[cbr1100xx]

Ok...so I don't have my car anymore (lemon buy back). But question about the 6spd.

I recall that 5th gear was kind of an overdrive and didn't have much punch unless I was going at least 70 or so on the freeway. And I found 6th gear almost useless. A true overdrive if you're doing long cruises and don't want any power.

I test drove an A8 and thought it was pretty good, especially in sport mode. But if I get another SS, still leaning towards manual.....

But anyone think 5th is a little tall on this car?

[Lafourche1]

5th is what you would expect. It is much better than in the old 4th Gens. 5th was like watching grass grow as you slowly gained speed.

At the fat part of the power band, 5th pulls fairly strong.

6th is 6th. It returns 20+ MPG.

[Lukemo]

Originally Posted by cbr1100xx

Ok...so I don't have my car anymore (lemon buy back). But question about the 6spd.

I recall that 5th gear was kind of an overdrive and didn't have much punch unless I was going at least 70 or so on the freeway. And I found 6th gear almost useless. A true overdrive if you're doing long cruises and don't want any power.

I test drove an A8 and thought it was pretty good, especially in sport mode. But if I get another SS, still leaning towards manual.....

But anyone think 5th is a little tall on this car?

Not really comparable here since I'm in a V6, but on the freeway, im in 6th if the road is flat, 5th for going up and down hills, 4th for passing quickly, and 3rd if I really need to hustle. In the v6 I can take 3rd up to 90. I've never topped out 4th, but have been over 110 in it with more room to go. 4th is pretty much my go to passing gear on the freeway. There isn't much power in 5th and almost none in 6th. I do believe 5 and 6 are just overdrive gears.

[Mityguy]

I mean 1-4 are all the gears you need to go fast. Then 5th for me is great for 60-70 and 6th is fine for anything 70+ if I'm just cruising along and usually yields 25mpg which is lovely lol.

[crazydmc]

Originally Posted by cbr1100xx

Ok...so I don't have my car anymore (lemon buy back). But question about the 6spd.

I recall that 5th gear was kind of an overdrive and didn't have much punch unless I was going at least 70 or so on the freeway. And I found 6th gear almost useless. A true overdrive if you're doing long cruises and don't want any power.

I test drove an A8 and thought it was pretty good, especially in sport mode. But if I get another SS, still leaning towards manual.....

But anyone think 5th is a little tall on this car?

5th and 6th are overdrive.... good for quiet and gas mileage

4th is 1:1 - stay here if you want performance at highway speeds
5th is 1:1.5 - great for cruising up to 65 or so...
6th is 1:2.0 - for freeway cruising, and decent gas mileage, and quiet

let's say you are cruising in 6th and...
-- you want to pass someone with above average gusto, then you may want to downshift to 5th first.
-- if you really want to romp on it... you downshift straight to 4th first.

of course you could just leave it in 6th, it all depends on how aggressive you want to be...

nice thing about manual trans is you choose your result.

[vtirocz]

Originally Posted by Lafourche1

5th is what you would expect. It is much better than in the old 4th Gens. 5th was like watching grass grow as you slowly gained speed.

At the fat part of the power band, 5th pulls fairly strong.

6th is 6th. It returns 20+ MPG.

FYI: The gearing between the 4th gen (assuming you're talking about '94-02) M6 is identical to the 6th gen. 6th gen does have 3.73 rear gears (vs. 3.42 for 4th gen), but this gets completely offset by the larger diameter tires. The trans ratios are 100% identical.

For reference:
http://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409961

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by cbr1100xx

Ok...so I don't have my car anymore (lemon buy back). But question about the 6spd.

I recall that 5th gear was kind of an overdrive and didn't have much punch unless I was going at least 70 or so on the freeway. And I found 6th gear almost useless. A true overdrive if you're doing long cruises and don't want any power.

I test drove an A8 and thought it was pretty good, especially in sport mode. But if I get another SS, still leaning towards manual.....

But anyone think 5th is a little tall on this car?

Yes the current M6 SS is a little over geared. The 5th gen 1LE had the exact same transmission and gears and had a 3.91 diff gear. The current SS has a 3.73 which relates to 143 in 4th. A little too tall for drag racing. But having said that my CA6 M6 SS stock was a little faster than my M6 5th gen ZL1 (Same transmission and 3.73 gears) at the drag strip. And it gets low thirties MPG cruising at 65 mph. My ZL1 was mid to low 20s on the highway.

The stock CA M6 SS will easily run mid 12s or faster with practice. An M6 has run in the 11s stock with only a tire replacement. Not DRs. So it ain't slow.

You will find 5th gear perfect for country roads under 55 mph. 6th is for 55+ on the highway.

And to me the M6 is 3x more fun than an automatic , just not in traffic. The stock shifter is great, the transmission shifts smooth, and the drivers seating was designed with the manual driver in mind. Easy choice for me.

[tcal780]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

"And it gets low thirties MPG cruising at 65 mph."

C'mon man. I'll agree, the M6 is way more fun, and I love the MPG's, but it's no Corolla.

[cryssm]

Originally Posted by Lukemo

... I do believe 5 and 6 are just overdrive gears.

In the SS, correct. In the V6/I4, 5th is 1:1, 6th is 0.75 overdrive. I wish we had two overdrive gears.

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by tcal780

C'mon man. I'll agree, the M6 is way more fun, and I love the MPG's, but it's no Corolla.

No exaggeration. Those are highway MGPs only. Done it more than once as others have in the SS M6. That long gearing. But sadly with my current mods mid to high 20s. Oh well, my SS M6 can now keep up with the A8s.