I got my TL a couple of weeks ago used. Its an 04 with about 45000 on the engine and clutch. its a standard transmission

I knew how to drive a stick, but i had never really done it much before this car. you can hear the gears shifting from the outside of the car when you shift at a stand still, like mechanical things moving when i shift. also the VSA triangle wont go away unless i turn it off. are these things normal? i dont remember hearing the gears like that before driving it a while.

 

also, i know its been answered a million times, but is it normal for these cars to cruise at around 3k rpm's? it seems like it really wants to

 

"you can hear the gears shifting from the outside of the car when you shift at a stand still, like mechanical things moving when i shift."

Yes, it's quite normal. The amount of sound you hear will be related to the size of the transmission housing and its material, the linkage, and a few other things. You are not hearing gears shifting since gears don't "shift" in a manual transmission. What you are hearing is linkage, shifting forks, blocker rings, and dog teeth.. all doing what they're suppose to do.


"also the VSA triangle wont go away unless i turn it off".

When you start your engine, the default mode of the VSA is to be on which means the triangle light on your display will be off. If you press the VSA button, you will turn the VSA off and the triangle light will come on.


"also, i know its been answered a million times, but is it normal for these cars to cruise at around 3k rpm's"

No, it's not. It's normal for the TL to cruise at whatever engine speed you determine; that is entire up to you.

 

it just seems like the engines sweet spot is at around 3k rpms.

i have the GReddy evo 2 exhaust so its hard to listen for engine noise.

 

I have a 5AT, so it may be a little different, but I usually cruise right under 2000 RPM, but I'm not the fastest driver around

 

the TL engine will definately cruize at any rpm you want it to. IT has a nice flat as mississippi torque curve

I drive an 02 cl-s and when i accellerate, i RARELY go above 2K on the tach......