Many Ferrari 308/Mondial gear boxes have 2nd gears that lock you out until the car has some temp in the fluid then it works fine. They don't grind or become notchy, they just don't want you in 2nd until they are ready. Virtually every one of these I've driven has done this but I found some well respected shops have started using Redline MTL in the last few years and many have reported the slow shifting into 2nd goes away. The passages are pretty small and until the oil is warmed up it just doesn't flow enough to move through quickly. Instead of the factory 80w90, the Redline MTL is 75w80. Pretty thin stuff but several bigger specialists have recommended it as they havent see any increased wear in years with people running it. No hypoid gears in our transaxle so no need for a gl5.
I put about 80 miles on the car the following couple days and it is shifting really well. The Redline MTL is noticeably better in a cold gearbox and the shift to 2nd can be done immediately now and warm it feels the same as before. Very few fluids have I used that I can say made a night and day difference but this one did what I hoped it would. It’s not a cure all for shifting issues but this was a really specific issue with thick oils and smaller passages so for these gearboxes at least, I recommend it.
I put about 80 miles on the car the following couple days and it is shifting really well. The Redline MTL is noticeably better in a cold gearbox and the shift to 2nd can be done immediately now and warm it feels the same as before. Very few fluids have I used that I can say made a night and day difference but this one did what I hoped it would. It’s not a cure all for shifting issues but this was a really specific issue with thick oils and smaller passages so for these gearboxes at least, I recommend it.
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