What tips do you have on swapping out standard trannies or final drives to achieve lower rpms? I'm interested in fuel economy and of course Civic is one of the best for that.

For '96 - '00 Civic - Can one swap in a different standard tranny? Maybe just a final drive swap? I'm only talking about standard trans only here, not auto.

Thanks.

 

Transmissions such as the 92-95 CX have very long gears that were made specifically for gas mileage. In the 92-95 CX trans, you can do 80mph in 2nd gear. The CX 3rd gear is the equivilent of a b16's 5th gear, lol. All 92-00 D-series trannys are interchangable. If you cant locate that, similiar trannys would be the HX/VX trannys (VTEC-E motors). CX/HX/VX trannys shouldnt be too hard to find, becuase most of the time, ppl are looking to toss those trannys in favor of an EX/SI tranny.

 

are you talking about doing an auto to manual swap?
its done all the time

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1337459

 

no hes just wanting to swap manual trannies out for one with better mpg

 

97Ej6mike's reply looks good. Any other comments along that vein?

How about changing the final drive? Easier than swapping the whole trans?

I'm thinking swaps or mods between different types of standard trans. Um, I don't have the car yet... But I'll take a look at the auto -> standard swap thread. Probably more involved than what I'd like to get into. There seem to be plenty standard trans Civics out there.


Modified by brucepick at 6:17 AM 1/24/2008

 

I can tell you this, swapping the tranny will be easier than swapping the final drive. Depending on your driving conditions, there are more things you can do to gain mileage.

Personally I am working my way up to 40mpg in a 2000 civic automatic this year.

 

I used to get 42 MPG highway with a D15B Vtec and a standard LX tranny (92 civic)

 

brucepick, I just saw your post at ecomodder, you're in good hands. I'm glad I'm not the only EK hypermiler in the world now.

 

Where can I see gear ratios for the different models and generations? Owners manual? Is there a good sticky for that info here somewhere?

AND - what's involved in a tranny swap? Gotta pull engine + tranny as a unit??

 

You wont have to remove the engine to swap the trans. It can be done on jack stands. There are some writeups that might come in handy here:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1998336

You'll want to get a new clutch/pressureplate and have the flywheel turned/surfaced for the new trans, as well as two bottles of trans fluid before starting. Air tools help, but arent a necessity, a good torque wrench is a must.

 

Cool.

How about the speedometer/odometer? Is the pickup located after all the drive gearing so that changing gear ratios doesn't de-calibrate it? Or will the speed and distance be wrong with different gear ratios?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brucepick &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cool.

How about the speedometer/odometer? Is the pickup located after all the drive gearing so that changing gear ratios doesn't de-calibrate it? Or will the speed and distance be wrong with different gear ratios?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, that will all be fine, nothing needs to be recalibrated.
Its much easier to just find a CX/HX/VX tranny than it is to swap out final drives. The internals of trannys are somewhat complicated if you dont know what you are doing. If you wanted to swap out a final drive, i would suggest looking at the user Bense, he's a mod and really experienced with the science of gearing, and technical aspects of tranny work. There are a few writeup's on here on disassembling the tran's for replacing the ISB (input shaft bearing), and replacing a final drive would be along those lines with the disassembly of the transmission.
PM me if you want pages and pictures (either other's or i have my own set of pictures from my own work) on how to disassemble/reassemble a transmission.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brucepick &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cool.

How about the speedometer/odometer? Is the pickup located after all the drive gearing so that changing gear ratios doesn't de-calibrate it? Or will the speed and distance be wrong with different gear ratios?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The pickup is driven by a gear on the differential itself that is completely separate from the ring gear. Gear/final drive changes will not affect it.

 

I agree.

92-95 cx/vx tranny has the best gearing for MPG.

Second best is 96+ hx.

GL w/ your tranny swap.