Manual Transmission Gear Lube

Any recommendations for a Gear oil change? I'm considering Mobil1 , Redline and Swepco, does anyone feel one in particular is superior?

I put Redline 75W-90NS in my car. All I can say is that it works great, and probably so would any synthetic 75W-90 oil, but NS has no friction modifier, and that supposedly makes the synchronizers work better.

Gear lube I used Swepco 201 in my 911sc and it worked wonders. I haven't changed gear lube in the Cayman but when I do that's what I intend to use. Hope this narrows your choices. Pete

Thanks for the input so far!

tranny fluid change Just brought home a new to 08 CS. Any thoughts and/or recs re tranny fluid changes ?? Jack

Re: tranny fluid change Rather than tell you to search, I just merged your question into an existing thread on the exact same topic. brad

Changed mine with Redline 75/90 recently and noticed a slight improvement in shifting, happy with my choice so far. I also have used swepco 201 in my 911 's with good results, better than what the factory used.

I am using Redline 75-90NS as that is what the mechanic put in when he installed my ATB. It works fine, I can not tell the difference between that and what was there to begin with. Next time I change that oil, I will try the Porsche one. Just to see if any difference can be detected. Tomasz

I hate to break this to you guys advocating Swepco 201, but according to my understanding 201 doesn't meet Porsche 's specs for the Cayman . Far be it from me to advocate following Porsche 's recommendations to the letter, but I just thought I'd point that out.

When TPC installed my Quaife they used Redline. It was a mix of 1 quart 75W90 N/S with 2 quarts 75W90 for proper mix of friction additives.

Quaifes are JBOGs (just a bunch of gears), they shouldn't need any friction additive, because there are no friction discs, as in an LSD .

I put three quarts of Mobil Delvac 75W90 Synthetic Gear Lubricant (supposedly factory fill, from LN Engineering ) and two 50g tubes of Lubro Moly MoS2 Transmission Friction Treatment (to help protect the gears, from Pelican Parts ) in my '08 Cayman S transaxle at 3K miles. Now at 5K miles, the shifting seems smoother & easier, and the cold 1-2 crunch is mostly gone - having said that, the transaxle is more broken in now, and the weather is warmer, so some of that perceived improvement could be do to the Placebo Effect. Nonetheless, I'm pleased with the results and would recommend to others. HTH.

Please don't forget that Lubrication Engineering is one of our sponsors, they make a host of good lubrication products, worth giving them a call or checking them out!

220,700+ miles on my '02 Boxster 5-speed using whatever lube... dealer uses. Give tranny/diff early fluid change (engine too!) and then change it every 50K miles or so. You can knock yourself silly with all kinds of sythetic this or that, but my experience is whatever Porsche tranny/diff lube is it's pretty darn good. Sincerely, Rockster.

Re: 220,700+ miles on my '02 Boxster 5-speed using whatever lube... The Porsche 75W-90 fluid is $25/liter from Suncoast. You'll need four of them. Competitive gear oil is available for $10-12/quart. Porsche's choice is rather pricey, and seems to have no advantage at all.

The Redline 75-90NS should be fine but should be changed more frequently than the original Mobil or Shell gear oils. We prefer (now that we have been able to find it) Shell Transaxle 75w-90 gear oil which is a combination GL4/ GL5 gear oil which is a specific Ferrari/ Porsche fluid. This fluid is very difficult to find, most distributors try to sell Shell Spirax which is not the same stuff. Ken, I'm going to check out that sponsor website. We're always looking for new and better lubricants. -Drew

Not that I really care about leaving any lube in for 108K miles like Porsche recommends, but how do you know Redline should changed more often?

My first reply was not clear. Let me restate Porshe recommends a 120,000 mile gear oil change interval. This should be cut at least in half for a street car regardless of brand of gear oil. In a track environment the gear oil should be changed out approx. once a year or more often if conditions dictate.

I'm coming up on 12,000 miles with my '08 5-speed, 2.7L Cayman , and I thought I might want to change trans. and diff oils. First, I found that the trans. and diff. make up one unit. Then, looking around in my basement I found a small amount of Redline MTL which I had used in my bimmer, along with some Redline SAE 75W/80W Gl-4 Gear Oil. Can I use this stuff in my Cayman ? I notice that everyone in this thread is referring to 75W/90W oil, so I have paused to consider what I should do. Suggestions and recommendations? Thanks, TWT

MTL is not an appropriate transaxle lubricant. Redline MTL is only for use in dedicated manual transmissions, and in the Cayman transaxle the transmission and the differential share fluid, meaning you need a GL5 lubricant. Use synthetic 75W-90 gear oil.

Blue, I understand. I didn't mean to suggest that I meant to use the MTL. I was rather asking if the 75W/80W would be okay to use, but I decided not and have some Redline 75W90NS GL5 on order. Will do engine oil and trans/diff at the same time, and send the engine oil for analysis. Thanks, Tom T

I am going to try Royal Purple 75W-90 Synthetic. They have a good reputation. My car has 15,500 miles, and its getting a new lightweight flywheel, and it has a Quafie torque bias differential. I hope to get it installled next week.

i did not want to create a new thread. So pulling the old one out. I had searched for transmission oil change interval, but no luck. How often do you recommend to change the trans and diff oil in a 6 speed cayman S and what brand oil do you recommend?

Porsche says the transaxle lubricant change interval is 108,000 miles. I change mine every three years, because that's my judgment. I use Redline 75W-90NS, which works great unless you have a clutch-type limited slip differential installed. If you have an LSD , the non-NS version of 75W-90 is what you want. Castrol , Mobil -1, Royal Purple , and a long list of other manufacturers make 75W-90 synthetic gear oils that probably work just as well. I just happen to have a preference for Redline.