1.6l tranny swaps to taller gears?

[Conrad17]

ok so ive asked about this before but not directly, or specifically.
im wondering what trannies i could swap into my 93 1.6 manual, to gear it up a lil bit? primarily i want to get taller gears for 4th and 5th gear, to help with fuel economy, running 3k rpms to go 65mph is just kinda lame.
also im curious if id a swap, will i have to change the CV axle's, or get em made?
thanks

[Ryan]

Transmission FAQ, top thread: http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65792

http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/search.php

[Nd4SpdSe]

Taller gears does not mean you'll get improved fuel efficiency. It means more leverage on the motor so it has to work harder. The revs are only a small factory in the fuel economy of a car...

[Conrad17]

well that destroys my whole logic lol
ive heard that a taller 5th will get you better gas cuz of the lower rpm's
any other ways to get the Rpm's down and increase gas mileage?

[Ryan]

It might help, I wouldn't bash the idea saying it WON'T help...

The taller gears were only used on the B8 engine's transmission, which has a few more ponies to lug around a sedan, and really is designed for the family car/grocery getting milage car..

So who knows. Maybe the B6 holds enough power to make use of the taller gears. It'll be slower than it was before though... which is saying something.

[Nd4SpdSe]

It might help, I wouldn't bash the idea saying it WON'T help...

The taller gears were only used on the B8 engine's transmission, which has a few more ponies to lug around a sedan, and really is designed for the family car/grocery getting milage car..

So who knows. Maybe the B6 holds enough power to make use of the taller gears. It'll be slower than it was before though... which is saying something.

Ya, I'd be afraid it would make things worse, including performance. Maybe your right, only one way to test, but I'm sure Mazda already did the math...

[Ryan]

But the MX-3 was SUPPOSED to be a sports car, even the RS... I'm not sure what the idea with the 323 hatchback was, but they used the MX transmission for that too.

So I could really see this going either way.

The sedan got the 1.8 SOHC and the taller trans. 1.8 SOHC only puts down <20 more hp...

Mazda even said that they wanted better acceleration and feel up high in the MX-3, and having a high geared transmission is one way of doing that.

[Conrad17]

the mx-3 is the only little four banger ive been in that you can feel acceleration in 5th gear going 70 lol
but you sacrafice the high rpms for that.......
one of my friends who works at a tranny shop says he can replace just the 5th and bump it up a wee bit
im still considering it