to Acura:

1-2: 17mph
2-3: 27mph
3-4: 36mph
4-5: 41mph
5-6: 44mph

I don't know about the rest of you, but my TL would NOT be happy in 6th gear at 44mph. The 1-2 and 2-3 shifts are decent, but shifting like that sucks ALL the power away from the car, keeping it at 3k or below. I think the 0-60 for shifting like this would be in the 10-12 second range...

Seriously, though, does anyone shift like this? I find that if the tach drops below 2000 and there is an incline or I try to accelerate even modestly, the engine develops a pronounced hum and just feels like its being pushed too hard.

 

Princed,

I dont have my 6MT yet (on order though!). Anyhow, I'd speculate that the shift points are low so in an effort to conserve gas, etc. Not for performance. Just my though, but I'm sure they would prefer short shifing for this reason.

 

I shift at about 3 to 4K rpms. Then get into 6th when in the mid to high 40 MPH. I do not think the engine is lugging that much at 1500 rpm unless you want to accelerate quickly.

Some shifting is 1,2,3,6. Sometimes 1,4,6. Just how I feel and how the traffic is around me. If there is a lot of traffic, I use all gears and get out of there quick

 

After getting on the HWY, i go from 4th to 6th most of the time

 

A matter of feel and how fast you need/want to accelerate. As stated 1500 rpm cruising on the level in 6th is fine but if you need to gain speed or climb a hill such that you are flooring it at that point or even pushing 1/2 way down maybe what you really want is a lower gear or two or three. For normal driving 3000 shift point is enough to keep you out in front of traffic and over 3500 allows you to take advantage of the auto match rpm feature if you can take the time. Naturally a lower gear provides more thrust, but if you aren't going all out use the shift points that meet your needs.

 

Oh, and also as stated, feel free to skip gears...just let the revs drop before pulling shifter into gear to save the synchros especially if skipping 2 or 3 gears as in 2nd to 6th at 60mph. A double clutch in that case wouldn't hurt either.

 

Your shift points depend on how you want to drive, period.

 

Redline points:
1=dont know it goes too fast. I'm looking at the RPMS!!!
2=60mph
3=80mph
4=120mph
5&6=top speed (over 147mph)

For general driving I shift at 3500 to 4000 RPMs. Good mixture of power and economy IMO.

 

First is good for about 38mph and 3rd closer to 90. Interesting that redline in 6th would be 197mph if no governor and a steep downhill stretch!

Shifting at 3500 seems a good spot as vtechbrain says for normal driving...but if not accelerating then the highest gear that will pull smoothly...that is don't buzz along steady state at 3000 rpms in 3rd gear just because you have not reached your "shift point" yet.

 

You'd need more than a steep hill (at least the kind you would encounter in the real world) to overcome the drag. That is a theoretical top speed that could not be achieved without a lot more power or better aerodynamics.

 

erikmoeser, what is the automatch feature you mentioned?
I'm still pretty new to the TL, I've only had it for a few days, and with less than 100 miles on the engine I've been pretty gentle, keeping my shift points around 2K - 2500 RPM most of the time, the highest I've pushed it so far for a very brief time is 5K. I'll wait until at least a few hundred miles before I really start opening it up.

I'm a little out of practice with a stick, my previous Prelude was an AT. My old 81 Datsun 200SX 5MT was second nature and drove it 13 years. It seems that going into first gear is a little difficult compared to my distant memory of that car. It seems the clutch tends to grab very abruptly. Maybe I'm overly careful not to ride it, but it seems to grab all at once making smooth starts pretty tough. Does it break in at all? It has less than 100 miles on it right now.

I'm also getting back into practice of manually trying to get the engine RPM to be about what it will be when I let out the clutch, for both up and down shifting. I had gotten very good at this without even thinking about it, but that was 10 years ago. Does the automatch feature help with this?

 

u need 400hp to do 200mph...say an M5

HP is always hooked up with top speed

usually a 130hp car would max out at 125mph or below

a 200 hp car would be around 130-140mph

a 250hp car can go 155mph...well and so on...

if TL do not have a limiter, it can probably go 160-165mph b4 the wind stops the accleration....

 

During break-in, I've been shifting at 2500 rpm for every gear - no idea what the speeds associated with that rpm are for each gear... I'm at 525 miles now & have started shifting at 3000 rpm - it's getting tougher & tougher to hold back, lol.

 

Were you told to shift at such a low RPM?

My understanding of the break-in period is to drive the car normally, but vary the RPMs on the highway so you don't spend too much time at a given RPM, and don't venture into the 6-7k RPM range more than a few times.

I don't think you need to hold back in the manner you have described, in fact, I think your engine needs to see an RPM level above 3000 on a more regular basis.

 

No, I just started out trying to be gentle & learn the car, then I went through a period of trying to see how high I could keep the gas mileage. It's not that I never exceeded 2500 rpm though! However, I have yet to go over 4500 rpm...

 

The abrupt clutch engagement will go away completely, takes a couple K. Mine feels like a lude now.

 

Take her to redline and call me in the morning.

 

lol, soon my friend, soon...

 

Automatch on upshifts....if you rev to something like at least 3500 or more in a gear and upshift...while clutch is disengaged (on the floor) and you are moving the shifter to the next gear, pause a bit (about a second) b4 releasing the clutch...the revs will have dropped (assuming your foot is off the gas!) to the proper speed for the next gear...and hold there for about a second so that your clutch engagement will be perfectly matched. If you pause too long the revs will then drop to idle, too short and some of the rev difference going to the next gear will be absorbed by the clutch...smoothly if releasing clutch gradually, abruptly if just letting it out quickly. With this technology, it would be possible for them to program it to match the revs on downshifts also. I have not experimented to see when the computer gets the message, i.e. when you declutch or when the shifter is placed in the next gear...I do know that if you skip a gear, the revs just drop normally to idle without a pause at the "correct" rpm. That tells me, now that I think about it, that the computer senses the shifter moved already to the next gear before implementing the paused rpm.

 

Yeah, those seem odd. 17mph shift?