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Acura TL Transmission Questions

87 messages,  Last post on Oct 20, 2009 at 3:16 PM

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#1 of 87 Manual Gearbox Owners inside please by pedal_dancer Apr 01, 2006 (5:02 pm)
OK, just got an '06 TL, no nav, 6 speed. I am having a devil of a time shifting it smoothly. I havent owned an automatic transmission since 1977 but this one is owning me. This is probably going to be long winded so pour a glass of wine and see if you can give me a hand here.       1-2 is the worst. I seem to have to wait forever for the revs to drop enough to re-engage the clutch. I find myself starting from 2nd just to avoid this. I'm don't like how much I have to slip the clutch to do this. I'm used to my '92 Miata where I can practically sidestep the clutch at idle to get moving. Even in 1st in the TL, I have to slip the clutch more than I like to.        2-3 isn't easy for me either. The revs just don't drop quick enough. I can't pull it off seamlessly even after a bunch of experimenting. Waiting an inordinate amount of time seems to be the only solution.       Downshifting is a whole 'nother story. I know double clutching is old school but I grew up in MG's, Jags, a Mercury Capri,a Fiero, an MR2 or two and such. It's a habit. This TL seems to want none of it. Tonite, as an experiment, I took my foot off the gas in 3rd at about 2500 and stepped on the clutch. The revs went up before coming back down and stopping where they were for a second and then finally dropping more. What the heck, I thought I was controlling this thing. Damn pollution control computers.   Up or down, I can't shift this thing smoothly. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks. John. Replies to this message: wisngamecock (Apr 02, 2006 6:35 am) taxesquire (Apr 03, 2006 2:00 pm) dustfreevinyl (Apr 11, 2006 12:55 pm) momomeister (May 21, 2006 5:39 pm)
#2 of 87 Re: Manual Gearbox Owners inside please [pedal_dancer] by wisngamecock Apr 02, 2006 (6:35 am)
Replying to: pedal_dancer (Apr 01, 2006 5:02 pm) I have an '05 TL 6 SP. Absolutely LOVE IT. My wife and I both drive the car. We've both preferred and driven a number of 5 sp manual cars. This is our first 6 sp. While the shifter is a short throw with very crisp action, the clutch does have a bit of travel to engage, disengage. Add in the power in this car and it can be a little tricky at first. It sounds to me like you are over-thinking this just a bit. Perhaps you are not coming off the gas before you are engaging the clutch, or else not letting out the clutch slow enough. I don't know if this helps, but my guess is your manual driving instincts will take over with a little practice and getting used to the clutch travel. Now that I am accustomed to the 6 sp, I actually find myself skipping gears on the way up when going up to highway speed. The car is so powerful I'll accel to 70 in 4th gear and then shift right to 6th. I hope this helps. Replies to this message: taxesquire (Apr 03, 2006 2:00 pm)
#3 of 87 Re: Manual Gearbox Owners inside please [wisngamecock] by taxesquire Apr 03, 2006 (2:00 pm)
Replying to: wisngamecock (Apr 02, 2006 6:35 am) I have an '04 6MT TL and absolutely love it! Since my girlfriend (now wife) taught me to drive a stick, I never got into the lingo, so I hope this reads understandably.   The TLs got a great clutch and shifter - the trick is to realize that it engages right by the floorboard. You need to fully press down to disengage the gearshift so you can shift, but then be prepared for it to re-engage as soon as you start to lift up your foot. It's actually a much better design than my last car which engaged in the middle of the clutch's stroke.   I think this early engagement has played with your mind a bit, so your reving really hard right off the bat. Here's my tip to you: when starting out the car - probably in your driveway or a parking lot where you won't be testing your 0-60 times, just gently release the clutch without using the gas pedal. You'll need to really ease into it to prevent stalling, but you can get the car going this way (as long as you're not on an incline), and it'll help you get a feel for when the clutch engages.   As for downshifting, you just gotta do it! If I'm above 50 mph, I'll downshift to 3rd before 2nd, but Idon't know if it's a necessity.   Anyway, it's worth playing with it a bit b/c the TLs MT is sweeeet!!!!!
#4 of 87 Preferred RPMs on the '04+ 6MT TL by taxesquire Apr 05, 2006 (7:20 am)
I was just thinking about how the aspects of MTs that makes them better than automatics is the ability to control RPMs. I know where I like to keep the RPMs and was wondering if others felt the same.   On my TL, I notice that accelleration doesn't really kick in until about 4k. I'm not usually looking at the gauge during upshifts, but I try to upshift before it hits 7k.   When I'm looking to conserve gas, I usually try to keep RPms between 1 & 2k. I had been focusing on keeping it that way in general, but have started doing more everyday driving with the RPMs between 2 and 3.   It seems to me that 1k RPMs is too low. I think it may stress the engine, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know for sure.
#5 of 87 2006 TL 6MT Shifting Problems by jake3491 Apr 05, 2006 (9:17 am)
I have driven sticks for 30 of the past 37 years and most people tell me that I'm the smoothest shifter they have ever ridden with (thanks to my dad).   I too have a very tough time with the 1-2 shift, for 2 reasons:   1) the clutch engagement is very abrupt; it's more of an on-off switch 2) the drive-by-wire throttle has no "feel" and since you can barely hear the engine, your senses are confounded.   I also start in 2nd gear unless I'm going uphill.   I'm most successful when I do the following:   1) after shifting into the next (higher) gear, press the throttle just a little bit sooner than is natural   2) of course, you are at the same time lifting your foot off the clutch. Pause for a nanosecond just as the clutch starts to "bite"   The gearbox itself is delightful and I find very little need to double clutch on downshifts.   In every other respect the car is terrific and a phenomenal value - it just shouldn't be this hard to drive.
#6 of 87 RPMs by ty1234 Apr 05, 2006 (12:31 pm)
What are your RPMs when cruising at highway speeds in 6th gear? Replies to this message: wisngamecock (Apr 05, 2006 5:48 pm)
#7 of 87 Re: RPMs [ty1234] by wisngamecock Apr 05, 2006 (5:48 pm)
Replying to: ty1234 (Apr 05, 2006 12:31 pm) 75 mph I'm at exactly 2500 rpms It's about 2700 at 80 mph so the revs are not high.
#10 of 87 Re: Manual Gearbox Owners inside please [pedal_dancer] by dustfreevinyl Apr 11, 2006 (12:55 pm)
Replying to: pedal_dancer (Apr 01, 2006 5:02 pm) I've read that the factory fill transmission fluid is the culprit. The factory fill is pretty viscous and takes awhile to get warmed up to produce smoother shifts. It usually takes about 10 minutes of driving then it gets better. A lot of people have changed out the manual transmission fluid at about 5K miles (and even less) just to get rid of the sticky shifting. They've replaced it with GM Synchromesh Friction Modified fluid and have had no problems whatsoever. I'm about to do the same. I just got my car 2 weeks ago and I too have sticky shifts from 1-2 and sometimes 2-3. I'm sort of worried about my warranty though so I'm just going to drain and fill with Honda/Acura MTF. This has also alleviated the problem, according to other 6 speed owners, but the ones who replaced the fluid with the GM synchro stuff are just absolutely in love with their 6 speed now. Here's a link to the thread where I got this info from.   http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118339&highlight=friction+modifi- ed   Replies to this message: momomeister (May 21, 2006 5:39 pm)

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