FordGenuine Ford Fluid XT-M5-QS Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid - 1 Quart , black

My first experience with the magic of this fluid was in my 1991 Miata 5MT. The car was super low miles when I bought it in 2012 (36K miles) and all the major mechanical parts were as good as new. Initially, I opted for redline MTL in the transmission and got a noticeable improvement in shifting when hot, but cold shifting into 1st and 2nd was still overly notchy and inconsistent. If you're really ripping it and doing rev match downshifting at high rpm, it would occasionally grind into 2nd.After getting fed up with it, I did further research and found tons of folks singing the praises of this fluid. It's relatively pricey, but most Mazda manual transmissions rarely take more than two quarts so it's about 50-$60 upgrade, which is cheap in the car world. After buying some and changing out my redline fluid with 10K miles on it, the difference was IMMEDIATE!Shifting into 1st and 2nd cold was absolutely buttery smooth. Rev-match downshifting at high-rpm is perfect with no grinding or excessive resistance. I eventually put 35K miles on this Ford fluid and it was good the whole way through. I changed it again in 2018 and I can say that shifting has always been a joy in that car.In 2020, I purchased my sensible daily driver, a 2017 Mazda 3 2.0L with the 6 speed manual. Right off the hop, the car's cable shifter is very easy to shift into almost every gear at nearly every temperature. However, sometimes it would refuse to go into 1st unless I did some modulation of the clutch. The car only had 30K miles and is mechanically perfect. So I had a brainwave and checked to see if any Mazda 3 owners tried this fluid in their cars. Sure enough, they had, and with great results!I ordered some (again only 2QTs needed) and wasted no time changing out the really clean OEM fluid with the secret sauce. Right away, the already smooth and easy shifting got smoother and easier. I'd say about 10% less effort on average to shift up and down to any gear. Best of all, my difficulty shifting back into 1st completely vanished. It's just like going into any other gear now and I couldn't be happier. MPG is still fantastic, with about 42MPG on the highway and 35MPG in the city unless I'm really ripping it. I don't know what special blend of 11 herbs and spices this fluid contains, but Mazda manual gearboxes seem to love it.SUMMARY:So it's settled then. If you have a Mazda made within the last 30 years and it's got a stick shift, it'll likely see a massive improvement in shift quality and consistency from factory fluid or even better stuff like redline. That said, you should still do your own research as some cars do call for specific fluids for a good reason. Competent forum posters will be your best friends. I hope this fluid stays in production for a while, because I have no intention of ever switching to something else in the future.

Works great in my 2017 Miata ND - Butter smooth shifts!

After a clutch-job I refilled my 2000 Miata's transmission with a name-brand fluid that met the specification - but it never felt quite right.After some on-line research, this Ford fluid kept coming up as the best thing to put in my transmission.Known in the Miata community as "Unicorn Tears" due to its cost ($30 per quart at the time of this writing and we need to buy 3 because the transmission requires 2.1 qt), it turns out that this stuff does indeed perform very well.The change is subtle but noticeable - particularly when shifting into first gear at a stop sign. I don't know how to describe it other than to say that it feels like the synchronizers are operating better than they did on the other fluid.Don't take this to mean that it's going to fix a worn out old transmission. It won't. Again, the difference is subtle.But if you're finding it slightly difficult to get in gear, this may help.

when it comes to transmissions I stick to OEM. This is what my car came with from the factory and this is what I put it in now .

In the forums of Miata world, this stuff is considered “unicorn tears” because it is known to free up sticky shifts on the manual gearboxes of earlier models. I tried it on my ‘03 Miata just for grins, and it definitely quieted a clunk going into reverse and noticeably smoothed out the 2-3-4 sequence. Not sure if a fresh change with any new fluid would have done the same.

I too had read good reports on this product for the Miata gearbox. Here in Australia I was unable to secure the above oil so decided that maybe the Amazon site could help out.I was lucky enough to get one of the supplies to post out 2 quart size bottles. Upon its arrival I had the local mechanic drain the 6 speed box and replace the old oil with new.Where I like its starting to get cold now and close on 0C overnight temps. My mx5 has always had from a cold start that 2nd gear crunch and 3rd gear grind............well no longer!Straight from the change the box appeared better to use and the following morning I got up early and backed it out of the garage and drove off.No troubles at all and straight into 2nd gear trouble free and then to 3rd - No grind. I pulled over and repeated the above exercise another couple of times and same end results.....trouble free box now and very happy.By the time I purchased the 2 quarts and paid freight to OZ it did cost me around $90 plus to get it here BUT it was money well spent. I head off on an inland 9,000 mile trip in a month in the Miata so glad I bumped into this gearbox oil by accident.Money on a product well spent!

This transmission oil is said to work miracles in Mazda MX-5/Miata manual transmissions. I have had it in mine for about 3 months. It works well but I don't notice any difference in the way the gears shift and feel as compared with other transmission oils I have used. Pricey, as compared with most other transmission oils.Edit review

I used this lubricant in my 2008 Mazda MX5 with 172,000 miles, after reading many positive reviews. In many MX5 FB groups this is known as unicorn tears due to the price. I was quite surprised by how much smoother my transmission worked using this product. I never had any complaints on how the car shifted, but there is a marked improvement with this lubricant.