2021 Jeep Manual Transmission

[Xcoaste]

I just sold my manual and bought an auto. I have driven manual all my life and my wife of 15 years never wanted to learn stick. We ran into several occasions when her car was in the shop and we had to juggle things around or borrow or rent a car for her because she couldn’t drive my manual Jeep.
While driving the manual was fun, the new 8 speed is really good! Just make sure your wife is really ok with you getting the manual. Me getting the auto this time, my wife said just get a Rubicon instead of the sport S. Enjoy your new ride!

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[nomographer]

Day 4 and 5 have been flawless. No stalls. Pedal recalibration trick actually seems to do something.

No rpm hanging at all below 4k. If anything I'm not upshifting fast enough because I'm getting deceleration. I watched half a dozen times over 30min mixed driving and the tach dropped directly. Maybe in several weeks when I'm willing to spin 6k I'll see it.

Also I was getting 23mpg in 5th at 53mph. Dropped to 4th going up the 9% hill and held around 17mpg iirc.

Honestly it's right now. If it smooths out even more in the next 500mi as people report is going to be pure

 

[JeepFan]

Cool, I never knew the ZJ could have a red interior. Mine was blue exterior and grey interior.
Speaking of colors, in your signature it says you have a Hydro JL on order. I thought they only offered Chief or Bikini blue now. Is hydro going to be coming back to the wrangler? If so, that will be an awesome 2 door you’ll have. One of my favorite Jeep colors.

Yes Hydo Blue is back. I had a 2014 hydro blue Polar Edition 2 door; and I like that color.

 

[ChattVol]

I just sold my manual and bought an auto. I have driven manual all my life and my wife of 15 years never wanted to learn stick. We ran into several occasions when her car was in the shop and we had to juggle things around or borrow or rent a car for her because she couldn’t drive my manual Jeep.
While driving the manual was fun, the new 8 speed is really good! Just make sure your wife is really ok with you getting the manual. Me getting the auto this time, my wife said just get a Rubicon instead of the sport S. Enjoy your new ride!

I hear ya...I love manual transmissions and had the jlu 6 speed for 2.5 years and the wife never cared to learn to drive a manual. I drove a few jLU & JT automatics and will admit that the 8 speed is very nice and feels more powerful with 37s & 4.10 gears and is easier to manage wheelin. I sold my JLU and always felt the clutch was too soft for a jeep and 3rd gear isnt low enough. If I bought another JLU, I'd go with the automatic as well.

 

[nomographer]

Every day I'm loving the manual more. I watched it upshifting from 6k today and it was perfect, no hang, right into the next gear.

I can see a few situations with gaps, where downshifting isn't the best choice so you're stick with a moment of power loss, but in general things look good.

Pedal recalibration has made miles 50--150 very pleasant.

 

[Kreepin1]

Every day I'm loving the manual more. I watched it upshifting from 6k today and it was perfect, no hang, right into the next gear.

I can see a few situations with gaps, where downshifting isn't the best choice so you're stick with a moment of power loss, but in general things look good.

Pedal recalibration has made miles 50--150 very pleasant.

When you say "pedal recalibration" are you talking about adjusting your technique or about an change to the Jeep?

 

[nomographer]

When you say "pedal recalibration" are you talking about adjusting your technique or about an change to the Jeep?

My accelerator pedal was at 80% with the smallest touch. Out of gear, just a minor amount of pressure and it would pop up to 2k then rise to 4k or 5k steadily over the next ten seconds. There was zero control and no difference between 0.05 pedal and 0.95 pedal.

https://www.wranglerforum.com/threads/throttle-calibration.888666/

Some reading introduced me to the technique of "let out the clutch pedal with no accelerator", which still works if I'm behind someone at a light. On the other hand, if I now throttle up a tad before engaging I don't sit there spinning wheels for five seconds like before, nor does it stall.

The best explanation I can come up with before the recalibration is that the software saw either 0 or 100. At 100, it just increased the power indefinitely, interpreting the pedal as a request for more power. At zero it said, "oh you must be asking me to go slower... than zero, so that's zero rpm yay".

My first attempt was very slow, maybe 40sec. Didn't help. My second was around 10sec down, 10sec up. It's lovely now.

I still over rev a bit starting off in some cases, and actually spun my tires today for about 0.3sec, but it reacted as expected when I let my foot off and gripped (pouring rain, new tires, 40psi, no surprise). But after 150mi on a new clutch, I don't feel too bad about this.

How the accelerator pedal would affect rev hang, I have no explanation, but I have no rev hang yet either so...

 

[Sasquash]

Ok, so I am the oddball on this forum. 2020 JLS set up more for dune bashing than crawling. I'm not loaded down with 200 lbs of front bumper and wench, 150 lbs of aftermarker skid plates, no power windows or locks, no heavy hard top, power robbing A/C, or high lift jacks and tools I'll never use. I'm running 280/75 R17 Mickey Thompson AT on the factory steel rims, a front lunch box, a JT grille, power steering cooler, a Rubicon take off suspension, and never regeared.
I live in a coastal mountain range and have no problems with the manual transmission. I can shift into 6th at 60 accelerate up to and hold 65 with no issues. I do downshift to climb the 6% and 7% grades around here but just once before I start climbing (quick drop to 5th and run up to 2200 RPM). I have noticed rev hang but only if I start shifting above 2500 RPM. If in not in the dunes or on the beach I use 4lo a lot. In the dunes I'm in 2nd gear 4hi 2500 to 3000 RPMS and it's fine.
It's not a terrible transmission, in fact I think it blows the old AX15 out of the water. It really just depends on your build and driving style.

 

[AnnDee4444]

MPG is what the Honda is for, but the Jeep is certainly better than my old Ram 1500 as far as fuel economy goes.

Once upon a time I had a 1998 Ford Mustang V6. Not a bad commuter car, but it had a 5 speed manual and the axle ratio would make most of y'all throw a conniption. 2.73... and thats not a typo. My wife could drive my Dakota with 3.92 easily but it took her months to not stall the Mustang every single time.

I tried the Honda trick, it doesn't seem to work.

My stock 4-cylinder Honda averages 22 MPG, and the Jeep around 19 MPG. Of course both the Honda and the Jeep have factory 4:10s, and the Honda gets driven WOT a lot. For reference it's about 4000 RPM @ 75 MPH (and 8000 RPM @ 150 MPH...)

 

[Sean L]

I tried the Honda trick, it doesn't seem to work.

My stock 4-cylinder Honda averages 22 MPG, and the Jeep around 19 MPG. Of course both the Honda and the Jeep have factory 4:10s, and the Honda gets driven WOT a lot. For reference it's about 4000 RPM @ 75 MPH (and 8000 RPM @ 150 MPH...)

Type R?

My wife's Accord has a CVT and gets around 40 MPG on the highway. Not much WOT driving for that car, lol.

 

[AnnDee4444]

Type R?

My wife's Accord has a CVT and gets around 40 MPG on the highway. Not much WOT driving for that car, lol.

S2000.

 

[Sean L]

S2000.

lol, my next guess would have been CBR1000RR but the S2000 is a good one.

 

[sixspeed]

Hello

I currently have a 2015 Hydro Blue Jeep Wrangler Sahara JK. I ordered in back in August of 2014 and the order came in October 2014. I love it except I didn't get a manual transmission. I grew up learning to drive manuals and I really miss not being able to row gears. The only reason I didn't get the manual is because of my wife. She occasionally drives my Jeep (she has a 2020 Sahara JKU) but not very often. I am at the point now that I am getting the itch to get another Jeep and this time I want a manual. She has never driven a manual and I told her that I would teach her but she has no desire to learn. For the little times that she drives my current Jeep, I think I'm leaning towards the manual if I decide to get another Jeep.

For those of you that have a JL manual, do you like it? When I was researching my JK back in 2014, there were many complaints about the manual. The few reviews I have read about the JL manuals, have been positive.

The other issue I have is I like the Saharas but they don't make them in 2 doors anymore. I really don't like the black fenders on many of the Wrangler models. Here in Florida, the sun kills the black plastic on my Jeep bumpers so I'd like to have the colored fenders. It looks like that is an option on the Rubicon but my off roading consists of a few dirt roads so I think the Rubicon is overkill (but who cares?!)

I know this is too early to discuss 2022 models but I am hoping that Jeep keeps the manual as an option on the 2022s as I won't be ready to purchase for another 6-8 months or longer.

Someone please talk me out of getting another Jeep!

Despite my name, I gave up the manual on my recent purchase of a 2020 Rubicon. The gearing was not effective and six speeds were not enough on the almost 5,000 beastie, especially when driving into the mountains as we now do a lot. The 8 speed auto works very well. I do manually downshift on steep downhill stops and uphill climbs, and do a little upshifting, but I’m glad I got the auto for THIS car (not the BMW I’d also like to have). This is coming from someone who had stick shift cars for 40 years.

I’ll add that the JL manual is greatly improved over the JK, which was like a 1940s truck.

 

[jl18pumpkin]

I've had a manual in both of my JK's and never had a problem with them. My JL is also a manual (lol because my belief is that you don't get a Jeep unless it's a manual) and it drives like a Jeep. So I think you know where I'm leaning too Enjoy your next Jeep!

 

[jl18pumpkin]

I absolutely love my 6 speed. I can't imagine how poorly geared the non-rubicon manuals are though. 6th gear is almost useless with the 4.10 gears. I'm getting ready to swap in 5.13s to better match my 37s, though I've been able to deal with the gearing for 2 years now.

I have 35's and put 5.13's on this summer and it's the best decision I've made for an upgrade. I can hit those hills without downshifting. My rpm are at 2500 at 70 mph and 3000 rpm at 80 mph.

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