I've driven a 5 speed manual most of my life and can't figure out when you are supposed to use 6th gear??? My 5th gear has always been my gear when you are cruising over 55 on the freeway. I know the RPM's when you are suposed to shift so I am confused...Sorry..I know this is a stupid question but I did a search and couldn't find the answer. :impatient

 

I get into 6th on 5, 15, 405, 99, and 8 sometimes when crusing at the limit with little traffic otherwise im in 5th or even 4th to keep the RPMs up to get out of the way.

Earl

 

Hmm, don't you use 6th when you're on the freeway and don't need to accelerate? I'm confused too :impatient

 

thanks!! I live in SoCal too so I can realte to your freeways..let me tell you what speeds I am at in each gear and you can tell me what speeds you are at..(I have no idea if this will answer my question, )

0-15 1st, 15-25 2nd, 25-40 3rd, 40-55 5th, and 55+ 5th.

 

but, if you want max power available, then you will be in rth or 5th anyway.

 

I guess that's my question...6th is basically overdrive so I am not sure the speeds you use 4th and 5th gear.

 

A six speed is not just a 5spd with an extra gear. All of the gear ratios are diffrent. The ratio of a typical 5th gear is probably equal to the ratio of 6th gear in a MINI. Don't drive by "what gear you're in" drive by what rpm the engine is at. It is extreamly silly to think in "gears" and not "rpms". Just my .02

 

Yeah, 100% agreed
It just depends on how much power you want at the moment, and put your MCS in whatever gear that will give you the RPM you need.

 

Thanks! I drive at RPM's, not speeds but couldn't figure out a way to try and ask the question when you go from 3rd to 4th to 5th. In fact, I never look at the speed, just listen and know when to shift so I guess the answer is when the RPM's are high, time to shift. I've just always have had 5 gears so I was confused...which is normal for me. Thanks for the responses! :smile:

 

By the way, there is no need to shift sequentially (eg, don't need to do 1-2-3-4-5-6), based on the situation, you can shift from 3-6, 2-5, 3-5, whatever you like. Just make sure you let the engine match the drivetrain speed when you do it, there is no harm on the transmission or the engine.

Eg. You feel like going fast on an onramp, you gun it to 6500rpm in 2nd gear, you're travelling at 65mph (made up number), now you're on the highway, and you just want to cruise. You can just shift into 6th right away, give the car a little bit of time to drop the engine rpm to about 2400rpm before you let the clutch out, so everything is running at the same speed when the clutch is engaged.

 

I skip 3rd all the time. Heck - 2nd takes me faster than most speed limits around here when I am accelerating. I just settle into 4th after that.

 

I've never gone fast enough to need the 6th gear!

Top speed for each gear:

Gear, MPH at 6950RPM
1st - 44
2nd - 70
3rd - 93
4th - 114
5th - 137*
6th - 168*
*if you have the speed limiter removed; Read: aftermarket ECU

 

My MCS seems to do fine until the RPMs get near 2K - I generally shift down when I reach that point. Otherwise, both for fuel economy and engine life, use the highest gear you can. If throttle response and acceleration are your priorities, use the lowest gear you can. :smile:
There's no hard and fast rule. As some of the above have said, they don't use 6th much at all.

 

yesterday when I was test driving, before I took the car the MA told me that my job was to get to 6th gear... I got on the car HARD but never did I feel I needed 6th... but I did use it anyway. at 60 in 6th gear the car was going 2500 rpm... I have to think the gas mileage would be amazing if you were cruising on a highway at 2500 rpm in 6th!

 

I rarely use 6th on surface roads. I cruise around 2500-2800rpm's which has
been the best mpg for me.

 

Then you must either rarely drive at highway speeds, or you are a very conservative driver (speed-wise). As soon as I go past 65 mph, I am almost always in 6th (unless flooring it). Of course, I recognize that with a 2003, you have more conservative gearing than I do, so you may not really be able to use 6th until over 70 mph.

 

I don't think they touched the ratios above 3rd.

 

When I'm going from point A to point B, I'm going to get my S in 6th as soon as I can in these days of $3+ premium fuel!!!!

 

surface roads = non-expressway roads usually those that are 55mph or
less for most citizens.

Who said I don't take the expressways and use 6th gear? :impatient

 

My mistake, I'm sorry... I misunderstood what you meant by "surface roads". Around where I am, I'm driving on highways & Interstates every day, so I didn't factor in the "rarely drive on high speed limit roads" possiblity. Oops!

Nope, EVERY gear was affected - from MINI2 FAQ:

Builds through 06/2004:
Gear Overall Ratio
1 11.425
2 7.181
3 5.397
4 4.407
5 3.656
6 2.986

Builds from 07/2004:
Gear Overall Ratio
1 12.789
2 7.793
3 5.651
4 4.615
5 3.828
6 3.126