Guys,
I have a CX Hatch (1993). It came with the 8V (non VTEC) SOHC D15. I will drive this little champion until it lasts. When that time comes, she'll probably get some flavor of B16.

Onto my question: I've noticed that 5th gear on this car is extremely short. So short that it's almost inefficient driving her on a long trip because I am over 3000rpm just to keep with the highway flow (~70-80mph). The day she'll get her new engine I am planning on swapping the 5th gear (of whichever transmission will come with the engine) to the longest compatible 5th gear found on Honda gearboxes. That should give me some better highway mileage.

I searched the FAQ section and the only "gear ratio" link I found brought me to an outside page. All I am looking for is a little table that shows the gear ratios for different transmissions.

If you feel particularly generous, it would be great if you'd make your suggestion as to which is the longest 5th gear I can put on one of the transmissions that come with B-series engines.

Thanks in advance!

-Walter

 

If I had to guess, I would say an LS tranny, but.... since i dont have to guess, i will tell you who knows. PM Bense, and he should be able to help you out. He is the resident tranny guru.

 

if you think the gearing on a cx/vx tranny is short than i dont know what to tell you

 

sol2hatch: Thanks for the reply. Isn't Bense the guy that swapped the F20 in his Hatch? I was looking for his swap post yesterday to see if the beast was running by now, but I couldn't find it.

ridin98civic: Really? I feel 5th gear being very short. I suppose they did it to compensate with the lack of power of that engine? I wonder if with a better engine it would cruise at highway flow at a lower rpm...

-Walter

 

Hmm that's surprising. I have a DX tranny and my rpm's are around 2400 cruising at 60-65. How fast are you driving to get such high rpm's?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am over 3000rpm just to keep with the highway flow (~70-80mph)</TD></TR></TABLE>
...I'll see if I can snap a pic tomorrow. But that's about right. If I had a longer 5th, I am sure I'd have to fill up one tank less when I drive back and forth from Atlanta to Miami (I do it every few weeks).

-Walter

 

the cx/vx trannsmission is the longest gearing of the d-series. if you want a long fifth gear for your b-series in the future, get an ls or gsr fifth

edit: also bense's f2d swap thread, has been moved to "moderated threads" for some reason and cannot be viewed right now.


Modified by ridin98civic at 1:03 PM 6/20/2007

 

The b16 in 5th at 80mph will yeild 4250 rpm. That is short.

 

ridin98civic: Thanks for the clarification. Also, too bad Bense's thread is unavailable for reading, I really looked forward checking out the progress.

cambophoenix56: Good info. That's very short. I still think mine is short as well, I'd like to be able to cruise on the highway at 70-80mph in the 2000rpm range.

Does anyone have any numbers on the rpm @ 80mph using 5th from an LS/GS-R ?

Thanks,

-Walter

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DSMAddicted &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">r I still think mine is short as well, I'd like to be able to cruise on the highway at 70-80mph in the 2000rpm range.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good luck with that, I don't think hondas have enough power to maintain 70-80mph at 2000 rpm.


Modified by ek forever guy at 2:11 PM 6/20/2007

 

Well I know that no b series tranny. not even the ls will put you at 2k at 70-80. And i dont think you would have aenough torque in a b16 to maintain that speed. but i think your best bet is still an ls.

 

ek_forever_guy: as I mentioned above, that goal is with a B16.
EGLUVN: Anything lower than 3000rpm would be welcome. I don't have a camera phone so I don't foresee myself taking a picture, however I can come back tonight and let you know exactly which rpm I am at while cruising at 80mph in 5th. If a 5th gear from an LS (in my future B16 swap) will bring me a few hundred rpms under that, I'll be happy.



-Walter

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DSMAddicted &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ek_forever_guy: as I mentioned above, that goal is with a B16.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Fixed.

 

ls gearing is the lowest gearing of any b series
and with any motor 2k rpm on an ls tranny is 45 mph depending on tire size hum let me check something out for you 3k rpm would be just under 70 mph and 3500 rpm is 80 pmh and this is with 195/55/15 tires and this can be found at

http://www.fatboyraceworks.com/gears/

now, if you were to use some 225/65/16 tires 3k rpm is 80.67 mph so remember tire size has a lot to do with it also

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DSMAddicted &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Guys,
Onto my question: I've noticed that 5th gear on this car is extremely short. So short that it's almost inefficient driving her on a long trip because I am over 3000rpm just to keep with the highway flow (~70-80mph). The day she'll get her new engine I am planning on swapping the 5th gear (of whichever transmission will come with the engine) to the longest compatible 5th gear found on Honda gearboxes. That should give me some better highway mileage.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

welcome to the world of torqueless hondas. i dont think any D series tranny gets any longer than a cx/vx. if the gears were as long as youd want them to be than youre going to have a really hard time getting caught up with traffic.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DSMAddicted &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
...I'll see if I can snap a pic tomorrow. But that's about right. If I had a longer 5th, I am sure I'd have to fill up one tank less when I drive back and forth from Atlanta to Miami (I do it every few weeks).

-Walter</TD></TR></TABLE>

youd probably have to fill up one MORE tank of gas with longer gears because youre going to have to be getting on it to keep up with traffic.

 

My completely stock VX did 80 at under 3k in 5th. It would hit fuel cutoff in 3rd gear at 125-130mph and it'd take forever to get there. I've seen people use VX 3rds for their 5th gears on hybrid d-series trannies. As for the B-series tranny an LS 5th is as short as they come.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92_VX_EG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My completely stock VX did 80 at under 3k in 5th. It would hit fuel cutoff in 3rd gear at 125-130mph and it'd take forever to get there. I've seen people use VX 3rds for their 5th gears on hybrid d-series trannies. As for the B-series tranny an LS 5th is as short as they come.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is an interesting note. I know that my CX tranny had a ridiculously long third gear as well. Like I said before, try to get a hold of Bense, he builds hybrid trannys, so he should be able to tell you.

 

I have a DX tranny and saw very little improvement over the automatic.. that is.. untill I took a drive last weekend to Miami from Tampa.. almost 4 hours... my 3rd gear keeps picking up till I hit rev limiter and toping out in 4th gear is sooooooo easy and quick compared to the automatic which took me like 3 to 4 min to FINALLY top out.. I LOVE my 3rd gear Hearing the shift from 3rd to 4th when hitting limiter sounds so nice It's sad to hear that other trannys have such a horrible 3rd gear. With my auto my speed governer kicked in at 118. With my manual tranny... 118-120 ish.. almost no difference.. I dont understand how other people can go higher and I KNOW my car will still keep going since it picks up pretty quick to top speed before that horrible fuel cut off comes on.

 

I used to own a 93 CX. When I was doing 80 mph, the engine was turning 2500 rpms. That was the original engine and trans.