Transmission Fluid for Track?

[Dr.B6Banter]

Any recommendations for a gear oil better suited for the track? I don't really street drive the B6 anymore and definitely don't winter-drive it so something that handles heat better would be ideal. I have a blend of Redline MT90 and MTL in there currently but was having issues downshifting to 2nd gear the last track day. It may have been due to excessive movement from the engine/trans mounts but I want to make sure the gear oil is suited for the environment as well.

[Mike Tries]

I run stock fluids. I would guess that transmission movement is more likely the cause of difficulty finding gears. Are you running lots of horsepower?

[Dr.B6Banter]

I run stock fluids. I would guess that transmission movement is more likely the cause of difficulty finding gears. Are you running lots of horsepower?

Modest hp, dynoed 270hp to the wheels a few years ago, perhaps running a little higher now with the better exhaust manifold.

I do have helmet footage of my laps and the shifter does move around a bit when going over bumps but I've seen that is other onboard track footage and assumed it was normal. The center trans mount is new but just OEM style with the voids in the rubber so I was contemplating getting a DIY polyurethane kit and filling the voids with that for an overall stiffer mount. My engine mounts are a few years old and perhaps they're contributing to excessive movement. There doesn't seem to be any OEM mount that isn't fluid-filled, so 034 seems like the only option for a solid rubber mount.

[Mike Tries]

270 whp sounds like a party to me!

What kind of trouble are you experiencing: grinding, banging into that space between the gears with the shifter, or just lots of force needed to make it click in?

Are you heel-toeing? If so, how close are you getting the revs to match? Wide disparities in input and output shaft speeds may take more time for the synchros to sort out.

Also, are you going from 5th or 6th right into 2nd; or do you click through at least one other gear on your way down? My Viper had a spot in the manual that suggested pretty strongly that you don't skip more than one gear at a time (despite the fact that I'm pretty sure the skip shift thing forced you from 1st to 4th gear before the previous owner disabled it). I think this point is just a variation on the input/output shaft speed discrepancy hypothesis. I think I usually go from 5th to 3rd to 2nd in my car. I think that the 5-speed that these cars have is poorly suited to tack use. Not that it was designed for it, of course. I can drive it around town all day without touching the clutch between gears thanks to the monumentally-heavy flywheel and long ratios.

Do you know how to double-clutch? I do it when I'm working my way down through lots of gears. Don't need to--it's a weird, fun habit I've developed. But when you do it, you can feel the shifter slide into the next gear with almost no effort. It's something that could help you out.

[Dr.B6Banter]

Coming into the slowest corner on track, I'm on the brakes in 3rd gear with revs dropping as I slow down. I let off the brakes, clutch in and rev match to try to get into 2nd at a point where my wheel speed wouldn't require much revs in 2nd gear (perhaps 5krpm but definitely not close to redline), and the shifter just doesn't go into 2nd. Little extra effort causes the shifter to kind of go where 2nd would be but the trans is still in neutral. For whatever reason, because the slow speed of that corner, I'm able to get into 1st, after which I can get into 2nd (all without clutching out), but I can't go straight from 3rd to 2nd.

I had to do a shifter alignment after the clutch swap over the winter so perhaps the linkage is slightly off, but shifting during normal driving is perfect with no grinds.

[Mike Tries]

Does it do it on every lap, or does it start off the day or session just fine and start to develop this habit? Maybe it is a linkage adjustment problem after all. I don't know how to adjust these things though.

[old guy]

I would recommend trying some Ravenol 75w-80 MTF-2.

[Dr.B6Banter]

It seemed ok for the first lap but then was problematic for the remainder of the session so perhaps fluid getting hot isn't the culprit. I was under the car the day before the track to nut and botl check and noticed the trans felt quite warm to the touch after just a short drive, but it is bolted to the engine and aluminum transmits heat quickly.

Given how the shifting is perfectly smooth when normally driving and even during a WOT pull, I'm assuming it's just excessive movement in the mounts/linkage needs an adjustment.

Old Guy; I remember reading your post on that fluid back in the day but I couldn't find any local retailers that had it hence my purchase of Redline.

[old guy]

Blauparts carries the full line of Ravenol products.

[shurur9]

I run amsoil atf on 6MT DD.

[Kevin C]

I would usually recommend Redline but I was never happy with the shifting performance in the Audi. I never tried mixing versions I just ran the MT 90. I have used their MTL in another application and it seemed OK. Their engine and gears oil are great. I also ran both types of OEM gear lube in the A4 when I had a five speed and then when I converter it to a six speed. It works but I had a bit of shudder when pulling out while turning. Based on Old Guys recommendation I tried Ravenoil 75-80. The shudder was gone! It reduced the friction in the Torsen enough to make it go away, this was unexpected. It also shifts better than the other oils I tried.

One thing to keep in mind is that in our chassis the gear lube needs to be synco friendly with friction characteristics that provide good friction while protecting the hypoid final drive gear with EP friction additives. It's probably OK since the auto has a similar final drive gear but its not something I would want to try.

I cant say the I have any track time on the Ravenoil, but based on street driving its been a solid choice and seems to be better than the OEM fluids. It may not hurt to get a temperature sensor on the tranny to see if its getting too hot.