Re: Is the six speed manual tranny better than the five speed on

Chris D'Agnolo wrote:
> The difference is, Mazda had an op****tunity to do it right with the 6
speed 
> and just blew it. The car should have a tall cruising top gear which
would 
> allow the engine to relax (loaf) a bit and get measurably better gas
mileage 
> (at least in the real world). In my opinion they totally blew it but
then 
> again I'm the guy who keeps harping that they blew it with the 5 spd for
the 
> same reason.
> 
> Oh ya, I forgot "people might have to occasionally down****ft on
inclines" 
> heaven knows Miata folks hate to ****ft and that would be a disaster! 
> (dripping sarcasm!) I stand corrected.
> 
> Chris
> 99BBB

In my 5-speed 1978 280Z, it was 1st through 4th for performance driving, 
and then drop it into 5th for highway cruising.

It made complete sense and worked well 20 years ago for me, much better 
than the 4-speed in my other Z-car for real-world driving.

Not sure why the same would not be true for the Miata today.

Pat