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Smooth Gear Shifting ?

I've lived with the 6 speed for 3 years now. I found no difference between Red Line and regular oil. Nothing can make it shift up to 2nd or 3rd the way it shifts into the other gears. It feels like the gears meet tooth to tooth and then clunk into place. Sometimes, they even grate before meshing. This is worse when cold. Two dealers have said, "That is just the nature of the 5 speed gearbox".

My last Miata was a 5 speed. It was smooth shifting into all gears and Red Line just made it smoother.

I have come to dislike driving my 6 speed because of the noisy and clunky shifting. I encourage people to avoid buying a 6 speed.

Randy

Reply to
BCRandy
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OOPs - I meant 6 Speed!

Reply to
BCRandy

Oh, sorry, good question ... I was referring to the 'interesting' comment. No offense intended.

Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

Wow, I HAVE missed this, my bad. Randy, I think it's pretty straight forward to switch out to a 5-speed. Am I wrong?

Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

Don't know, I've never tried. But from what I've read here, in a new Miata, one has a choice of getting handling upgrades (shocks, sway bar, etc) with a 6 speed or a 5 speed without the handling improvements. If you want to end up with a 5 speed, wouldn't it would be easier/cheaper to buy a

5 speed car and add the suspension parts than buying a 6 speed car and swapping out the transmission?

Randy

Reply to
BCRandy

I owned a '99 with a 5 speed and had absolutely no shifting problems. I now own an '04 MSM with a 6 speed and have noticed some difference, but most of it being the gear ratios and of course the extra gear! I have not have "clunky" or "grindy" problems as some of you are describing, so not sure what that feels like. I am still on the stock fluid, so I am intrigued by the various responses about changing to a synthetic tranny oil. I may try that when it get's closer to change time, I have just over 30k miles now. I have been running synthetic in the engine.

The 6 speed was a little difficult to get used to, but I love it now. I've done some FM mods to the exhaust system and intake, therefore the rwhp is bumped up a bit, and with the 6 speed I'm lovin' the experience of flyin' through the gears during fast accelleration. Once in a great while I'll overcompensate going from 2nd to 3rd and get half-way to

5th. Kinda embarassing, but I think it's only 'cause I'm tryin' too hard. Most of the time the shifting is flawless.

Tom

'04 MSM velocity red

Reply to
Bipestuff

No, the suspension upgrades are very expensive, though you are likely to end up with a superior setup to even the upgraded stock suspension.

Finding someone who will swap a good 5-speed for a good 6-speed should be very easy to do, you could probably even ask for extra money on the deal.

Transmissions are not really that hard to install in a miata, which would make it either free or to your profit, minus your time, if you did it yourself.

I am not sure what range a shop would generally charge for a swap. It shouldn't take a mechanic with a lift more than a couple of hours, maybe not that long, though what we are charged and how much time was spent are rarely in line. You usually either get screwed or get a break by a mechanic that just can't bring themself to charge 8 shop hours for a job that they finished in less than a quarter of that time.

Pat

Reply to
pws

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