So I think this is the case but when i'm at speed i'm never actually looking at the tach, but it sounds like it's true (engine sound) and it's bothering me this morning, so i'm just asking instead of trying it on the freeway

Redline 3-4 shift falls out of VTEC? I know 1-2-3 is good but 3-4 feels terrible.

pls confirm

someone needs to make a lower 4th. Leave 5th for cruising/mpg.

 

I'd love a lower fourth as well. I love the car up through third and then i hit fourth and get sad. Especially considering all the hills around here. There are times when i want to shift out of third but fourth will just make the car struggle.

 

Actually the USDM GE8 pretty much shifts out of VTEC on every gear change. With a redline of 6800 and shifting at it, 1st to 2nd drops to around 3900, 2nd to 3rd drops to around 4700, 3rd to 4th drops to 4950 and 4th to 5th drops to 5200. VTEC activation is 5300 stock.

On the JDM with stock gearing, it is 3700, 4800, 5500 and 5500. With my car's final change (4.687) and an increased rev limit to 7100 and VTEC activated at 5200 (J's reflash) my shift points drops are as such: 3800, 4950, 5700 and 5750.

You could always look at putting in the JDM 4th, it is a 1.054 compared to the USDM .949 and 5th is also the same as the 6MTs 6th here at .727, whereas my 5th is a .853. The 4th gear there is pretty bad, but if changing to the JDM 4th with the USDM fifth, your 4th to 5th drop is pretty massive, down to around 4700, but the 3rd to 4th drops to about 5500, so at least that stays in VTEC.

 

curious... if you were to "slip" your clutch during gear change (and probably destroy it in the long run)... could you keep the car above that trigger point?

 

Yes yes yes. There's a bunch of turns on my local runs that I should upshift to fourth but I just bounce third on the straight and hold it because i'd have to immediately downshift if I went to 4th. It'd be nice to have 4th as an option uphill, with the current 4th it's a big downer, downhill it's a little scary because it's such a long gear it doesn't engine brake much and I don't like running into fade. Yeah change my pads, I know, I know lol

I've always wondered about this possibility and totally wouldn't mind the 4th to 5th drop. The only time I go to 5th is if i'm cruising anyway. But if 4th comes in at 5500 that makes 4th gear good from 80mph to ?. I'm not good at gear math.

You could, but I think you'd lose more time doing so than just putting it in gear. I know people that clutch kick short sections to get RPM up to power out, but be prepared for the maintenance, I don't have the skills or knowhow to be changing transmissions and clutches that frequently, they do though. That's mostly street hooliganism and not timed, just feels better I think to be in powerband than struggling.

 

4th would max out at around 100mph at 6800, so would lose about 11mph, but it just might be quicker not having that lull in the power band. Swapping to the JDM 4th, 5th and final would be your best bet as 4th to 5th would also land at 5500. Theoretically you would only be able to get to 124mph in 5th down from 145mph, which does kind of suck, where I am kind of now with my Fit. Gear limited to 205km/h and my Fit wants to go higher and one of the reasons I won't go to Fuji Speedway with the 1km long straight, it would be boring being stuck on the limiter. Plus that circuit as a whole is a snoozefest.

 

Mine's an A/T, so a little different, but I don't notice any kind of bump in power when Vtec kicks in, just a louder engine note. I can clearly hear the change with the intake I put on. So, from a power standpoint, I don't think it makes a difference if you're going in and out of Vtec while shifting the gears. I thought the Vtec feature was just to keep the engine running smoother and producing power smoothly throughout the RPM range.

-Dustin

 

If you run De-Cats like T1R, WeaponR, or some JDM variant, the power drop from upshift isnt as bad.


My car finally feels like it wants to sprint forward even when going from 3rd to 4th. Yeah its slow, but now it feels like it actually accelerates lol

 

I'd actually be totally OK with a 124mph limit I think? It'd be a totally different car with ratios like that, might be cool and definitely something to keep in mind. I wish I could afford to just tear the trans down and find out if those gears swap, but as my daily, I can't do that. Maybe one day? Thanks for info!

No it's not like an old school VTEC kick, but ~5k-6.2k is peak power band so it'd be best to stay in there.

http://www.knfilters.com/dynocharts/69-1017_dyno.pdf

I totally would use that an an option but I don't want to deal with it with emissions, but thanks for posting that.

 

if you want to keep emissions, swap to the JDM 6speed

6th gear is our 5th gear. it has the same theoretical topspeed, but the acceleration rate is greatly improved since there is an extra gear and the gear ratios are tighter.

 

I thought there was some issues with swapping the 6mt on the US Fit but I could be completely off base.

If not I'm going to try to do this when I change the clutch rather than monkey with gears if I can find a trans.

Maybe 555 can ship one for me lol

 

I have no knowledge other then it defintiely bolts up to our block.

As far as clutch, flywheel, mount, and axles, if it follows typical honda style, you might only be out the cost of the mount

 

So going through my old threads related to the subject and several other ones, I didn't find any definitive reasoning why the 6MT needs lots of parts to fit or whatever, just a lot of people talking about it being cost prohibitive.

AFAIK the 6MT is the same box as the 5MT with an extra gear.

As the Fit gets older and JDM scrapyard parts become more available this might be a real possibility. I agree 13fit that Honda does like to reuse what they can.

 

The ECUs are different between the 2 here (5MT and 6MT). Not sure what is different between them, but something is and not sure if that actually will play a part in the change to the 6MT, need to ask Umehara-san at J's about it.

The gears themselves Wanderer should go right in without issue. I can try to get part numbers from Honda for the gears and shafts. If the shafts are the same part numbers it would definitely be just a matter of opening the tranny up and and replacing the gears. And I understand about being your daily and not having time, I've been driving around for over a year with a 2nd gear that is working, but wants to pop out, but it hangs in there. Change my fluid very often and every time there is a new small piece of metal that comes out on the magnetic drain plug.

 

Ah man you're still dealing with that 2nd gear huh? You know what if it was me i'd have to do the same. Interesting about the ECU, I would imagine them being different though, it makes sense to me. Thanks for inquiring with J's about it, that's pretty awesome.

So after looking up a transmission rebuild procedure i'm going to have to hand this one to the pros, disassembling the trans is just way more than I have confidence doing, and I never did take manual trans repair class. Never got to it

But if the shaft were the same you'd need the gear, the synchro, probably some other small parts, plus labor to get it done. Since I can't do it myself i'd have to see if it'd just be cheaper to buy the whole transmission and probably get one with a lot less miles than mine has, or just have the gear installed.

I guess I could save on labor if I did it when I change the clutch...

I think it's a good idea putting the part numbers up here regardless if I go through with this 555 because maybe someone with more resources than me will take a shot at it. Thanks again for your help.