help shifting

[All Car Guy And Viper NJ]

I have been getting more aggressive with my driving with 06 coupe. I find myself having trouble shifting to 3rd or 4th rapidly. I have always driven stick cars, I have in my 65 years never replaced or damaged a clutch in 1000's of miles of driving. But this is getting me really upset I always catch myself before any damage is done. What words of wisdom can you more experienced viper owners suggest. Lets assume I am a good driver, and it's not a lack of experience or skill. I can go down through all six gears from any speed to zero without stirring my wife's coffee. But under hard accel I sometimes can't muster 3 or 4 correctly. Car has r/t cats corsa track 170 thermo and DC comp. Runs flawless most fantastic car ever owned since my first car which was a 49 ford coupe. It runs 175 all day and 75 psi oil at speed steady as a rock.

 

[Smog Dog]

Hopefully the problem will be remedied in 2008. Keep your elbow against your side when shifting....it's not just you.

 

[ILLSMOQ]

3-4? Most people have problems with 2-3.... which can be greatly improved with the addition of polyeurathane mounts. 3-4 is straight down....I don't know what advice I can give you that would help you with that one....except try to slow down a little on that shift.

 

[viperjim]

I have been getting more aggressive with my driving with 06 coupe. I find myself having trouble shifting to 3rd or 4th rapidly. I have always driven stick cars, I have in my 65 years never replaced or damaged a clutch in 1000's of miles of driving. But this is getting me really upset I always catch myself before any damage is done. What words of wisdom can you more experienced viper owners suggest. Lets assume I am a good driver, and it's not a lack of experience or skill. I can go down through all six gears from any speed to zero without stirring my wife's coffee. But under hard accel I sometimes can't muster 3 or 4 correctly. Car has r/t cats corsa track 170 thermo and DC comp. Runs flawless most fantastic car ever owned since my first car which was a 49 ford coupe. It runs 175 all day and 75 psi oil at speed steady as a rock.

I had the same problem until I took a closer look at the shift pattern. If you pay attention to the pattern of the shifter when you are going thru the gears you will notice it is not perfectly aligned front to back. For example, when you shift from 1st to 2nd, the shifter travel a little off center( I believe toward the passenger seat- Its become 2nd nature and I forget now) If you study the pattern, you will see what I am trying to convey. I made some mental changes and have had no problems since. Good luck.

 

[HowardBJr]

My Viper Days instructor encouraged me to change the way I was holding the shift knob to minimize the likelihood of missing a shift. The technique he taught me was to keep my palm almost vertical instead of wrapping my fingers around the shift knob. The goal is to keep the contact with the knob to one point on the side of the knob. He taught me to keep my thumb pointing up for the 1-2 shift and then switch to thumb down for the 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6 shifts. I point my thumb up for down shifts.

I seems awkward at first but it does help keep you from inadvertently pulling ever so slightly towards your body instead of going straight back especially when making the 3-4 shift.

 

[Mike Dolan]

One solution I have been espousing (hoping someone will implement it), is to re-program the engine controller. The engine management computer controls the 1-4 shift lockout solenoid.

Lot's of folks want to disable this, but my idea is quite the opposite. Have the solenoid engage when travelling at high speeds so you cannot inadvertantly engage 2nd.

How many of us have unintentionally hit second when we were enthusiastically shifting from 3rd to 4th? I know I have done that, and expect others have as well.

If the solenoid was engaged at say 80MPH, you wouldn't be able to make that mistake.

Regards,
Mike Dolan

 

[Joseph Houss]

Great suggestions! I have learned that a tense elbow tends to "pull" towards you rather than straight down in the "H" pattern. My suggestion would be to keep your arm resting ON the console while shifting rather than above it. This seems to work for me.

Disclaimer: Read all the above posts and try 'em all .....Your results may vary.

 

[Smog Dog]

My 03 seemed worse than the 06, or maybe it was just the 25,000 miles of practice. You may also do better with a different knob, like the MGW, which will cause you to hold your hand at more vertical angle. Others will know, but I think the shifter can be modified with stronger springs which favor the 3-4 gate.

 

[Racer Robbie]

As mentioned above Poly engine mounts and the comp coupe tranny mount rally help. I would also install a Mopar/Hurst shifter.

 

[viperbob]

Another way to improve shifting is to move your seat more forward. You can adjust the pedals so compensate for being closer. It may seems a bit awkward at first but it should improve your shifting.

 

[Dave Moore]

My Viper Days instructor encouraged me to change the way I was holding the shift knob to minimize the likelihood of missing a shift. The technique he taught me was to keep my palm almost vertical instead of wrapping my fingers around the shift knob. The goal is to keep the contact with the knob to one point on the side of the knob. He taught me to keep my thumb pointing up for the 1-2 shift and then switch to thumb down for the 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6 shifts. I point my thumb up for down shifts.

I seems awkward at first but it does help keep you from inadvertently pulling ever so slightly towards your body instead of going straight back especially when making the 3-4 shift.

Howard I think you posted this once before and I have to say it helped me alot. Basically, like you say 1&2 are with my hand on the right side of the shift knob. For 2-3, and 3-4 I rotate my palm towards the left. This angles your thumb down and the perssure on the shifter heading in the right direction.
Can you miss fourth and go to sixth? Yep but not scary like going into 2nd from 3rd.

 

[MoparMan]

Howard I think you posted this once before and I have to say it helped me alot. Basically, like you say 1&2 are with my hand on the right side of the shift knob. For 2-3, and 3-4 I rotate my palm towards the left. This angles your thumb down and the perssure on the shifter heading in the right direction.
Can you miss fourth and go to sixth? Yep but not scary like going into 2nd from 3rd.

Dave, Howard's suggestion is spot on. Before I got the Viper I read a short piece on line talking about hand positioning on the shift knob for each gear shift and it helped me a lot. I've never missed 4th and put the car in 6th as you asked, but I supposed it's possible and certainly not as bad as putting the car in 2nd instead of 4th. Try what was suggested and see if it helps. In summary:

1-2: your palm should be vertical and facing to the left, thumb up - pull the shifter towards the back of the car and towards the left
2-3: your palm should be vertical and facing to the right, thumb down - push the shifter towards the dash and away from you.
3-4: you palm should be vertical and facing to the right, thumb down - pull the shifter towards the back of the car and somewhat away from you (the engine/tranny rotate over to the right slightly when under full acceleration)
4-5: see 2-3
5-6: see 3-4

 

[jimmy6383]

Funny timing...literally just got in from driving around with a buddy and went into 2nd from 3rd at full throttle and it scared the out of me and my passenger. Just glad to here I am not the only one that has done that. I like the automatic gate over 2nd idea at 80 mph.

 

[Bo knows]

Car Guy, I've been shifting high performance cars my whole life from the late 60's to present and have always considered myself to be pretty handy with a stick shift until I got my first Viper.Could not shift it as fast as I'd like to or was used to. My second Viper shifted the same way. My friends Vipers weren't any better. I tried all the fixes. New shifter, different mounts, thumbs up thumbs down, new shift knob, different trans fluids,seat adjustments, etc. Know what I found out. You can't shift this trans quite as fast as some of the other ones we have driven no matter what you do. It's just the nature of the beast. It's just a little notchy and baulky between gears. Thats the way it was built. The trans for the 2008 has been improved with wider gears and new synchronizers, hopefully this will improve shifting and up grade parts will be available for older transmissions. If so I will be the first to order. For now just keep on spending that split second longer between gears because thats a lot better than missing a shift!

Bo knows

 

[All Car Guy And Viper NJ]

I have been trying a little bit of what everyone is saying. I think Bo is correct if you are power shifting to 3rd its a crap shoot. It's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Yes Bo I think it's the way it is. But it makes no sense to make and sell a muscle car that you can't power shift. I like my street action I am not a track guy. I just like kicking ass on the street. I love going at it with a bike or two. I can't double clutch or pause when I am shifting fast. This car has the best clutch and box ever I don't miss my vette with it's chattering and shaking, but I could power shift to anygear without thinking. I am afraid I am going to damage the car or worse. On the track it probably isn't a concern but i don't track the car. Are the synchros made in such a way to prohibit you from power shifting to 3 or 4. Maybe I could put new gears in the box or synchros. I didn't mind doing the rear gears or exhaust maybe there is a part for what I want. I have a really good viper mech here in Morristown. Hey John at parts rack any solutions. How do people drag these cars if you can't get 3rd. Thanks for the suggestions

 

[Bo knows]

Car Guy, I couldn't agree with you more when you said it makes no sense to build & sell a muscle car that has a baulky shifting trans. In the mid 70's I had a 70 Superbee with a hemi 4 speed that was slow shifting. After doing some research I found that Chrysler knew about and addressed the problem late in 1971 by offering revised syncros for that trans. I bought & installed them and that trans shifted like a hot knife thru soft butter! Hopefully the Viper shifting problem will be addressed soon also so we wont have to dance around the inherent problem with all these makeshift cures!

Bo

 

[mike & juli]

We had better luck with the SRT-10 Race Knob shifter than the stock shifter in our '05. We don't track either, we like to 'street race'...Bo--do you recall we showed you the shifter last August? Makes a bit of a difference, don't know about power-shifting though, as we don't do that. ~juli~

 

[viperjim]

I have been trying a little bit of what everyone is saying. I think Bo is correct if you are power shifting to 3rd its a crap shoot. It's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Yes Bo I think it's the way it is. But it makes no sense to make and sell a muscle car that you can't power shift. I like my street action I am not a track guy. I just like kicking ass on the street. I love going at it with a bike or two. I can't double clutch or pause when I am shifting fast. This car has the best clutch and box ever I don't miss my vette with it's chattering and shaking, but I could power shift to anygear without thinking. I am afraid I am going to damage the car or worse. On the track it probably isn't a concern but i don't track the car. Are the synchros made in such a way to prohibit you from power shifting to 3 or 4. Maybe I could put new gears in the box or synchros. I didn't mind doing the rear gears or exhaust maybe there is a part for what I want. I have a really good viper mech here in Morristown. Hey John at parts rack any solutions. How do people drag these cars if you can't get 3rd. Thanks for the suggestions

I ran my '03 about 12 times last month. I powered shifted thru all 4 gears and never missed one. Although I had issues when I first bought the car, I believe it just takes getting used to the "off center" pattern.

 

[Bo knows]

Never missed a gear with this one !!

 

[Racer Robbie]

Car Guy, I've been shifting high performance cars my whole life from the late 60's to present and have always considered myself to be pretty handy with a stick shift until I got my first Viper.Could not shift it as fast as I'd like to or was used to. My second Viper shifted the same way. My friends Vipers weren't any better. I tried all the fixes. New shifter, different mounts, thumbs up thumbs down, new shift knob, different trans fluids,seat adjustments, etc. Know what I found out. You can't shift this trans quite as fast as some of the other ones we have driven no matter what you do. It's just the nature of the beast. It's just a little notchy and baulky between gears. Thats the way it was built. The trans for the 2008 has been improved with wider gears and new synchronizers, hopefully this will improve shifting and up grade parts will be available for older transmissions. If so I will be the first to order. For now just keep on spending that split second longer between gears because thats a lot better than missing a shift!

Bo knows

DITTO to the above quotes post.

The Hurst shifter and Poly mounts help but it is the nature of this beast and what makes the viper so much fun to drive. Trying different shifter knob heights will also help you once you find the height that is just right for your personal preference. I show different shifter knobs heights that are available from George at MGW on my web site along with the dimensions for these knobs along side a stock factory OEM k nob so you can compare them to yours and order the one you want from MGW.

I prefer a Momo Competition Shift knob like the one below.​

MGW KNOBS​

 

[mike & juli]

Never missed a gear with this one !!

Allright!!! Got your pic of the SuperBee now, Bo!! COOOOOOL car...glad you posted.
~juli~

 

[Bo knows]

Had that car for 19 years and finally sold it to buy a Viper. It's an original 440 six pack , 4 speed, dana rear end car. Every once in a while i regret selling it and I have to jump in the Viper and go for a drive. That makes everything alright. Sometimes change is good!!

Bo knows

 

[KenricGTS]

I have to say the Vipers tranny is the same as craps in Vegas. You either get a great shifting tranny or it *****. I think there are build diffences between Vipers with how the tranny shifts. I have had 4 Vipers and they were all different. My Viper now shifts like a 66 pickup truck. I hope the 08 is fixed.

 

[mike & juli]

Had that car for 19 years and finally sold it to buy a Viper. It's an original 440 six pack , 4 speed, dana rear end car. Every once in a while i regret selling it and I have to jump in the Viper and go for a drive. That makes everything alright. Sometimes change is good!!

Bo knows

Awesome car, Bo--wish we coulda seen it! And, yeah, the Viper is such a soothing soul, it makes up for ANYthing~ahhhh---bliss!
***I sent you a PM yesterday re: avatar/signature, didn't help, did I??? Sorry
~juli~

 

[Racer Robbie]

I switched to Royal Purple in my tranny and it shifts much better than with the factory fill. Did the same with the rear diff and it quited it down when it is 100 degrees outside. If you go to www.royalpurple.com web site please do not use the crossover chart as it is incorrect. Different year vipers use different fluids so you are best off calling royal purple and giving them the factory spec number and having them cross it over on the phone.

Below is what I run in my 2003 viper but please remember other year vipers use different spec lubes.

ROYAL PURPLE
01130, 10W30, MOTOR OIL
ENGINE OIL, 10 QTS​

ROYAL PURPLE
01301, 75W140, MAX-GEAR
DIFF OIL, 2 QTS​

ROYAL PURPLE
01512, SYNCHROMAX
TRANSMISSION, 4 QTS​