6 Gears V70T5 Manual

[MacXC60T5]

Got a six gear box on my 2005 V70T5. May seem like a daft question but all my others cars have been either auto/geartronic. Car is OK, its me I keep missing gears and find 6th just like an overdrive. Is there a required skill to using the 6 speed manual, had the car since Feb still not 100% OK with the gearbox. I suppose it must be me and everybody else is OK I find the engine very quite. Not really explaining this one very well, its like first gear the ratio is very short, 5th to 6th small difference in engine note just a small drop in revs. OK so I have a greater flexibility with the Manual is that better than the Geartronic. I suppose so one will come along and tell I have got it all wrong. I also suppose I am saying I don't feel the car.

[princepugh]

I've never driven the six speed box but I'd imagine you have closer ratios but a similar or same final drive ratio to a standard 5-box.

Suppose the advantage is that you can always be at or near peak torque, whereas you cant always guarantee that with the 5-cog setup. Additionally, I'd imagine you'd probably have to change you're driving mode for the everyday stuff, perhaps skipping a cog on some of the upshifts as it won't be necessry to go sequential?

[fluff110]

I guess my 6 speed is pretty similar to yours and I miss out gears all over the place (frequently 1st-3rd-6th up and 6th-4th-2nd down), not least because my driving instructor told me to - apparently you could be failed for unnecessary gear changes!

1st is short (used to run out of revs before realising I'd pulled away when first driving it :redface:), but works well in to 3rd if you want a sharp pull away but not much after that.

6th feels the about same as 5th on my previous 5-speed manual and seems to be fine from 30mph up (unless you want to pick up quickly!) and helps save fuel so you can be sequential when you want to boot it :)

It's great to have the flexibility and in the end I suppose it's down to your preference and style whether you skip gears or not - unless somebody had a definitive answer?

[Vikingxl]

I think you are thinking too much about the gear changes it should be second nature, all my vehicles have 6 gears and i have no issues

[MIKESC70T5]

My new Audi is a six speed and even though i generally still drive the c70 when i'm in the Audi i usually go straight from 4th to sixth without thinking about it, it becomes second nature.

[MacXC60T5]

I think you are thinking too much about the gear changes it should be second nature, all my vehicles have 6 gears and i have no issues

I think you are correct sometimes if you think about what actions you are doing rather than just feeling and doing it naturally it can ££££ up as they say. I think I may give it a blast tomorrow just to see if I can feel it better. Out of interest what rev's does the turbo kick in.

[iron_mighty07]

Only driven the 6 speed diesel focus, and concur with everyone think about it less and it'll come together naturally - do find myself forgetting to use the top cog on A-Roads though to keep the revs up......

[t5_monkey]

maybe your engine just isn't making enough noise...

I recommend you get a K&N air intake and a straight through exhaust - I can always tell what RPM (and therefore gear) I'm at to the nearest 500rpm :ices_rofl

I heard somewhere you shouldn't rush 2cog changes due to the syncromeshes etc... but don't know if that's true.

1, 2nd, 4th 6th and vice versa - I rarely use the ratios in order unless I'm getting fruity.

[Turkish]

1st is good for just under 40MPH, so it may feel short, but it is not. 5th gear is good for 150 MPH and 6th can take you well past a speedo indicated 160 MPH. I tend to just use 6th quiet a bit as it offers enough pull from 40 MPH to keep up with moving traffic. Mine is modified so a bit more low down torque.

You can skip gears very easily as the engine has so much torque/power.

[t5_monkey]

Volvo's tend to have long boxes on them anyway - 30mph per 1000 is pretty tall even for a 6 speeder.

Of course 300+lb ft of torque means you don't really notice :)

I'm considering trying to do a 1/4 mile starting from 2nd gear, apparently the tuned turbo diesel drivers do that, and it works very well for getting your time down.

5th gear is almost entirely pointless on Volvo boxes it seems, It must be the least used gear on my car - I'd rather have an even taller 6th gear for cruising and shorter 1-5 for going like a fruitbat.

[Libra]

I find that 1st is quite short, second is a loverly gear and very under-rathed as it really does go. 3rd, 4th and 5th I find are quite short and 6th could be longer.

I too am starting to block shift, like today I went from 3rd into 6th and it was fine. It was the first time I had done that and probably the last. If I am coming down the box I will go from 6 to 4 to 2. When I go up the box I will 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th then 6th usually to drip the revs and save a bit of fuel that is of course when I am slow comfort mode :D