SLVR04TL6PD

I installed a short throw shifter into my BMW and it felt awesome! Is the throw on the TL's 6 speed nice and short?

GoBig

It's actually pretty short, but it's been a long time since owning a stick. My last stick shift was a '93 VW Corrado.

EmuMessenger

If it is anything like the RSX, it is pretty short.

Anyone remember how short the throws were for the MR2 in the early 90's?

btk413

I have test driven the 6 speed. The throw is short. I did not have trouble with the first gear grab like others have mentioned. This thing flies up to redline very fast!!!. I had no clue I was at or above redline the car was so smooth and quiet. I am used to driving stick by sound and feel and just used the tach secondary. I am sure shifting by feel will come with owning this car for while and getting used to the engine.

I did not feel the VTECH rush that I keep hearing about, I just felt smooth even power up to redline. I imagine that with my adrenaline pumped so high that I may have missed the power nuances.

This car is a completely different animal with a manual transmission. I did not drive the AT and MT back to back but I left the MT with a bigger smile on my face than the AT.

vtechbrain

BTK, you seem to have your duckies in order. I couldn't have said it better myself!

JonDeutsch

btk,

your comments are very welcome! I've been waiting to hear real reviews of the 6MT. The vtec folks kind of downplayed the differences between the two. Your review (brief as it was) seem to play up the differences.

Will you bless us with more detail?

Jon

SLVR04TL6PD

thanks BTK,
In the brochure, 1st gear looks REALLY steep. Almost as if you don't need it unless starting on a hill. Am I right? Sometimes I can start my 325 out in 2nd with no lag, just a tiny bit more of gas and it handles it fine. Is this the case with the 6mt? I hate to ask little questions like this, but I am still waiting to for my TL to be built and haven't had a chance to test drive a stick yet. The bottom line is that I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas...

btk413

Jon, I do not own a TL yet. My review was based on about an hour test drive. Basically I kidnapped the young sales guy and did what and drove where I wanted. Took it on a couple of twisties I am familier with, a bunch of freeway, hills, but mostly I stayed on quiet back roads testing my ablility to smoothly change gears from zero to way past the speed limit without jerking the car or letting the clutch slip much.

I am not used to 6 speeds but I was rowing through all of them just to see if any of them were difficult to find. The stick on the TL finds and falls into each gear easily. This is very important to me because I think the travel and motion of changing gears should come naturally without thinking. I test drove a BWM 540 and a A6 2.7T and had to hunt for the shift gates. I would hope that if I owned the BMW or the A6 finding the gates would eventually come.

With 6 speeds, I admit that I occationally had to question what gear I was in. Again getting used to the feel, speed, and tach of the car you will know what exact gear you are in without thinking. One last thing, although the 6 gear is tall there is still torque left so you didn't have to drop gears to accelerate at freeway speeds.

btk413

Yes I was able to start the TL from 2nd however this was the case with my old 5 speed Supra and Maxima as well, so I expected this.

zima76

Trust me, Own one and test drive one are different feeling. Using the 2nd gear to pass some ISes and G35s are great experience. :lol1: :lol1:
6MT TL is definitly stronger than you can imagine.

EmuMessenger

For those of you with the 6MT, what kind of gas mileage are you getting?

GoBig

So far 24 mpg at an average speed of 38 mph. Some city, mostly highway.

vtechbrain

Keep it up guys, finally a thread without any uninformed nay sayers. My 6 spd has 800 miles now and I'm happy to say you guys have covered my feelings very well.