Worth changing gears to imporve Fuel Economy?

[Tourigjm]

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

yay. because i don't need a forum to show me some insight that spending massive amounts of cash to save a buck or two is pointless.

So why are you here?

In just about every post you call the OP or someone that replies to it an ignorant hippie.

For some people spending the extra money to make their car stretch the mpg's makes sense. people who own their cars, who aren't going to sell them, and who are going to make their money back in fuel savings in about a year (Lookit basjoos)

Personally I'm not going to be modifying my car, I plan to sell it in ~2 years, however if i can turn into a competition it makes it that much easier to drive 55 on the highway.

Not everyone on this board is a hippie. Most are here because they want to make a difference either in their wallet or in their environmental impact. AFAIK Hippies spend more time complaining about "The Man" keeping them from smoking weed... thats a real waste of cash if you ask me.

[Schwaebz]

Originally Posted by dcb

Dual exhaust for MPG?!? I'm goin to say "try the friggin search button" at this point in the discussion

free flowing exhaust anyone? no point having the exhaust system bottle up the cars engine, let er breath

plus, dual exhuast looks amazing on a mustang

[NeilBlanchard]

I'm invoking Godwin's Law.

I guess we all cannot be as clever and imaginative as you are Moonbaby?

[Schwaebz]

and back on the gears, i suggest you dont change them out, a gear change done by a professional is roughly $300, or more, plus, your engine wa sdesigned to work with those gears, it was made to go wiht them hand in hand, so dont blow off one of the hands fingres

[2000mustang fan]

Originally Posted by Tourigjm

So why are you here?

In just about every post you call the OP or someone that replies to it an ignorant hippie.

For some people spending the extra money to make their car stretch the mpg's makes sense. people who own their cars, who aren't going to sell them, and who are going to make their money back in fuel savings in about a year (Lookit basjoos)

Personally I'm not going to be modifying my car, I plan to sell it in ~2 years, however if i can turn into a competition it makes it that much easier to drive 55 on the highway.

Not everyone on this board is a hippie. Most are here because they want to make a difference either in their wallet or in their environmental impact. AFAIK Hippies spend more time complaining about "The Man" keeping them from smoking weed... thats a real waste of cash if you ask me.

I completely agree with you. I agree with repacing the stock rims with larger wheels, sadly it's already been done because stock they are 15" mine are 17" Im not sure if the preevious owner re-calibrated the computer. I have true-dual exhaust already on this car. Basically put all the small modifications like that are done, that's why I'm either going to go with tranny swap or swapping out gears, although from what I've heard about changing the gears the Tranny swap sounds alot more worth it right now. I got my scangauge and I can already see the improvement on my driving habbits I got ~200miles with 7Gals of gas I'd say I'm doing good but I eant to know how much more I can get out of it. My aero modas aren't even done so I expect an even greater increase by the end of this year I plan to have this car squeezing out about 27MPG AVG. I'm close but not close enough. I don't want big oil to steal all of my cash thank you very much for the guy on here calling me a ippy for trying to save gas, and thanks to the people who are agreeing with me as I agree too gas costs way too much. If big oil wants to try and put us down, well this is the way to fight gas prices.

[lovemysan]

Originally Posted by 2000mustang fan

I completely agree with you. I agree with repacing the stock rims with larger wheels, sadly it's already been done because stock they are 15" mine are 17" Im not sure if the preevious owner re-calibrated the computer. I have true-dual exhaust already on this car. Basically put all the small modifications like that are done, that's why I'm either going to go with tranny swap or swapping out gears, although from what I've heard about changing the gears the Tranny swap sounds alot more worth it right now. I got my scangauge and I can already see the improvement on my driving habbits I got ~200miles with 7Gals of gas I'd say I'm doing good but I eant to know how much more I can get out of it. My aero modas aren't even done so I expect an even greater increase by the end of this year I plan to have this car squeezing out about 27MPG AVG. I'm close but not close enough. I don't want big oil to steal all of my cash thank you very much for the guy on here calling me a ippy for trying to save gas, and thanks to the people who are agreeing with me as I agree too gas costs way too much. If big oil wants to try and put us down, well this is the way to fight gas prices.

If it was my car I'd swap the gears the cheapest way possible. Which would probly involve a junkyard axle and evening with air tools. My current car has a .61 overdrive gear. Which puts it at peak torque at 70 mph 2450rpms. But I generally drive 55-60mph. Were talking LOW hp here. With the a/c on 50-70mph accelleration in top gear is around 30 seconds or more. You could probly get away with 2.56 gears. A stock roadmaster does.

[Tony Raine]

alright, since the trolls have been banned, lets continue..........

if you have the mechanical skills to do it yourself, a stick shift swap may be beneficial. but only if you can sell the automatic to recoup the loss (as far as i know, an automatic cost more than a standard).


back to tire swapping, my switch from 29" tires to 31" tires is the equivalent of swapping from my 3.73 gears to 3.49 while keeping stock tires. i've run this tire size for around 2 years and have had no transmission problems (related to tire size).

i think rear tire swapping would be a good way to "test" to see if your car can handle "taller gearing" before making the jump to actual taller gears. (since tires are a wear item and are replaced, but gears usually aren't.

[whokilledthejams]

Ah, "performance enthusiasts."

That is to say, people who huff paint, apparently as their occupation.

I like Tony Raine's idea of taller tires as a test for gearing changes. It's easy enough to do. I personally can vouch for a modest tire size change helping MPG by changing the gear ratios.

Either way, changing out the rear end isn't going to cause any problems. Ford's Fox platform is the automotive equivalent of Legos, so it's easy enough to swap rear ends (and transmissions and engines) around.

[Tony Raine]

Ford's Fox platform is the automotive equivalent of Legos, so it's easy enough to swap rear ends (and transmissions and engines) around.

never heard it referred to that way, but yeah, thats about right.

is the 2000 still on the fox platform, though? i thought they strayed away from it around '95.

[wagonman76]

Id try swapping some larger tires on just to see how it does. Thats a great idea as long as they fit.

And if it proves well, Id bolt on a junkyard rear axle assembly rather than try to change the gears themselves. Ive read a lot about changing gears in the RV towing forum and usually it requires setting up precise clearances with shims, if its not done right youll burn up the gears in short order. It takes a pro to do it right which costs quite a bit. Then too if you ever want to go back, just bolt the rear axle back on. You might also have to reflash the computer, or get a VSS signal adjuster box, Im not totally sure.

My take on it is to try to get the most distance out of your available torque, without having to downshift. I would think a Mustang would have gobs of leftover torque that is reserved for performance driving. Change the rear end and you probably wont be able to burn the tires, but youll get farther down the road instead. Now if you change the gearing so far that you end up having to downshift on mild grades and headwinds, then its not worth it.