Club 80-90 Forums

Hi All,

I love my 1.7d which has the 5 speed box, but I would like it to be a bit more relaxed at motorway speeds.

The engine is sweet as a nut. It recently had an overhaul so don't really want to change it and I like the fuel consumption !

Question is - can I stick a longer legged petrol gearbox in to make it more civilised at motorway speeds - I appreciate it may struggle a bit up hills torque wise, but surely I just change down a bit more don't I ?
I'm interested if any one gone down this route.
Or would it be cheaper and easier to just stick 16" wheels on it.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Steve

Or would it be cheaper and easier to just stick 16" wheels on it

yes , or bigger 14 inch tyres or 15 inch (more common ) wheels and tyres

but long term yes you can stick a 5 speed petrol box in for better ratios 5 speed petrol is also same as 5 speed td ( internally)

first tho you need to check your ratios and any new box ratios you are interested in.

get the code from your box

then google gear speed calculator , enter the info and you can see the differences that can be obtained!

its also possible to have your present box rebuilt with better internals

possibly a good idea if you have invested in the engine!

Hi Billy,

Thanks for your reply - may try increasing the size of the wheels first.

I do fancy the off road look with some syncro type wheels and tyres - saw one with 16" mefros and general grabber AT tyres on the other day which looked awesome.
I believe Merc ML wheels will fit too which I guess will be cheaper.

Cheers
Steve

no problem , but you can go too big / high ratio

not enough power in the engine to pull

also tyres size is not quite he same as gear ratio change but close enough , and 2 big flywheels to slow when braking!