05 Sportivo sticky 1st gear

[CheekySportivo]

Hi Guys,

Not a huge issue here but was just wondering if any other 05 Sportivo owners were experiencing this same problem......

The basic scenario is that I am havving difficulty shifting into 1st gear ONLY when I am at a crawling driving speed i.e. stuck in traffic speed.

If im in neutral and try to go into 1st gear it is almost like im crunching my poor brand new gear box. :(

I shouldnt have to force the shift into 1st gear like that. <_<

My foot is way down on the clutch and im gently pushing the gear shift lever into its 1st gear placing.

If I am at a complete stand still I shift into 1st gear with absolute ease. So my sticky 1st gear is only happening if the car is moving in a slow motion.

Any thoughts or feedback would be great. :D

Cheers

[MotoMan]

crawling thru traffic you shouldnt be in 1st anyway...

you should only be shifting into first if you are at a complete standstill...

you will find the car pulls away fine in 2nd... as long as you have some momentum

and yes... im pretty sure all sportivos do the sticky first gear thing.. and i would dare say you are wearing the syncros by forcing it into 1st... (i think.. feel free to correct me)

[Phat]

yea i think this goes to all stivos cuz its the same with mine

[evo]

not that i have a corolla yet.. but i think its similar with most other cars.

i can't bung it into 1st until i'm at a certain speed.. maybe 25kmh?

the other thing you can try is double (de)clutch it into 1st. works for me.. or i'm really slow at doing that and it would just go in at that further reduced speed anyway.. haha.

[mx83toy]

mate its pretty much a race box..... rev it and it will go in no probs....

[ar44]

weird suggestion but i own a 05 sportivo, and since replacing the orginal gear knob with a heavy apexi one i dont feel the stickiness at all

[coladuna]

It's the same story with mine as well. It pretty much bounces back if I try to shift into first while moving and I don't try to force it in if it won't go in. However, I don't do this when I'm driving normally. I only try this when I'm driving hard.

[xGSiR]

Man hearing this gives me the ****s as i am wanting to get a Stivo as well but just these problems, doesn't seem worthwhile.

[shaohaok]

dun force it in. just let it slide in naturally. the harder u push it in the more it resists.

sounds suggestive, eh? :P

double de-clutching works, too.

[Phat]

Man hearing this gives me the ****s as i am wanting to get a Stivo as well but just these problems, doesn't seem worthwhile.

←

well from wat ive heard, the wrx also have this problem. its nothing major really so dont give up on the sportivo just yet

[ZEEROLLA]

Man hearing this gives me the ****s as i am wanting to get a Stivo as well but just these problems, doesn't seem worthwhile.

←

well from wat ive heard, the wrx also have this problem. its nothing major really so dont give up on the sportivo just yet

←

This is not a problem.. i thought ALL cars do this? Its 1st gear guys!!! Of course its hard to get into 1st when your car is moving, u need to be more aggressive and need more rev matching, double clutching or whatever way to get it in, but it does go in.

[mick0082]

crawling thru traffic you shouldnt be in 1st anyway...

you should only be shifting into first if you are at a complete standstill...

you will find the car pulls away fine in 2nd... as long as you have some momentum

and yes... im pretty sure all sportivos do the sticky first gear thing.. and i would dare say you are wearing the syncros by forcing it into 1st... (i think.. feel free to correct me)

←

I'd have to agree with this one, i'm not usually shifting into first if the car is still carrying decent momentum. If I am stopped or very nearly stopped, 1st engages fine. But as mentioned you have to have worked out your rev matching.

Its a challenging but fun car to learn. Its not 'idiot proof' like a WRX but that makes it more rewarding when you do start to work it out. I've had my car since the end of May and i'm still finessing 1-2 shifts etc.

Dont let any of this deter you though. If you think your car has a problem, may as well have it checked out.

[coladuna]

Man hearing this gives me the ****s as i am wanting to get a Stivo as well but just these problems, doesn't seem worthwhile.

←

well from wat ive heard, the wrx also have this problem. its nothing major really so dont give up on the sportivo just yet

←

This is not a problem.. i thought ALL cars do this? Its 1st gear guys!!! Of course its hard to get into 1st when your car is moving, u need to be more aggressive and need more rev matching, double clutching or whatever way to get it in, but it does go in.

←

I agree. I think all manual transmission cars are like that. My brother's Accord Euro does the same thing. It's perfectly normal.

[xGSiR]

Well on my Hyundai Excel it hardly happens. I know what you mean how it can feelt somewhat notchy putting it into 1st gear. But then it shouldn't happen often.

Maybe 1 out of 10 start off in 1st gear the notchiness happens. But for the Stivo sounds like its 8 out of 10 times it happens.

[mx83toy]

mate its pretty much a race box..... rev it and it will go in no probs....

←

[coladuna]

Well on my Hyundai Excel it hardly happens. I know what you mean how it can feelt somewhat notchy putting it into 1st gear. But then it shouldn't happen often.

Maybe 1 out of 10 start off in 1st gear the notchiness happens. But for the Stivo sounds like its 8 out of 10 times it happens.

←

start off??? There's no problem getting into 1st gear when moving from standstill.

[xoom]

guys relax about this ......... unless ur actually gona come to a complete stop and then start off again u shouldnt be trying to shove the thing back into 1st.........

[ZEEROLLA]

Maybe watching too much Best Motoring where they shove he Integra TypeRs and Civic TypeRs into 1st gear all the time to get maximum acceleration! :P

[evo]

dunno bout the track, but in the situation of actually pushing it,

1st gear would pretty much be only useful on motorkhanas and 180 handbrakies

.

.

in any case, i think the reason why manual cars don't let you shift to 1st until a certain speed is because of road safety.

imagine being able to shift into 1st on the fwy (or on the road even).... 2nd to 1st instead of 2nd to 3rd.. ouch!

[coladuna]

dunno bout the track, but in the situation of actually pushing it,

imagine being able to shift into 1st on the fwy (or on the road even).... 2nd to 1st instead of 2nd to 3rd.. ouch!

←

I agree with that idea. I think it's some sort of safety mechanism so that you can't shift into 1st gear too easily while moving.

[shaohaok]

dunno bout the track, but in the situation of actually pushing it,

imagine being able to shift into 1st on the fwy (or on the road even).... 2nd to 1st instead of 2nd to 3rd.. ouch!

←

I agree with that idea. I think it's some sort of safety mechanism so that you can't shift into 1st gear too easily while moving.

←

i've put it into 1st gear easily from 120km/h, obviously, i didn't let the clutch out. jsut wanted to see if it could be done and if it was any harder to do from 40 or 60 or 120. when pushing it, i only find 1st gear useful on u-turns, very tight on-camber mountain hairpins. most of the time, it's fruitless to use 1st gear coz u can't get traction on the way out and then u have to snap into 2nd very soon after that. using 2nd can be faster, whilst carrying more momentum thru and also getting on the power very much earlier.

[mick0082]

Well on my Hyundai Excel it hardly happens. I know what you mean how it can feelt somewhat notchy putting it into 1st gear. But then it shouldn't happen often.

Maybe 1 out of 10 start off in 1st gear the notchiness happens. But for the Stivo sounds like its 8 out of 10 times it happens.

←

You cant even compare an excel gearbox to the one in the sportivo. The sportivo box is much more a precision instrument and therefore needs to be treated as one. The sportivo is aimed at the hot hatch segment whereas an excel is in the economical small car segment. They are designed with different drivers in mind and built accordingly.

Sorry to say it but to me an excel gearbox feels like a wooden spoon in a bowl of custard.

Now dont get me wrong, i'm not having a go at excels. Thought I would mention this seeing as though a comparison of the two has been started.

Edited July 29, 2005 by mick0082