I have been enjoying myself heaps since I bought my 3.0 manual TS wagon last month. I love the power and efficiency, the way it flies up hills and the fact that it's only using 9.6 litres per 100ks around town and heaps less on a country drive. Driving a manual is great too - direct power transfer, pick the gear you want and no $2000 time bomb under the car waiting to go off (unlike an auto).lol

One problem though has been is the general ride and driving smoothness - or lack of. I find it very hard to get a smooth change between 1st and 2nd (and sometimes between 2nd and 3rd) with out the car jerking about as soon as you lift of the throttle. In fact, lifting off the throttle in any of the lower gears makes the car jerk back and forwards a fair bit - enough to be noticeable to passengers anyway.

In the upper gears she's fine but lower down she's difficult to drive smoothly.

It's also difficult to get off the line in first. The clutch seems to grab fast and I often end up either almost stalling or smoking up the fronts. :shock:

I also find it much more jiggly than my old TR 2.6 auto. It seems to pick up all the bumps on the road. This seems to combine with the lift-off jerkiness to make the car bounce around. I swear I can sometimes feel my intestines banging around. I have been wondering if the person who had it before me put stiffer springs in it; but I don't know what to look for. Everything looks standard, but it's definitely not as comfortable as the old TR was.

I've had plenty of experience driving manual cars in the past but don't remember them being this tough to drive (they were rear-drive though). I asked a mechanic the check the engine mounts and he said they were fine. I did a bounce test on the shocks and they seem fine too (though I am getting some suspension rattle from time to time).

Do other people find their manual Magnas a bit rough to drive or have any suggestions about what I can do to smooth things out? I'd want to get this car driving as well as possible eventually, which will eventually include shocks and lower springs, but I do want a reasonably smooth, refined experience - currently it's about as smooth a piano falling down a flight of stairs.

The car's done 130,000k and has been serviced every 5000k since new by the previous owner.

mine used to jerkiness like yours does, but when i replaced the clutch (i had to, it was down to the riverts) the jerkiness went away

i had the same problem with you with first and second, when my clutch was done i changed the gear box fluid and that fixed the problem :D

One problem though has been is the general ride and driving smoothness - or lack of. I find it very hard to get a smooth change between 1st and 2nd (and sometimes between 2nd and 3rd) with out the car jerking about as soon as you lift of the throttle. In fact, lifting off the throttle in any of the lower gears makes the car jerk back and forwards a fair bit - enough to be noticeable to passengers anyway.

In the upper gears she's fine but lower down she's difficult to drive smoothly.

It's also difficult to get off the line in first. The clutch seems to grab fast and I often end up either almost stalling or smoking up the fronts. :shock:



I found the same thing in my old TS. clutch seemed to be grabby and the changes were rough. I got the clutch hydrolic system checked and blead and that helped a bit. I also got the throttle body cleaned. also seemed to help (not sure why?:confused: ) still a bit grabby tho, might just be how they are:doubt:

in regards to the ride quality, generally aftermarket springs are power coated (kings are yellow, Lovells are blue etc) so look for that (they might be dirty). i would also get one of those pedders $17 checks. As the faithful bounce test doesn't always hack it.

Doug

First thing I thought of is, how fast are you lifting your foot off the gas and how many rev's are we talking? If you lift off at 5 grand then it's gonna decelerate like a mofo.

Change your g'box oil, easier than your engine oil.

No fuel problems? It's not being starved on the deceleration is it? just an idea that popped into my head is perhaps on decel it's starving and making the ride rough - then again i don't know if there is any theory or practicality to back that up...

That's what it feels like to me. Like the instant you take your foot off the accelerator the revs plumet and I get a strong engine braking effect. Like the flywheel is too light or something.

I'm a light footed driver and we're taking driving in the 1500 to 2500 rev range around town.

First thing I thought of is, how fast are you lifting your foot off the gas

I thought the same thing. TS 300000 as you said, direct drive. This means your foot now has to do the smoothing that the torque converter in the auto did before (if all your engine mounts are fine). I'm sure you know, but maybe cause you haven't driven a manual for a while your foot is used to an auto driving style.

So just to recap, the lower the gear, the stronger the compression braking, the smoother with the throttle you have to be.

Looks like it's mostly me then. I bounce tested the shocks again and think now that the rears are a bit soft/bouncy. Possibly they are letting the car wriggle around a bit when I change gears. The rears on my auto are stuffed too, but as people have said, the torque converter smooths things out for you.

Replacing those will go onto my list of jobs to be done - hopefully they might settle the ride down a bit. But I'm thinking of putting in low springs too and might leave it until then.

Looks like it's mostly me then. I bounce tested the shocks again and think now that the rears are a bit soft/bouncy. Possibly they are letting the car wriggle around a bit when I change gears. The rears on my auto are stuffed too, but as people have said, the torque converter smooths things out for you.

Replacing those will go onto my list of jobs to be done - hopefully they might settle the ride down a bit. But I'm thinking of putting in low springs too and might leave it until then.

Just get someone else to drive the car who normally drives a manual and see how it is for them? (mum, dad, sister, brother, work friend, garbo). My fiance has her learners, has driven about 3 times total and is smoother on the clutch than I am who has been driving manuals since L's (8 years ago). Now THAT sucks!