[II Kings 9:20]

Well, I went to drive a 15 or '16 6M sport and was thinking of you guys as I drove over to the dealer.

Me: "I want to drive a manual 6 speed Accord".
Sales: "we don't keep any in stock"
Me: "Really, no none is buying because they can't drive a stick?"
Sales: "No, the fuel economy is not as good and people don't want to buy it"
Me: "Yes, the gearing is too low and it revs at 2200-2300 RPM at 60"
Sales: You need to drive one before doing anything, we'll order one in. We won't worry about the color since you just need to drive it"
Me: "I'm not looking to buy right now"
Sales: "it's OK, the owner has said we need to get one in anyway".
Me: "OK".
Sales: "I'll call you when it comes in"

 

[X72]

Hi II Kings. I definitely am curious to hear your impression of the 6 speed manual when the dealer gets one in.

I'll tell you my story about when I did a short test drive before I was ready to buy. I tell the sales person I want to test drive a 6 speed manual Accord. His response is "you want to make my life difficult." We start looking at cars on the lot. I know to look for silver, black or grey as the only colors available in 6 speed manual for 2015. He doesn't know or is playing dumb hoping another car will catch my eye. He asks me, "why do you want a manual transmission?" He tells me about his health problems and how it would make driving a manual difficult. I tell him that is precisely why I want a manual. I don't know how long the knees are going to hold up so I want to drive one while I can. He laughs and finally relents on trying to change my mind.

As far as the gearing on the car goes; instead of telling myself the story that I wish Honda made 6th gear taller for better fuel economy (which makes me feel bad), I tell myself that I am glad that Honda is selling a manual transmission at all in an Accord Sedan (which makes me feel good). A reframe or a bit of self cognitive therapy.

 

[TMVB]

Great story. Firstly, I've always been under the impression that Honda dealers can't "order" any particular car like a Chevy or Ford dealer can. They get a allotment of cars based upon their sales history. At least that's what I was told a couple of decades ago by a Honda dealer. Maybe things have changed?

For me, I drove the 6MT Sport back-to-back with a CVT EX-L. And while I'm an MPG guy, the smile on my face after driving the 6MT made me pick the manual over the CVT (and this has nothing to do with the CVT - it's just fine).

And finally, 6MT Accord buyers are in the very slimmest of minorities. So not something a salesman will come across all that often and might not know how to pitch to.

 

[200366HFP]

I guess I got lucky, I called out of the blue, and said "I want a V6-6 speed black on black EX-L no Nav coupe", woman says, "yeah, we got one". After hanging up, my son and I both looked at each other and said "Naaaaaah", bait and switch. We showed up and both the salesman and sales manager said "I really don't think we have one" until they checked the inventory and low and behold, there it was. Parked in the "off-site" storage lot.

Drove it home the next day. That was the ONLY specific car I would have taken home, $5k off original sticker, who woulda thunk.

 

[II Kings 9:20]

Hi II Kings. I definitely am curious to hear your impression of the 6 speed manual when the dealer gets one in.

I'll tell you my story about when I did a short test drive before I was ready to buy. I tell the sales person I want to test drive a 6 speed manual Accord. His response is "you want to make my life difficult." We start looking at cars on the lot. I know to look for silver, black or grey as the only colors available in 6 speed manual for 2015. He doesn't know or is playing dumb hoping another car will catch my eye. He asks me, "why do you want a manual transmission?" He tells me about his health problems and how it would make driving a manual difficult. I tell him that is precisely why I want a manual. I don't know how long the knees are going to hold up so I want to drive one while I can. He laughs and finally relents on trying to change my mind.

As far as the gearing on the car goes; instead of telling myself the story that I wish Honda made 6th gear taller for better fuel economy (which makes me feel bad), I tell myself that I am glad that Honda is selling a manual transmission at all in an Accord Sedan (which makes me feel good). A reframe or a bit of self cognitive therapy.

Wow, not a good sign for the survival of manuals. I suspect die hards like you will stick to it but I imagine many will be swayed by salesmen like this.

The only reason I can imagine they geared 6th so short is to improve "top gear acceleration" which is a useless measure because I can shift from 6th to 4th when I need to "get on the cam".

 

[MoHonda]

I like the 6th gear gearing. It's fine, a bit quieter than fifth. Saves wear on your transmission because sometimes you can just keep it in gear and floor it rather than having to shift down to 4th or 5th. On a two-week round trip from Long Beach to Lexington I averaged 31 to 35 mpg per leg (400-500 mile legs). Not great compared to the CVT, but certainly acceptable, and a lot of fun.

 

[II Kings 9:20]

I like the 6th gear gearing. It's fine, a bit quieter than fifth. Saves wear on your transmission because sometimes you can just keep it in gear and floor it rather than having to shift down to 4th or 5th. On a two-week round trip from Long Beach to Lexington I averaged 31 to 35 mpg per leg (400-500 mile legs). Not great compared to the CVT, but certainly acceptable, and a lot of fun.

Not bad. Probably 36-40 with the CVT. I would disagree a bit on tranny wear shifting from 6 to 5/4 while on the freeway. Most wear is going to occur getting to 6th, once the cruise control is set there is little reason to downshift and when needed, it's nothing compared to all the shifts cutting through the city. Using that argument, one could say that the CVT engine will last longer because it turns 1650 at 60 while the 6M turns 2200 resulting in more wear. On paper that is true.

 

[johnjohn15]

I didn't know @II Kings 9:20 could operate a manual gearbox!

 

[08EX-L]

I wasn't looking to test drive a manual as I was getting the CVT or 6AT... but just to know what I was missing the one dealer let me drive a pre-PDI Sport in 6MT... felt just like my 085MT except for a stiffer gear box and engine.

I wish I could have bought a Touring 6MT 3 years ago... I would still be driving a manual.

 

[200366HFP]

I wasn't looking to test drive a manual as I was getting the CVT or 6AT... but just to know what I was missing the one dealer let me drive a pre-PDI Sport in 6MT... felt just like my 085MT except for a stiffer gear box and engine.

I wish I could have bought a Touring 6MT 3 years ago... I would still be driving a manual.

Didn't you notice the improvement in the rev hang? My girlfriend had a I4-MT (I think I was a 2012) and I hated the rev hang on that thing.

 

[08EX-L]

Didn't you notice the improvement in the rev hang? My girlfriend had a I4-MT (I think I was a 2012) and I hated the rev hang on that thing.

to be honest I never brought it that high in the RPM but it felt the same as my 8th gen... both had similar rev hang. I felt bad reving the p*ss out of someone's brand new car.

 

[Wizeguy]

Listen to the stereo please.

 

[Darmaniac]

My sport 2014 6mt Canadian Model is perfect ! i can't drive anything else then Manual Car. So i will buy Manual until i get a Tesla. When i bought my car. I knew what i was looking for almost a year before a buy it. I was only thinking about V6 or I4 ? well its not a question. There is no Manual V6 in Sedan. And the Coupe V6 6Speed is 10k without even adding the taxes and shit. Long live to all manual car driver

 

[200366HFP]

Listen to the stereo please.

There's a fix for that:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/1...dio-electronics-lighting/158330-free-30-second-audio-upgrade-touring-model.html

 

[Baldeagle]

Well, I went to drive a 15 or '16 6M sport and was thinking of you guys as I drove over to the dealer.

Me: "I want to drive a manual 6 speed Accord".
Sales: "we don't keep any in stock"
Me: "Really, no none is buying because they can't drive a stick?"
Sales: "No, the fuel economy is not as good and people don't want to buy it"
Me: "Yes, the gearing is too low and it revs at 2200-2300 RPM at 60"
Sales: You need to drive one before doing anything, we'll order one in. We won't worry about the color since you just need to drive it"
Me: "I'm not looking to buy right now"
Sales: "it's OK, the owner has said we need to get one in anyway".
Me: "OK".
Sales: "I'll call you when it comes in"

Ahhhhh, this story is killin’ me. Fuel economy? Really? Based on what, the EPA sticker? I know I’m turning into a poster boy on this issue about EPA fuel estimates for MTs, but this is so damaging to those of us who prefer MTs. MTs can easily get better fuel economy than what the EPA sticker claims. Those EPA estimates are based on using MANDATORY 3,000+rpm shift points. It’s no wonder the mpg estimates are lower than the automatic counterpart. In real life if the driver uses a 2,200 rpm shift point the city mpg will equal or exceed the CVT’s mpg. Even cranking 600 rpm more on the highway than the CVT, the MT will still get within 2-3 mpg of the CVT.

The EPA's MT hwy mpg estimates are also suspect. My 6-6 is rated at 17city/26hwy and I can easily get 32-34 mpg at highway speeds. The EPA’s 26 mpg estimate is terribly misleading. I really wonder how they arrived at that figure. The fact that people base their buying decisions on erroneous EPA mpg information seriously decreases demand for the MT car. The end of the MT is approaching fast enough. We don’t need this kind of help from the EPA.

 

[djkev21]

long live the manual.
i didn't even test drive my 6mt. i told the stealership what i wanted and that was that.
from everything i read and the other 4 civics i had prior, i knew that this car would drive smooth and get decent mileage.
now with ktuner installed and an upcoming etune, i love this car more and more every day.
i could never drive an auto in this car. sorry cvt owners.

CVT= Can't V Tec lol

great story kings!

 

[easymike]

Wow, not a good sign for the survival of manuals. I suspect die hards like you will stick to it but I imagine many will be swayed by salesmen like this.

The only reason I can imagine they geared 6th so short is to improve "top gear acceleration" which is a useless measure because I can shift from 6th to 4th when I need to "get on the cam".

I still don't know what it means to "get on the cam"...

 

[200366HFP]

I still don't know what it means to "get on the cam"...

Yo VTEC! LOL

Seriously, its the high rpm profile lobes on the cam shaft, specifically, VTEC, or what ever they call it these days.

 

[Baldeagle]

I still don't know what it means to "get on the cam"...

“On Cam” means high-rpm were the engine produces its “big” power and allows the car to go fast.

In the old muscle car days, high-performance camshafts made engines run like crap at low rpm – in fact many could barely hold an idle. (It had to do with very low intake velocity, excess valve overlap, and little intake turbulence, the consequence of which was that the engine burnt the fuel very poorly at low rpm – no torque.) It wasn’t until a certain rpm, perhaps 3,500 rpm, that the air would begin to enter the cylinders with enough speed so that the fuel/air mixture “mixed properly” and could finally burn well. That rpm represented the minimum rpm that specific camshaft needed to produce power. If the engine was above that minimum rpm, it was “On Cam” and felt strong. If the rpm was below that rpm, it was “Off Cam” and felt weak. Being “On Cam” meant the rpm was high and the engine was in the sweet part of its torque curve.

While the high-rpm VTEC cam lobes would be considered “super” high performance by muscle car standards, the engine can still operate perfectly at low-rpm because of the VTEC low-rpm cam profile. With that said, to extract any meaningful power from a Honda engine, you still need to get the rpm up above the VTEC crossover rpm and in effect get the engine “on cam.”

 

[II Kings 9:20]

I didn't know @II Kings 9:20 could operate a manual gearbox!

Oh yeah, learned to drive in '77 on a '66 Biscayne (y'all do know what that is?) 3 on the tree (explanations?)