Hi Everyone ,

I have just bought a Chrysler Crossfire and love it. I have had it a week now and it is brilliant and it gets loads of looks, especially from the women . I do have one small issue though and would like some opinions. I have the 6spd manaul gear shift and it is not the best i have used by far. The gear **** feels like it will break when changing gears and it is almost impossible to get a perfect shift in 1st and 2nd. I also don't like the way you cant really feel what gear your in (If you know what i mean) not much feel to it. I was wandering if anyone has changed the gearknob for an aftermarket and if so does it feel better and make gear changes easier? Apart from that though i absolutely love the car. It was a great buy for the price. I dont have any pics yet but i will post some when i get chance.
Many thanks and nice to meet ya all.

 

Welcome to the "club". There have been a number of comments on the manual. Use the search engine, there are many.

 

welcome as well...just a week isn't enough time to get "used" to it....give it some time....and you will be shifting with the best of them...there are many manuel guys on here that will give you some advice...the **** has been changed by some on here...I am sure you will get plenty of answers....

 

Welcome aboard, and congrats....

 

YOu are going to love your car and the more you use the six speed wrist shaker, the more you will become fluid with it. It was the same for me when I first purchased it. Hang in there and welcome!!!!

 

Congrats on the purchase! You will have "perma-grin" on your face!

 

thanks for the warm welcome and advise. I will keep practicing for now and search here for manual drivers. Many thanks again

 

Unlike any other stick car I've ever owned.....you really need to keep the revs up between shifts to keep it smooth....whether you're shifting UP or DOWN !!

I drive the stick much more aggresively than I do the automatic & yet consistently get about 2 more mpg with the stick....

 

Yes... just give it some time to adjust to the stick and the blind spots. Our cars are very different then most so you need time to adjust. Pretty soon you won't want to change the shift **** and it will feel more natural. The whole car will feel more natural.

Look around the forum. There are people that have posted pictures of their new *****. Switching them out is a preferrence but I can't imagine using something different.

 

You will get used to the shifter with time. I had replaced the **** with a carbon fiber MoMo **** (taller, increasing the throw). Just switched back last month to the factory **** and find that I am liking the shorter throw a lot better and wondering why I ever changed it to begin with.....actually, I was just seeking a different look.

 

welcome abaord what yr & color ??????

 

Retired Truck Driver here, drove 18 wheelers for 35 years with all kinds of shifting and gear patterns.
The Crossfire 6 speed does take some time to master, especially from 1st to 2nd, in time it will shift like butter, just practice, is all it takes.
I down shift for just about every stop,( to save brakes, and just habit from driving trucks,) I have yet to miss a gear, and love my 05 black limited 6 spd.

 

you old rookie,,,,,35 yrs.....JK.....I'm on 38, and I won't quit till they make me...lol....3 million and counting...but, you are correct...just needs to drive it more....

 

Let's see now, you are 56 and have 38 years driving,so you started driving out of High School, right? I had military duty,(3 years Reg. Army,) then several other non discript jobs, then, in 1970 I started driving Tractor Trailers. I was wrong with the amount of time driving Semi's, actually began in 1970, and took disability pension in 1997. That only gives me 27 years of "BIG RIG" driving. Now, as to the miles driven, you evidently are a Road driver, I was city for 35 years, and that city is Chigago and suburbs,(mostly Chigago miles.) So, if you were to compute all the missed company locations, around several blocks to go back and locate same, all the failed attemps to get backed in to loading docks,(4 wheelers driving up on sidewalks while I was (blind siding a back in attempt,) and going around block, after block, after block to find a way around a low,(12' viaduct),
I think 3 million miles of carefree road driving would be a blessing.

 

It's a 53 plate so late 2003. The colour is dark silver (Gunmetal) sorry dont know the colour name for it. The car has done 60,000 miles but as i am only using the car for weekends and trips then it will last me years

 

I have been doing some practicing with the gear shift and even though i am not perfect (yet), i am definately getting there. It is beggining to feel more natural.

I absolutely love this car, it makes you feel good and everyone looks and my mates say it looks meaty.
Still getting used to driving it though. I have driven a few CARs but when i blew my headgasket on my last car and the garage said it would cost over £1000, i just scrapped the car. I then started saving but in the meantime i had to drive my misses 1.4lt sssslllllllloooooooooooowwwwwwwww tigra convertible. You can imagine the smile on my face when jumping behind the wheel of a 3.2V6 Crossfire

As the weekend approach's i will take some pics and post. I know it is standard and you have seen these cars a million times but i am chuffed to have one, so pic will follow

 

The manual box on the Crossfire gets ripped on all the time. The manual box on the Mazda MX-5 Miata is generally considered to be a wonderful piece of automotive engineering. I came to the Crossfire from a Miata and, while they certainly do feel different, I have no complaints about the box in the Crossfire. From driving hard on the street to driving even harder on track, it does the job admirably. As far as I'm concerned it's just "different" from the Miata, not "worse".

 

I have a manual transmission in a base coupe. The 1st to 2nd shift takes some getting used to. You can keep the revs way up between shifts, but sometimes that's just not practical. My 89 year old mother has a bad heart, and when she's with me, driving my Crossfire like that would just about kill her. Here's my solution to the tough 1st to 2nd shift problem. It may not work for everyone, but just try it, and see if it works for you. The manual states that for optimum fuel saving, you should shift around the 3000 rpm mark. OK, go to 3000 rpm in first gear. Go as quickly as you want to that point. Then, depress the clutch and let the revs go down to 2500 rpm. You should have the gear shift in 2nd by now, and just let out the clutch. You will have a very smooth shift from 1st to 2nd. Now, I know that we do love to drive our Crossfires fast, but in certain circumstances, when you need a smooth shift, and you're not in a big hurry, this might work for you. Thanks for putting up with this rather long post. Hope to see you all in St. Louis in June!

 

Not hardly my friend, I was regional, and delivered feed to hog farms throughout the midwest, hands on, loading and unloading, positioning augers to bins and such, and it didn't all run out, you shoveled the bottom... it was a convertable trailer, so we hauled bags as well...did that for 31 yrs all week long, then got into a patrol car on Sat morning, and spent the weekend doing the law enforcement thing...now I pull for me, leased on to a seed dealership, hauling seed to farmers throughout the same midwest area. Been doing this for the past 7 yrs...still doing the cop thing on the weekends as well...I blind side back into a lot of situations, mostly from small driveways on a lot of midwest farms, corner posts, deep side ditches, narrow roads, dirt roads...but with a sleeper, and '53' van...no day cabs here...heck, prior to the feed thing at 18 yrs old, I was hauling hogs part time on some really nice bull hauler rigs...but, I was young...nothing easy about being on the road all week, on an owner operator salary...it would have been nice to sleep in my own bed at night...and talking about wrong address, drive around the block in central IL in farm country....but, I know what you mean about Chicago and truckin', not for me...now,....next you will tell me you were a teamster...lol

 

YUP!!! Local 705 Chicago. BTW did all those hogs and pigs you hauled ever have guns? Most of the gang infested areas I worked in Chicago all had guns and no income, other than who they could stick up.
Think I would rather put up with farmers.