New to Forum: Million-Dollar Question

aldo · Feb 7, 2019

aldo said:
I’m not so sure about people saying they observe proper shifting technique, talk is cheap, whenever I have crunched 2nd gear it was 100% my lazy ass fault.

Also, it might be as simple as a clutch adjustment. Dont get too caught up with 2nd gear crunch, I have over 10K miles on my Si Coupe and I’ve grinded second maybe 2-3 times and has been entirely my fault.

BoostedSiCoupe · Feb 7, 2019

amirza786 said:
If you mean gear grind, I have a 2018 Si with 10k miles and have never had a gear grind. If you mean a slight notchy sound, I occasional get it in 2nd and 4th gears, but that is not a mechanical issue. To smooth out my transmission I basically changed out the OEM mt fluid with Amsoil Synchromesh, and it runs great. In my opinion the 10th gen Si has a very good transmission

BTW, just tell @BoostedSiCoupe that you're not into German cars or German porn, and he will be your friend and defender for life

now thats good advice!

amirza786 · Feb 7, 2019

Tags said:
My very first car was a 1976 BMW 2002, but I haven't gone German since. Is that enough to put me in his good graces?

Yes, I think he will forgive you for that sin, it was many years ago

Per your definitions, I have only experienced minor notchiness, no crunching or gear grinding

PAX CTR · Feb 8, 2019

As long as you're not double clutching and granny shifting like you're supposed to, you won't encounter the second gear crunch. Folks have also been removing the clutch delay valve (CDV) to alleviate the problem. I always granny shift and the CDV has not been a problem for me...yet.

Tags · Feb 8, 2019

PAX CTR said:
As long as you're not double clutching and granny shifting like you're supposed to, you won't encounter the second gear crunch. Folks have also been removing the clutch delay valve (CDV) to alleviate the problem. I always granny shift and the CDV has not been a problem for me...yet.

I'm a little confused. Does granny shifting prevent or cause the problem? Some people have been saying that you have to shift really fast to avoid crunching; others say you have to wait out the rev hang and shift slow...

NoKz · Feb 8, 2019

PAX CTR said:
As long as you're not double clutching and granny shifting like you're supposed to, you won't encounter the second gear crunch. Folks have also been removing the clutch delay valve (CDV) to alleviate the problem. I always granny shift and the CDV has not been a problem for me...yet.

Honda Civic 10th gen New to Forum: Million-Dollar Question USZSGGZl

aighead · Feb 8, 2019

I'm at about 14500 miles in my 2017 Si Coupe. I do have the notchiness but no grind or crunch unless I did something wrong. When I get going I throw it through the gears quickly. Cold weather is certainly a bit chunkier but I think that's to be expected.

grumpyguy6 · Feb 8, 2019

31k miles on my ‘17 Si and I have never had a gear crunch or grind. The notchiness smooths out after a couple of thousand miles, and feels really good. So good in fact, that I just recently switched back over to the stock shift knob because my weighted Skunk2 knob wasn’t letting me fully enjoy rowing through the gears.

PAX CTR · Feb 9, 2019

Tags said:
I'm a little confused. Does granny shifting prevent or cause the problem? Some people have been saying that you have to shift really fast to avoid crunching; others say you have to wait out the rev hang and shift slow...

With jokes aside, from my experience, normal shifting..as in not banging through gears like you're trying to set the Guinness World Record for fastest shifts, you should not experience gear grinds. I can't speak for everyone, but my car hasn't done it yet. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I've got about 1300 miles on it now, and as others have said, the notchiness has smoothed out quite a lot from 52 miles. It feels better the more I drive it. Don't mistaken the notchy shifts with gear grinding. It's more with the shifter assembly needing to get broken in. I also don't want to say it's driver error, because people will argue that all day. I've driven cars with a crappy transmission and it's quite evident when something is not right. I believe there may have been some bad batches and Honda could have quietly fixed it with the 2018+ models. I'll keep you guys updated if my car starts doing it. I've grinded gears in my Ep3 and it was completely driver error.

Tags · Feb 9, 2019

PAX CTR said:
With jokes aside, from my experience, normal shifting..as in not banging through gears like you're trying to set the Guinness World Record for fastest shifts, you should not experience gear grinds. I can't speak for everyone, but my car hasn't done it yet. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I've got about 1300 miles on it now, and as others have said, the notchiness has smoothed out quite a lot from 52 miles. It feels better the more I drive it. Don't mistaken the notchy shifts with gear grinding. It's more with the shifter assembly needing to get broken in. I also don't want to say it's driver error, because people will argue that all day. I've driven cars with a crappy transmission and it's quite evident when something is not right. I believe there may have been some bad batches and Honda could have quietly fixed it with the 2018+ models. I'll keep you guys updated if my car starts doing it. I've grinded gears in my Ep3 and it was completely driver error.

Yeah, my movie-quoting ability ends at about 1990, so I didn't get the reference.

I test drove a new Si yesterday. Shifting was definitely notchy but not the crunching/grinding I experienced in my 8th gen or that I have seen in Youtube videos of the 10th gen. I could immediately see why so many people recommend a heavier or taller knob -- there just doesn't seem to be enough counterbalancing/vibration-dampening weight in the stock knob.

I wonder if the crunching problems are a consequence of the rev hang. Getting on it hard, you definitely have to count to two Mississippi before you can make a smooth 1-2 shift. If you're shifting through the rev hang, and maybe your clutchwork is a little sloppy, it could stress that 2nd gear syncro over time.

Liked the car. Felt quicker than some people have complained. Steered a little worse than I expected (my Mazda feels more natural and communicative). Seating position is sporty, though I wonder what ingress and egress will be like over time for my middle-aged body. No rear cross-traffic alert is a bummer. I'd trade the adaptive suspension for it. The car had summer tires, like some people have been reporting.

Costco special pricing at this dealer didn't blow me away, and I don't want Rallye Red, so I'm in a holding pattern right now.

Thanks again to everyone chiming in.

aldo · Feb 9, 2019

Tags said:
Yeah, my movie-quoting ability ends at about 1990, so I didn't get the reference.

I test drove a new Si yesterday. Shifting was definitely notchy but not the crunching/grinding I experienced in my 8th gen or that I have seen in Youtube videos of the 10th gen. I could immediately see why so many people recommend a heavier or taller knob -- there just doesn't seem to be enough counterbalancing/vibration-dampening weight in the stock knob.

I wonder if the crunching problems are a consequence of the rev hang. Getting on it hard, you definitely have to count to two Mississippi before you can make a smooth 1-2 shift. If you're shifting through the rev hang, and maybe your clutchwork is a little sloppy, it could stress that 2nd gear syncro over time.

Liked the car. Felt quicker than some people have complained. Steered a little worse than I expected (my Mazda feels more natural and communicative). Seating position is sporty, though I wonder what ingress and egress will be like over time for my middle-aged body. No rear cross-traffic alert is a bummer. I'd trade the adaptive suspension for it. The car had summer tires, like some people have been reporting.

Costco special pricing at this dealer didn't blow me away, and I don't want Rallye Red, so I'm in a holding pattern right now.

Thanks again to everyone chiming in.

People have been buying the car between $21K and $25K, before taxes, the average coming in about $23K before taxes. I installed the Ktuner and for $380 well worth it, wakes the car up. It won’t be a Porsche 911 Turbo, but the Ktuner definitely gives the car more kick.

ablueSI · Feb 9, 2019

Tags said:
Hello everyone. I don't own an Si but I have owned two in the past: an '02 and an '07. The 8th-gen's second gear got so crunchy after about 25k miles that I sold it and went into the Mazda camp, where I have been ever since.

Now I'm thinking about going back to Honda, and back to a manual transmission, after a pretty happy decade with three Mazda 3's. Only problem is ... it looks like that damn second gear is a problem again.

Funnily enough, my previous car was a 2nd-gen Mazda3 and I sold it because of issues with the 6-speed manual. 2nd gear was always grinding, on top of being crunchy, and I needed two transmission rebuilds in 40k miles. The rebuilds are partially due to a defect with that specific model year.

With 7k miles on my Si, I've had one gear grind (probably my fault) and the transmission is generally pretty smooth. In cold weather or before the oil heats up, 2nd gear can be a little crunchy but once heated up, things generally run smooth.

Tags · Feb 9, 2019

aldo said:
People have been buying the car between $21K and $25K, before taxes, the average coming in about $23K before taxes. I installed the Ktuner and for $380 well worth it, wakes the car up. It won’t be a Porsche 911 Turbo, but the Ktuner definitely gives the car more kick.

$23k is my target. Costco price is $23,900, Truecar $23,600. Nothing in my preferred color at the moment.

Tags · Feb 9, 2019

ablueSI said:
Funnily enough, my previous car was a 2nd-gen Mazda3 and I sold it because of issues with the 6-speed manual. 2nd gear was always grinding, on top of being crunchy, and I needed two transmission rebuilds in 40k miles. The rebuilds are partially due to a defect with that specific model year.

With 7k miles on my Si, I've had one gear grind (probably my fault) and the transmission is generally pretty smooth. In cold weather or before the oil heats up, 2nd gear can be a little crunchy but once heated up, things generally run smooth.

I had a 2011 Mazda 3 2.5 that started to crunch a tiny bit in 2nd at about 30k miles. But that's wasn't long after I installed a short shift plate. So I blamed it on that. Wasn't nearly as bad as my Civic.

ablueSI · Feb 9, 2019

Tags said:
I had a 2011 Mazda 3 2.5 that started to crunch a tiny bit in 2nd at about 30k miles. But that's wasn't long after I installed a short shift plate. So I blamed it on that. Wasn't nearly as bad as my Civic.

Interesting, you are lucky!

I've driven multiple versions of the 3rd gen 3 extensively, I think you will be really happy with the Si in comparison. I am much more impressed with the Si after having it for about 6 months than I was on my initial test drive. Without a doubt, I would purchase (lease in my case) it again over a 3rd gen 3. And with heat the transmission is slick as butter (generally).

Still, I don't know what offers as good steering feel as my 2nd gen 3 with electric power steering everywhere these days, but the Honda's rack is satisfyingly quick.

New to Forum: Million-Dollar Question

aldo

BoostedSiCoupe

amirza786

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PAX CTR

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NoKz

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aighead

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grumpyguy6

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PAX CTR

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Tags

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aldo

ablueSI

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Tags

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Tags

Senior Member

ablueSI

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