A MetroMPG.com visitor contacted me this week to share a link to his site about a gear swap he performed on his 1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5-speed.
http://sites.google.com/site/diyoverdrive/
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It turns out that my car... is especially suited for modifying top gear. The transversely mounted transaxle has a 5th gear mounted *outside* the main transmission housing and bearings. This means that I can change the 5th gear ratio without removing the transmission from the vehicle
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modified, taller 5th gear
The modified gearing reduced his RPM from 3220 RPM (stock) to 2330 RPM at 70 MPH.
Unfortunately, the story doesn't have an "and they lived happily ever after" ending. The new gear started to fail, and was removed. An explanation is given on his web site.
The site is worth a look. It's really well documented, and the owner posted a number of analyses of the swap, including a comparison of his new top gear to other 2.0L vehicles in the 2006 EPA database. He noted:
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As shown in the graphs below, this is significantly taller overdrive than any 2.0L vehicle in production in 2006
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His fuel economy graph was also notable:
Much more info:
http://sites.google.com/site/diyoverdrive/