Toyota J160 / RA62

Toyota's rear-drive six-speed manuals — the J160 in the Altezza and IS200, and the RA6x in the IS250, the Tacoma and the FR-S.

⚑ They replaced the W-series and feel nothing like it. The W58 is a long-throw truck-derived gearbox; the J160 was designed against European six-speeds and has a short, close action. A complaint that one feels notchy against a W58 is comparing two different design intents.

Second-gear synchroniser wear is the pattern on the J160, reported as a baulk when cold and downshifting — and it is genuinely wear rather than fluid on this family, unlike most of Toyota's manuals.

The RA62 is Aisin's design and appears in vehicles as different as a Lexus saloon and a Tacoma pickup, which is why its material is scattered across two very different owner communities.

Toyota's own gear oil is specified for both, and it is thinner than a generic 75W-90 — the wrong oil produces exactly the cold baulk that gets diagnosed as synchroniser wear.