...too short??

Having moved from Seat Ibiza PD130 to my VRS i've found the gearing condsiderably shorter.

A 75mph motorway cruise...sorry officer i mean 70mph...used to be 2100rpm and about 55mpg

in the Fabia the same speed is approx 2500rpm which puts into just boost and about 48mpg ish.

It's not a huge gripe as 48mpg is still better than most petrol alternatives (and i could always ease off to bring that mpg number up) but just wondered if anyone has any ideas why the differing set up between the Spanish and Czech cousins?

The gearing was changed (shortened) at around the time of the fabia 'facelift' model. Maybe they did the same with the ibiza, therefore your ibiza was running the longer gearbox and your fabia the newer one.

Alternatively, you might have smaller tyres on the fabia. Think mine is 31 or 33mph per 1000rpm in 6th.

EDIT: even if it was the lower value, 31mph, I'd be doing 77.5mph at 2500rpm. Thats according to the gps and not the speedo. Incorrect sized wheels?

2500rpm is 80mph in my car, with the shorter ratios.

IIRC only 6th gear is different only...

tim - Ibiza was 02 plate and Fabia is 04 so probably changed somewhere in the middle. Maybe i need to test drive a FR Ibiza to see if it is any different than the "130 Sport" i had.

Jase - having driven this afternoon would seem that 2500 is 80 and 2400 is 75 but is still slightly up on the ibiza

Jasc - you could be right. I've not really noticed any difference in standard driving but a motorway cruise is 500rpm up on the Ibiza and mpg is a bit lower.

Mine does 2150 @ 70mph and 2450 @ 80

mine does 79 at 2000rpm (53 plate VRS)

tim - Ibiza was 02 plate and Fabia is 04 so probably changed somewhere in the middle. Maybe i need to test drive a FR Ibiza to see if it is any different than the "130 Sport" i had.

Jase - having driven this afternoon would seem that 2500 is 80 and 2400 is 75 but is still slightly up on the ibiza

Jasc - you could be right. I've not really noticed any difference in standard driving but a motorway cruise is 500rpm up on the Ibiza and mpg is a bit lower.

changed early 04... mines is an 04 with the shorter 6th gear... the early ones 53 reg and some 04's have the longer 6th gear... this was changed to give more 'poke' at motorway speeds IIRC

Mine does 2150 @ 70mph and 2450 @ 80

Mine is the same, 55 plate VRs:thumbup:

changed early 04... mines is an 04 with the shorter 6th gear... the early ones 53 reg and some 04's have the longer 6th gear... this was changed to give more 'poke' at motorway speeds IIRC

As if they actually needed any more poke

As above, only the 53 Furbys (maybe even just the 2003 ones) were with the long box that the ibiza had.. no idea why they did it though, it dropped the 0-60 by 0.1 of a second but ruined the excellent fuel economy :( - my old 53 furb could easily hit 600-650 miles to a tank (best was 730)... the short-box furbys cant manage that easily.

Mine does 2150 @ 70mph and 2450 @ 80

Mine too.

And that's despite it being an 04-plater.

So close, yet so far, to being in the much-envied Long Sixth Club.

Still low RPM though. I've had some petrol cars that were doing nearly 4000 RPM at 80MPH (obviously in another country...)

mine does 79 at 2000rpm (53 plate VRS)

Yep, same here..

Indicated 80mph bang on 2000rpm.