Hi all,

Been chatting with my bro who is a beemer driver and it turns out his economy is amazing, we have whittled it down to the fact he has longer gears. Now my question is this..

I know the early MK1 fabia VRS's had longer gears. Is it worth me sourcing one to achieve a possible better economy or at least be able to cruise at a higher speed and keep the same as what I have now at lower speeds?

Or am I just chasing ghosts, and feedback and advice on the pro's and cons of such a thing would be really helpful.

Also I'm off to Unit 18 next week for a remap, will I find better economy on my motorways journeys as a result? I currently commute 550 miles a week!! Thanks peeps

where is unit 18

bill

Unit 18 is in Milton Keynes matey

When driving normally your mpg should raise by a little bit because the power is smoother and more usable. As for the gearbox, i`d say its not worth the effort of changing it for the sake of a few rpm less when cruising. The bimma will be a CR engine which would be more economical over a old skool PD engine to start with.

I'm getting better economy at 70/75 than I did with shorter ratio box. Car was reading close to 70mpg on my trip back from Telford a couple of weeks ago. 70mph is only 1800rpm so as long as you're not labouring it up hill - lower revs = less fuel used for same speed compared to a gearbox which does 2100rpm at the same speed & gear.

Which is best for acceleration then?

Long because you change gear less or short because you're up through the revs quicker?

Depends to what speed I guess. Iirc it's one less change down the 1/4 mile

So realistically no difference then

Cheers

Not at speeds on the road I'd say.

I really like the long box on ours.

Makes it very comfortable on the Autobahn and when cruising at 70 the revs are very low.

Don't know about the shorter box but we've had 138mph out of ours with some revs to spare.

I find the acceleration very good on this box. 4th pulls very well from 40mph all the way round to triple figures.

Phil

Depends to what speed I guess. Iirc it's one less change down the 1/4 mile

Yes, but slightly higher ratios (fractionally slower aceleration?) so I'd be surprised if there is a lot of difference overall.

I thought the difference in ratios was only 5th and 6th and the first 4 gears are the same so wouldn't make any difference until right at the end of a quarter. At least that's what I've read, I dunno how true that is.

A lot of guys in the US are swapping the 5th gear with I believe was .586, everyone is reporting MPG going up with average 6 to 8 MPG. Do a search on tdiclub.com there is a lot of info about the swap, even full PDF document with pictures for step by step. Very well done.

I have a copy of it but the file is too big to attach here. PM me with e-mail address if you want it.

I thought the difference in ratios was only 5th and 6th and the first 4 gears are the same so wouldn't make any difference until right at the end of a quarter. At least that's what I've read, I dunno how true that is.

Not according to this here:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/177793-fabia-vrs-gearbox-changes/

The old (long) box achieves a higher speed in all gears.

phil

Ok guys, many thanks as always for the well informed answers here. I think I am going to source one of these gearboxes becuase the +6-8mpg when I'm doing mega miles is a great thng plus the remap I'm getting Tuesday should see a healthy improvement. Does anyone know the gearbox code I'm after? Just will save me doing a search lol. Thanks again

FSM or FJW (Ibiza) should both be fine.

It's definitely a better box I think over the shorter one. It really does make for a nicer ride at higher speeds. We go to Germany quite often and it really helps with being able to cruise at higher speeds (100-120mph) while still getting nearly 50 to the gallon.

Phil

Thanks guys, now gotta find one

Basically any box from a Fabia vRS (FSM), Ibiza/Cordoba PD130 (FJW).

Probably others too with a PD130 in but not sure of the gearing on them.

Best to play it safe and find one of the above so you know for sure it is the longer geared ones.

Phil