[one1er]

Hey guys

I've got a question for the manual owners. I've noticed that the 6MT has quite long gear ratios. It goes over 60mph in 2nd, and some journalists have mentioned the long ratios, as in, not so clever/nice, so the question is:

If you're in 2nd, on a tight turn, at 30mph, doing probably 2750rpm, how easy/hard is it to break traction and drift?
Seems to me that the long ratio, and low rpm at this speed make it hard to break traction and drift! The auto, in 2nd, is roughly 1000rpms higher at the same speed, so the shorter gear ratio must make it a lot easier to respond, break traction and hang the tail out for a moment!

I'm asking this because I find that on my usual drives there are quite a lot of turns, at this kind of low speed, where I'd like to easily break traction and get the tail out, like roundabouts/circles (we have tons of those here)...

So, how do you find your ratios?

[Piper666]

Originally Posted by one1er

Hey guys

I've got a question for the manual owners. I've noticed that the 6MT has quite long gear ratios. It goes over 60mph in 2nd, and some journalists have mentioned the long ratios, as in, not so clever/nice, so the question is:

If you're in 2nd, on a tight turn, at 30mph, doing probably 2750rpm, how easy/hard is it to break traction and drift?
Seems to me that the long ratio, and low rpm at this speed make it hard to break traction and drift! The auto, in 2nd, is roughly 1000rpms higher at the same speed, so the shorter gear ratio must make it a lot easier to respond, break traction and hang the tail out for a moment!

I'm asking this because I find that on my usual drives there are quite a lot of turns, at this kind of low speed, where I'd like to easily break traction and get the tail out, like roundabouts/circles (we have tons of those here)...

So, how do you find your ratios?

I find mine ok, I tend to dip the clutch just to give it a helping hand-- always works. Only problem I have is that it cant hold the slide with it being a diesel.

[pw4]

I worked out that gears 3 to 7 in the auto are roughly the same ratios as 2nd to 6th in the manual. The auto has 2 first gears and a moonshot 8th; the latter is what gives it the edge in fuel consumption over the manual.

[overcoil]

In the 235 the six speed manual is probably optimal for 0-110 acceleration.
If drifting I don't really concern myself with rpm it's making sure the tach is somewhere halfway between maximum torque an maximum rpm and you just nail it, and do it by feel not reading the tach, and doing it in the wet to not wear out tires and drivetrain.
Above 110 it pulls nicely to 120 but you can tell the 5&6 gears are there to get you top speed and economy not for high speed acceleration.
I actually find the car almost too fast on back roads and a little boring on wide sweeping highways.
For the M2 I didn't think up to 375hp would fix the highway drive but if reports of near 400hp are correct then the car could be a killer on any road.

[pdubb]

A lot of factors would be in play...

Tread on tires, if its worn and bald, you'll break traction easily on a turn at 30 mph.

Or how hard you turn into the corner as well, you can be at 30 and take the turn slightly late to turn harder and swing the back end out.

But short answer, yes, at 30 mph, you should be able to get over steer and go sliding with traction control off.

Source: I did it in a manual this past weekend right around that speed.