[Annihilate]

Hey guys, just did my first long (100mile) trip in my new 2SS M6... Have a couple of questions.

This is my first time driving a new manual transmission vehicle, my primary experience is with an 88 IROC 5 speed.

First thing I'm curious about is shift points. I'm having the most trouble getting a smooth shift into 2nd gear, I expect I'll get better with time, but I'm wondering what the most optimal shift points are for all the gears.

Also, I drove mostly country roads with a speed limit of 55, I was alternating between 55-65 in 6th... The car felt fine, and I was getting some good fuel mileage but looking into things I see that I shouldn't use 6th below 70?

Did I do any damage or should I be okay? From now on I'll ride 5th until highway speeds, but I figured anything over 1000rpm would be sufficient.

I've just reached 100 miles on the car and have been trying to adhere to the break in protocol, but again I'm coming from a completely different beast.

Also 6th gear is a bit hard to shift into, even at highway speeds, I gotta give it a little extra "umph" to get in there. Is this normal? Will it loosen up closer to the 1500 mile break in?

Just trying to figure this beast out. Id like to add I was driving in 38° Temps. Trans fluid never got above 100.

Thanks!

[SSDan]

First up - I don't think anything you've done so far has hurt anything. These cars are not delicate flowers. That said you don't want to lug the engine on a regular basis by being in too high of a gear at too low of a speed. I've been driving mine for 7 plus years and I shift into 6th gear for highway cruising when I cross 60 mph (about 1500 rpm). That has never created any problem or concern. As to the break in period I am of the mind that I just drive the car and don't do extreme things (avoid lugging the engine, no burn outs, no wot red line shifts). For this car and my last two performance/sports cars that has worked well - no oil burn off between oil changes and all three engines ran strong.

As to getting smooth shifts - that just takes seat time. I do not shift out of first gear until at least 2K rpm (this avoids the skip shift feature). The 1-2 shift is the trickiest to get right. I either take my time with it or I hit it pretty hard when I want a little fun. Anthing in between can be a little jerky.

TLDR - I suggest you just drive the car. Have a little fun every now and then. Don't do extreme things during the break in period. Seat time is your friend for getting smooth gear changes.

[Annihilate]

Originally Posted by SSDan

First up - I don't think anything you've done so far has hurt anything. These cars are not delicate flowers. That said you don't want to lug the engine on a regular basis by being in too high of a gear at too low of a speed. I've been driving mine for 7 plus years and I shift into 6th gear for highway cruising when I cross 60 mph (about 1500 rpm). That has never created any problem or concern. As to the break in period I am of the mind that I just drive the car and don't do extreme things (avoid lugging the engine, no burn outs, no wot red line shifts). For this car and my last two performance/sports cars that has worked well - no oil burn off between oil changes and all three engines ran strong.

As to getting smooth shifts - that just takes seat time. I do not shift out of first gear until at least 2K rpm (this avoids the skip shift feature). The 1-2 shift is the trickiest to get right. I either take my time with it or I hit it pretty hard when I want a little fun. Anthing in between can be a little jerky.

TLDR - I suggest you just drive the car. Have a little fun every now and then. Don't do extreme things during the break in period. Seat time is your friend for getting smooth gear changes.

Thanks, this is just what I was looking for.