5 speed to 6 speed?

[Amri]

Hi there, just having a think this morning. My only complaint about my 02 1.8 mx5 is the fuel consumption, she's rather thirsty. I suppose this is related to the 5 speed gearbox (probably the way I drive her too, LOL!)- I always feel that I could easily up another gear as I usually hit 5th very quickly.

I'm not all that knowledgable about the inner workings of my car, though I'm learning fast since I got 'Harriet'! Is it possible to replace the gearbox with a 6 speed, how much are you looking at, and what sort of improvements am I likely to see?

Thanks a mil

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[Steve]

To make it work as you'd like (longer final gear), you'd also need to replace the gearbox and your differential with the one from the donor car otherwise the 6 speed box will just make things worse (different ratios). Do you do alot of motorway miles?
Costs.. depends who you get to do the labour..
Gearbox would come in for something like this. Diffs are 250+.

If getting really bad mileage, you could change out the plugs, ignition wires, airfilter, oil, check tyre pressures and ease off on the accelerator a bit
Hope this helps...
Steve

[Amri]

ease off on the accelerator

Noooooooooo!

Thanks for the reply Steve. I don't use the car for commuting purposes, generally for short enough hops between Dublin & Kildare and up and down the M50 evenings and weekends. It sounds like a more complicated job than I imagined, probably not something I could justify costwise either.

Would be a real 'nice to have' though

I was having a look at replacing the airfilter perhaps - would that also give me better performance too?

Cheers

[leamyj]

I was having a look at replacing the airfilter perhaps - would that also give me better performance too?

Cheers

Won't necessarily vastly improve performance on it's own, but a good induction kit will certainly make the car sound better