FTO AUSTRALIA

I'm changing someones gearbox at the weekend, 4sp tip to a 5sp tip. So far I believe he has everything we need, including the ECU. However I've been informed the loom needs an extra wire ran from the ECU to the box as it's a 5sp.

Does anyone have any experience of this and if so, what wire am I looking at?

Cheers.

drive shafts are different too from what i gather, though ive never done it so could be wrong

SchumieFan wrote:drive shafts are different too from what i gather, though ive never done it so could be wrong

Yup Mike, he's got box, shafts, ECU, mount and clocks.

I've had a look at the wiring diagrams - great fun, NOT! - and it looks like the only extra wire I need is to the clocks to light up the 5 on the rev counter.

We'll see on Sunday I suppose

Ummm

Why?

Okay, you have an extra gear, but really, it's not needed, and if the damn thing breaks then you have the fun of finding a replacement, or going back to 4 spd.

More 4spds around than 5spds.

Also the gauge cluster has the 5th gear light you'd be missing.

^^ True its just an additional gear, but in turn, the other gears will be tighter/closer ratio wouldnt it?

If he's ready for the trouble that this will give, then so be it. If they're motivated enough, he should get through it

I think its more to do with being at 100kph & not being at 3.5k rpm

Who knows

He might just wanted closer gear ratios for better accelerations...

Wait, do the first 4 gears of 5sp tip have closer gear ratios than gears 1-4 from 4sp tips? They should should'nt they?

I've driven both a 4spd and a 5spd tip and the 5 speed is much more fun.

"Oh wow, I'm doing 140... and I have another gear! "

Plus over 60 and the ECU chucks you into 5th (dependent on your driving style) and you cruise at a nice low rpm.

Bennoz wrote:I think its more to do with being at 100kph & not being at 3.5k rpm

Exaggerate much!
I'm cruising at just under 3k rpm (2900) on 100kph. (4-speed tip)

Shhtuart wrote:I've driven both a 4spd and a 5spd tip and the 5 speed is much more fun.

"Oh wow, I'm doing 140... and I have another gear! "

Plus over 60 and the ECU chucks you into 5th (dependent on your driving style) and you cruise at a nice low rpm.

I was doing 190 and i have another gear! (4-speed tip)

190 in third gear?

what were your revs sitting at 9000??

I've told him to go manual but he's not listening to me so....

The gearbox is basically a sequential unit (but not as good as a real sequential obviously) so I reckon the wiring to it will be the same, However each number on the dial face has a seperate feed from the ECU, thats why I need to run a wire to it.

I've allocated a day to do it but suddenly he's ordering all this new stuff which I've got to fit so I might be leaving him with a fair amount still to do come Sunday evening...

i can understand that, i wouldnt mind a 5 speed tip, instant gear shift when you want it... lazy driving in city traffic...

still get more of a shift feel with a manual though

but i dont understand the extra wire to the light as its all a cluster unit and probably runs off one gear select wire...

i have no idea and i cbf looking it up

SchumieFan wrote: its all a cluster unit and probably runs off one gear select wire...

i have no idea and i cbf looking it up

For some reason each bulb has a seperate feed from the ECU Mike, which I think is fckn weird but obviously they thought that was the easiest way to do it at the time.

Shhtuart wrote:190 in third gear?

what were your revs sitting at 9000??

I wished it can do 9k but we all got rev limiter at 8250rpm

It's somewhere near 8k@190km/h before it shift to 4th and straight hitting the speed limiter with sudden cut on power along with rpm dropped itself.

Oh well, enjoy the headaches that will entail.

We still cant really drive ours as it's not as simple as finding a replacement 5spd lying around.
Diff or some crap, and we know that the internals in chunks are different so can't interchange.

Nice closed road Phunky!

^^^ THIS

let us know how you go, it will be a club first i think...

I think it would be an FTO first personally...

unless you're replacing, or changing to a drag box, who the hell goes to a different automatic

Meanwhile, I do enjoy driving autos for city driving as I'm back to a manual with the NX.

ive thought about it before and looked into it and the 5 speed is much better as the gear ratio's are closer and your fto will still rev a lot less in 5th. all the power is in the mivec range and with a 4 speed after u hit 70-80 in 1st on a 4 speed u go to about 4,500rpm but with a 5 speed itd be like 5,100 or so.

in 4 speed you cant change back to first if your doing more than 43kmph which is a pain and u cant change into 4th till you hit at least 43kmph and if you go slower than 43 it changes back to 3rd by itself which is a pain if you change down manually from 4th gear twice and the computer changes once and your then doing 43kmph in 1st but your slowing down which sounds kinda retarded

if you could get a gearbox cheap enough it might be worth it because if some1 offereds me 15hp+10nm or a 5 speed gearbox id take the box

5 spds are rare as hens teeth out here & they are a weaker box compared to the 4.

Think about it, 4 big cogs become 5 smaller cogs. The internals are smaller.

yyeah id prob go manual if i wqas to change anyway but i can see where he is comin from. if i had a friend that was thinking about smashing his catalyic converter out in his mivec fto with a catback exhaust and a home made CAI with better intake pipes do u think he would gain much power? how many hp and how many nm?