Changing final drive ratio

[DogAteCat]

I have heard about lowering the final drive ratio of cars to increase torque. Generally speaking, this trades speed for fuel economy.

So the questions are:

Who can do it?
How expensive is it?
Is it recommended on a largely stock vehicle?

[vinnY]

you'd probably have to take it to a gearbox specialist
expense is hard to say, depends what fd you want and labour is up to whoever is doing it
probably one of the few mods which will be definitely felt unlike the regular ihe stuff
gets you to the power band faster at the expense of top speed

anyone disagree?

[DogAteCat]

probably one of the few mods which will be definitely felt unlike the regular ihe stuff
gets you to the power band faster at the expense of top speed



Mainly one of the reasons why I wish to persue this mod.

I'll give a gearbox specialist a call to see if they can do it. Doing it is a matter of costs however so will have to look into that in comparison to the costs involved with doing i/h/e.

Will also look into whether anything can be done via the ECU.

[vinnY]

for some fun i guess you can up the final drive to something decent(assuming you have a regular dc2 with a 4.4fd?)
while the box is off you can whack in a lightened flywheel for that extra quick reviness that you might be after

[DogAteCat]

yeah, I'm more looking towards torque down low so I will be lowering the final drive or lightening the flywheel as I won't be tracking my car any time soon, torque at high rpm isn't a concern.

A lightened flywheel can cause a loss of torque in low rpm when cruising and a gain of horse power in high rpm. However you do get better acceleration and launch. (clear things up : cruising = loss of torque - needs to step on the gas more, launch/acceleration = better)

I think I'm going to compare the prices of either mods and go for either one of them. Changing flywheel may involve much stalling in the process and relearning :P

[Seren1ty]

I know our cars are diff but Ive been thinking about this mod aswell as apposed to normal ihe method.

my fl ep3 already has the lightened flywheel (and potential for stalling :p) so just the fd would be on the cards.

If you get any details let us know on here mate - any hard info is appreciated ;)

[vinnY]

it's not really a loss of torque, it just might feel like it is because of the increased response
depending on the design of the flywheel and whatever method they've used to lighten it, it's just reducing the inertia of the flywheel which again affects response and the perception of loss/gain of torque
which explains

clear things up : cruising = loss of torque - needs to step on the gas more, launch/acceleration = better