Manual in cold weather

[Josharoo]

I have a quick question..

Lately we have had some 30-ish and lower temps in the Seattle area, and maybe it is just me but I feel like until my car is completely warmed up and been driving for a while, my gear box seem rough? in other words, it seems a bit hard to shift into gears especially first. I do let her warm up for a minute, and I can feel the heat finally starting to blow is when I start moving. I tend to stay under the 3000RPM till the cold light goes on. I have 2200 miles at this point on her as well. Just do not want to harm my Kwan, she is an incredible machine!!!

Any suggestion/feedback would be cool!

[foama]

The MT in mine is just the same. In cold spells, the gear lever feals like the gearbox were filled with honey or some other thick goo.

I have noticed that below about +10°C the bottom section (the black plastic area) of the front air inlets can be fully closed up. The remaining horizontal slit in the upper part of the bumper is completely enough. The car warms up better then.

[Daox]

This is pretty common in areas where it gets real cold.

I'd be surprised if Mitsu didn't put a decent synthetic transmission oil in the Mirage to begin with. But, you could try changing it out for a synthetic transmission fluid. That has helped me with previous vehicles in cold weather its quite noticeable. But, these were older vehicles that probably didn't come with synthetic.

[MetroMPG]

^^ What Daox said.

I've seen a BIG improvement in ease of shifting by switching to the thinnest recommended synthetic gear oil in a previous car. The "stirring a pot of honey" feeling was gone.

Saves gas in cold weather, too.

[M-88]

Cold weather makes them fun.

My father has a pickup where you have to start it up, put the transfer case in neutral, and idle it in 3rd gear when it's cold. Otherwise the transmission will only go into 3rd gear.

German transmissions

[ThreePot]

Just wondering if you are going into first while the car is still rolling ?

Also, When I lift off the gas pedal to shift, there's a noticeable difference in the way the RPM's fall off cold vs. hot.
This definitely effects the shifting characteristics.
I like to short shift the 1-2, and if I try it to cold, it doesn't work because the RPM's hang a little to high.

I also suspect (Daox) the Mitsu factory fill is synthetic.
I know for a fact that the Redline 75/80 MTF pours like water at 30deg F...The Mitsu oil may as well (?)

[motormontreal]

My Mirage has 750KM (466 miles) and yeah I have to coax it into it's gears on a cold morning. It felt like an old school bus the first few hundred miles! lol However it feels like it's getting better as I put on more mileage, and the stiffness almost all but disappears after a few miles of driving.

[M-88]

Just wondering if you are going into first while the car is still rolling ?

Also, When I lift off the gas pedal to shift, there's a noticeable difference in the way the RPM's fall off cold vs. hot.
This definitely effects the shifting characteristics.
I like to short shift the 1-2, and if I try it to cold, it doesn't work because the RPM's hang a little to high.

I also suspect (Daox) the Mitsu factory fill is synthetic.
I know for a fact that the Redline 75/80 MTF pours like water at 30deg F...The Mitsu oil may as well (?)

Some vehicle 'hang' worse than others.

The rev hang is to light the catalyst off. Running a cold engine fast like that will burn more fuel, but it allows the cat to light off sooner and it can start doing its thing sooner.

If there was no rev hang, or high idle, the catalyst wouldn't light off as soon and it would be less efficient and likely not last as long.

My Focus is just asinine with it. If the car is rolling it all, it HAS to idle at 2500RPM when cold.

[Josharoo]

Thanks for the the updates here! I am going to try a better transmission oil and see how that goes. Now the weather has warmed up and the car is driving just fine again.

Three Pot, I rarely/never go into first while rolling. I do however, in 2nd and 3rd!

[Daox]

Let us know how it goes!