Shift Points: Should I Install a New Transmission?

[Aerolla]

Hiya folks. Does anybody know of a good way to detect shift points on a E100 series Toyota Corolla? Mine is a 3-spd, (A131L transmission) but the damn thing shifts so smooth I can't tell when I'm in third, and I can't tell what RPM I'm at to try to guestimate what my highway speed should be. And please don't tell me to buy a Scangauge II or something. I paid $150 for the entire car, which I bought to save money, and $150 is a lot of fuel in such a small car (over 1666 miles at current gas prices and my current tank average with the few mods I've done). Thanks for your input.

[MetroMPG]

I'm going to tell you to buy a used Scangauge or Ultragauge.

Step 2: use it for a couple of months to learn more about your car, and more importantly to fine-tune your driving. (Don't underestimate the value of instant & resettable trip feedback.)

Step 3: re-sell it for what you paid for it (or close to it). In a car getting ~35 mpg, I guarantee it will pay for itself if it ends up "costing" you 20 bucks difference.

And... welcome to the forum!

[Daox]

Ditto.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Aerolla

Hiya folks. Does anybody know of a good way to detect shift points on a E100 series Toyota Corolla? Mine is a 3-spd, (A131L transmission) but the damn thing shifts so smooth I can't tell when I'm in third, and I can't tell what RPM I'm at to try to guestimate what my highway speed should be. And please don't tell me to buy a Scangauge II or something. I paid $150 for the entire car, which I bought to save money, and $150 is a lot of fuel in such a small car (over 1666 miles at current gas prices and my current tank average with the few mods I've done). Thanks for your input.

I won't tell you to buy a ScanGauge. Others will, but I'm not here to sell you one.

I'm assuming you have an automatic transmission, and that your car has a tachometer in the dash.

Accelerate moderately briskly and look at the tach. You will notice a drop in RPM's every time the transmission does an upshift. Typically such shifts occur at approximately 10, 20 and 30 MPH on a four speed tranny. On a three speed it might be that 0-10 is first gear, 10-25 is second gear. and 25-35 is third gear. You may notice a fourth "shift" occurring around 35-40 MPH. That's the torque converter locking up, which will feel and act just like a shift, even though it's only a three speed transmission.

Any and all automatic transmissions achieve their best fuel economy by entering torque converter lockup and staying at that speed or above the speed of entry into it without falling below it. All you need do is to recognize that and try to keep it at or above that speed, if possible. Watching the tachometer and feeling for the shift points (especially the final one into TC lockup) will tell you that.

[Aerolla]

It does NOT have a tachometer, unfortunately, but thanks for the input.

[jeff88]

I have a 4-speed. From what I've heard, I'm glad I do. I have to ask though, if you don't want to spend $150 on a SGII, why do you want to try the idea of swapping trannies? Don't get me wrong, I think it would definitely be worth it, but the initial cost is still going to be a major setback, just like the SG, and probably worse. If you can find a JY tranny then great, but don't forget you'll need at the very least the ECM along with any other doodads to go with the mod. Also, would you install it yourself (that would help with cost, obviously)?

I would say if you want to do mechanical mods to make your '97 more fuel efficient, then go for it, but people here like changing the driver before the car, so don't expect them to tell you something different. If you can find a JY later model Corolla to be a donor car then great. Use the tranny, ECM, MAF sensor (instead of the MAP), etc. I forget does the '97 have VVT-i? Actually I think you have an AFE engine, so probably not. You could always find a newer 8th gen engine, tranny and whatever else. That would give you a nice efficient car with all the "modern" equipment. Again, though... cost. It just depends on how far down that road you want to go.

I also didn't want to put down 2 bills for a device, so I got the Ultragauge. I'm glad I did. The UG can have up to 8 gauges at once and multiple pages which you "turn" with the push of a button. I found this to be better, because I like having them all on one screen and not have to pre-decide what gauges will be useful that day. The best part is that it was half the price of the SG! You might want to look into that instead.

Don't forget, you can do cheap aero mods to improve economy. Grab some inexpensive lawn edging and make an air dam and see what that does for you. Cloropast the belly, just stay away from the exhaust. There are a number of things you can use for a grill block (lawn edging and cloroplast included). If your comfortable, you can remove the passenger mirror. A $150 can go a long way with these mods and an ultragauge. Depending on how much you drive you could see the $150 back in your pocket with these mods in a matter of months and you don't have to do any major testing, it's been proven by people here many times over.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[Aerolla]

I spent most of the day today fiberglassing the front bumper to cover up the airscoop, which I've had blocked off for over a month with no ill effect. It has netted a noticable gain in MPGs. I would be installing the transmission myself, and late 90's Corollas and Prisms litter the salvage yards, so I imagine I could get one for less than $500 installed with new components. No way a scangauge will save me more money than two extra gears would; however, I have no plans to swap the transmission unless this one ****s the bed entirely, which is highly improbable even though this car has 214k miles on it.

The gearing on the 3-speed is 77% smaller than the gearing on the 4 speed in every gear except overdrive, which is absent from the 3-speed (obviously). Therefore, I should theoretically be able to get better MPGs for city driving at certain speeds, but I don't know exactly what speeds those are, because I don't know what MPH my shift points are at. I think the 4-speed would probably save me SOME MPGs at highway speed, and I have a 75.6 mile daily commute to my job, but I don't know if it would save me enough to warrant getting a 4-speed, when I could just as well install a 5 or 6 MT. This engine does not have the VVT-i.

93-97 Toyota Corolla Automatic Transaxle Gearing:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
A245E 3.643 2.008 1.296 0.892
A131L 2.810 1.549 1.000 0.000
Difference: 77.1% 77.1% 77.2% 0.0%

[Aerolla]

I spent most of the day today fiberglassing the front bumper to cover up the airscoop, which I've had blocked off for over a month with no ill effect. It has netted a noticeable gain in MPGs. I would be installing the transmission myself, and late 90's Corollas and Prisms litter the salvage yards, so I imagine I could get one for less than $500 installed with new components. No way a scangauge will save me more money than two extra gears would; however, I have no plans to swap the transmission unless this one ****s the bed entirely, which is highly improbable even though this car has 214k miles on it.

The gearing on the 3-speed is 77% smaller than the gearing on the 4 speed in every gear except overdrive, which is absent from the 3-speed (obviously). Therefore, I should theoretically be able to get better MPGs for city driving at certain speeds, but I don't know exactly what speeds those are, because I don't know what MPH my shift points are at. I think the 4-speed would probably save me SOME MPGs at highway speed, and I have a 75.6 mile daily commute to my job, but I don't know if it would save me enough to warrant getting a 4-speed, when I could just as well install a 5 or 6 MT. This engine does not have the VVT-i.

93-97 Toyota Corolla Automatic Transaxle Gearing:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
A245E 3.643 2.008 1.296 0.892
A131L 2.810 1.549 1.000 0.000
Difference: 77.1% 77.1% 77.2% 0.0%

[Thenorm]

Originally Posted by Aerolla

Hiya folks. Does anybody know of a good way to detect shift points on a E100 series Toyota Corolla? Mine is a 3-spd, (A131L transmission) but the damn thing shifts so smooth I can't tell when I'm in third, and I can't tell what RPM I'm at to try to guestimate what my highway speed should be. And please don't tell me to buy a Scangauge II or something. I paid $150 for the entire car, which I bought to save money, and $150 is a lot of fuel in such a small car (over 1666 miles at current gas prices and my current tank average with the few mods I've done). Thanks for your input.

punch a hole in your exhaust so you can hear your rpm.

[Aerolla]

That's a good idea. I might try that.