6 speeders - What gear oil are you using?

[RG.net]

Yep, another gear oil thread!

I've been searching for a while now on what type of oil to use in my 6 speed. I used Redlines awesome shockproof gear oil on my old 5 speed, but I've read mixed reviews about using this in a 6 speed.

Anyway, I thought I'd try out Royal Purples max gear, gear oil. To be honest i'm not that impressed with it. The box is super notchy and hard to get into gear when cold, and tends to crunch when warm. I'm hoping that you guys have had a similar issue with a certian oil and made a switch for the better.

So, what are you using?

Oil: Royal Purple Max Gear
Price: $40 per bottle
Thoughts: not as good as I thought I would be, but it could be the condition of my gearbox playing a part here.

Oil:
Price:
Thoughts:

[SPy vs. SPy]

Whatever the factory put in it = crappy shift

Semi Syn put in after whinging to Mazda = crappy shift

New gearbox with semi syn = better but still not great

Shockproof blue and rerouted clutch line = crappy shift (was expecting sooooo much more)

New fancy clutch plate, pressure plate, flywheel, spigot bearing, throwout bearing, shockproof blue, rerouted clutch line = borderline ok when hot still crappy cold, like try every other gear before reverse or even drive it forward an inch, then select reverse (every frangipani day)

Yet another clutch and spigot bearing, back to semi syn, about the best it's ever been, still recalcitrant getting reverse when cold.

My 2c, when it comes to the six speeders, oils is oils, the same can't be said for comparing six speeders. i.e. some cars change gears like hot knives in butter and some don't and probably never will.

I would change to a SE six speeder if they weren't as rare as rocking horse poo and about as expensive as saffron when found. Though knowing my luck the shift would probably be no better.

SPy

[timk]

Mine 6 speed shift is fairly ordinary too. Changing to the multi weight synthetic Castrol made it a bit better but it's still not too good when cold.

[pcmx5]

Redline Mt-90. Combined with a Simspson short shifter and Vodoo knob it is amazing, equal to a NA 5speed for shift quality and none of the baulking i have experienced in NB's and more precise than my NC.

Peter.

[and1]

I think there's Redline MT-90 in mine. Well that's what I was told when I received the car.
The 6 speed in my 5 feels silky smooth compared to the 6 speeds Corolla Sportivos and 7th gen Celicas..

[owm]

Am on RL MT-90 too. Works great! No crunching, easy to shift when cold and cost me SGD20.50 per quart.

[JBT]

Mazda stuff. Changes just fine with 46,000 km under the belt.

[Sailor]

Castrol VMX-M
No problems in my NC.

[Regie]

whetever Mania put in.. Elf something i think

its awesome...smooth as shifts. got rid of the cold start 2nd gear struggle

[bootz]

Like to hear more about the Elf mania oil. I have the classic {?} 2nd gear crunch when cold.
Also "classic" clutch shudder when cold.

The Hiroshima pixies while very good aren't perfect

[Regie]

Like to hear more about the Elf mania oil. I have the classic {?} 2nd gear crunch when cold.
Also "classic" clutch shudder when cold.

The Hiroshima pixies while very good aren't perfect

clutch shudder will be fixed with a new clutch

as for the Elf oil, not sure what it is, shoot them a email and ask

[Mr Morlock]

I read somewhere about the search for the perfect gear change and that it is probably a bit like the unicorn. Benny mentioned at some point that technique is important and I agree. Some of us learnt to drive and only drove manual cars for a long time and this may assist? Cars that had been thrashed and abused with worn synchros were always an annoyance and double de clutching up and down sometimes was necessary. Unless you are racing I reckon just take the change to 2nd a bit slower and the other gears seem ok most of the time. I really do not know if changing the oil to say Redline is useful or not and I just use a Castrol oil and am quite happy with the 6 spd operation.

[Hellmun]

I used to find it didn't matter how slow I took the 2nd gear change when it was cold, if you applied more pressure it would actually crunch or if you waited it out it never fell in. Even double de-clutched it did the same on the stock Mazda oil when cold and Penrite Sin 75 actually made it worse. I started having difficulty getting the car to go into 3rd on the track with the penrite, it got so bad I was starting to get worried the box had been abused and I was going to be up for replacing it . I took some advice on this forum about redline and put some Lightweight shockproof in and it was a massive different on my NB 6 speed. Never had the cold 2nd gear issue again and the box was smooth and easy to change in all gears at all times.

I've also just pulled my gearbox out today (doing a clutch job) and after 40,000km's with 4 years of track work (Super sprints, mx5 clubdays and mx5 challenge events) it still feels really good. Not gluggy in any way and there was barely any metal on the drain plug at all. I've run penrite in every other aspect of the mx5 and my other cars for years but have found the redline to be worth it in the mx5 6 speed gearbox. Performancelub.com and an ebay seller do it for cheaper now to boot. I ordered a new bottle yesterday for $95 for the Gallon. When I first put it in I never found it for less than $120.

[chrisearl88]

I just used some nulon supercheap stuff. No difference to stock, which was pretty good anway (but hey im used to driving sh*tboxes). After a few weeks it smoothed out quite a bit, very happy with it now (still a little crappy when cold).

Just some advice to everyone complaining of cold start notchyness. I always drive my car really easy till the temp gauge hits operating temp. Then i know everything is warmed up and lubed before i give it too much stick. The gbox takes a little longer to warm up, but after 5 minutes driving its all good. If your cruching gears out of the driveway, might be a idea to take it easy, your car will love you for it.

Hope this helps.

[RG.net]

Mine has started to get better the past two weeks. It's quite easy to get into any gear when cold now. I did notice when I bought the gearbox that it has been opened (as I could see fresh sealant on the box), I'm guessing they cleaned up everything in it.

Still crunches if I'm not carefull, I think my locker is kinda playing a part though (I'll be changing it out for a Kaaz LSD soon).