Feedback on Ravenol MTF-3?

Hey folks,

So, it's been awhile since MTF-3 is out, has anyone been running it? What's are the impressions vs stock? I know MTF-2 has a cult following, but still curious about the other one since it's closer in weight and I've seen Ravenol suggesting MTF-3 for someone with a Fiesta on their Amazon page.

Having it put in my car today during service. Will let you know.

So, how are the initial impressions?

In a warmer climate I would go for their MTF-2 over the MTF-3.

If I lived in a frigid northern tier state/province, or Alaska, I would probably go through the (what many on here would consider 'wasteful' or 'a waste of time') bother of swapping it out twice per year between the two.

Only drove it 3 miles back from the dealership yesterday and it's currently getting detailed, so give me a couple of days and I'll post something.

Even though I know tons of folks are running MTF-2 OK, I'm vividly imagining it not getting into some minuscule but critical cranny at the worst time and causing wear and tear.

Do you solely do autocross exclusively, or do you open track it as well?

THAT would weigh into my choice the two as well.

Just figured I'd follow up for ya, I've been running in the Ravenol MTF-2 since July 2020, so I've had 1.5 Minnesota winters on it (it was -12F this morning). I don't notice a difference between it and the Motorcraft (Factory DCTF) or Motul DCTF fluid that came before it. I have multiple HPDE events on each and did not notice any difference after changes (changed every 20-30K miles because track abuse as a preventative as its as easy to change as the engine oil)

When its cold it the shifter may feel ever so slightly stiffer to move, but nothing like my 98 Corolla that was hard to move around at all when it was below 0F until ya put 5+ miles on it to get the fluid up to temp.

@TyphoonFiST has also run the MTF-2 for a while (long before myself) in MN. I think he only had good things to say as well.

I don't think its anything to bother thinking about much. Throw something in there that meets the spec and run it. There were folks running the Motul 300 heavy weight fluid a few years ago, as long as it was warm air temps it worked fine too.

The only consensus I've seen is to ensure that ya put the full 2L in the gearbox.

Good Luck! Sonic

Friends have been trying to coerce me into tracking, but at this point I've pretty much decided to stick with just autocross (at least with this car).

Considering that, and that it NEVER gets blazingly hot up thar (correct?), you will be fine running the MTF-3 if you so desire.

Just waiting to hear if there's any perceivable difference at all. I think realistically my only goal is to quiet the diff down.

Your Diff. is noisey? Mine is a quiet as a church mouse so far...

Its quiet in motion, but clunks when engaging gears. For example, when stationary: clutch in & second >> neutral & clutch out >> clutch in & reverse >> neutral & clutch out >> repeat. I made another thread about it a while ago.

Clunks or sordove grinds? I've been going into 2nd then to 1st gear because it doesn't like just going into 1st sometimes nicely. 5th sometimes makes a clunk/grind. I wonder if mine does this due to the Carbon synchros instead of fomoco ones. I have been figuring out how to drive it ....I can't go full beans for a while due to clutch break in as per RTS. I'll let you know any other weird stuff....does yours do it more hot or cold or does Temp not matter?

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As with other clunks I had, these ones are more prominent when everything is hot. One guess is that the oil thins out, so I'm looking for alternatives.

It's more of a straight clunk/thump in a straight line but it feels... compound when i'm shifting during turns. Sometimes its a 2 or 3-part clunk. My theory is that in a turn the diff is active and gears inside it don't clunk all at once when they're scrolling. Good thump example can be heard around 0:48 here View: https://youtu.be/L93CkwJJMJ4?t=43


Entire thread where I'm whining about it here: https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/clunk-diagnosis-continues.27667/

Stupid question, what's the difference between MTF-3 and MTF-2? I assume one is thicker than the other.

MTF-2 is 75w80 and MTF-3 is straight 75w...Both meet Fomoco specs for the FiST. The MTF-2 acts like a 75 weight in winter but when it get up to operating temperature it becomes a 80 weight so yes it is thicker....slightly. The MTF-3 is just straight 75 weight start to Finish...as far as I know and what Ravenol says its as close as it gets to Fomoco DCT fluid they use.

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Alright, so 2L of MTF-3 went in. Volume-wise there was a smidge left in the pump tubing before the transmission was full.

Initial impressions are that the shifting is smoother than the stock fluid, not by much but it's noticeable. 1-2 shift still thuds but less often. The faint whine in 6th gear on the throttle on highway speeds is noticeably less pronounced. Differential still clunks when torque is reversed (realistically, I shouldn't have expected much in that regard).

I'll see how it ages but will likely try MTF-2 next year.

Clean stock fluid would likely have the same effect.

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I had the fortune of screwing up the ordering of the things I had done to my car and ended up having clean stock fluid in the transmission twice in the last year and a bit, so the memory of how it felt is still fresh. MTF-3 most certainly feels smoother to me.