ProtegeMaster

The posted speed limit in the State of Oregon is 65 on all highways; 55 in city regions and country roads.

A "cruising speed" of 80 mph is illegal in all states.

My initial reference was to *legal*, leisurely driving. Boring, albeit legal.

2.5k RPM at 65-70mph is an industry standard NOT provided for in the Protege.

The high RPM issue is a widely discussed oddity of the Protege.

I believe such is poorly conceived on the part of Mazda, is irresponsible, and unnecessary.

An overdrive gear is supposed to be an overdrive gear.

If one wants to zoom around at high RPM's to take advantage of the power inherent at such levels, keep it in 4th. That's what it's for.:

ProtegeMaster

Certainly didn't mean to sound accusatory! As said, this issue is a pet peeve of mine.

What I meant in terms of irresponsibility is I don't see any logical reason to have the engine working that comparatively hard at relatively low speed ~ 70mph. It also is an unnecessary waste of fuel in a time when efficiency makes more sense than ever. Additionally, it makes for a noisier engine at cruising speeds.

Please don't get me wrong! The Pro is a great car-- I wouldn't have bought one if it wasn't, and hadn't a proven track record of reliable operation. I just don't see any logical reason why Mazda did this to this car, and it pisses me off.

In my opinion the Pro would be just about perfect with these changes:

A better gearing arrangement.
A center arm rest that's actually usable.
A door lock that's put elsewhere, so it doesn't poke you in the arm when you rest it on the door with the window rolled down on a nice day.
A few more horses under the hood.

Anyway, my apologies if I sounded too whiney or offensive! This is a cool forum and I totally respect everyone here!

Later, all!

carguycw

This is a matter of personal preference. Personally, I LIKE the short gearing. It makes the car a lot quicker at low speed because it's easier to keep it in the powerband. I also like the fact that the car will actually ACCELERATE in 5th gear at normal freeway speed.

I've owned a car with a small 4-cylinder and wide gear spacing, and found it highly annoying. The revs dropped too much between 2nd and 3rd, and the car would NOT accelerate in 5th. If you tried to pass someone in 5th, the car would just sit there. You HAD to downshift unless you were pointed downhill

I wouldn't call it an "oddity" or not the "industry standard." The last 6 cars I've owned have all been geared about the same in top gear. Admittedly, all of those cars were sports cars (2 Miatas, 2 RX-7's, a CRX Si and a Datsun 240Z) but I still like short gearing. I think that Mazda was trying to avoid the complaints Hondas, Toyotas and other small cars get because they won't accelerate worth %$^&* in 5th gear. Many drivers are afraid to downshift at high speed, so this can be a big problem. As I said, personal preference. Your results may vary

zenilder

I looked the other night when I was driving on the freeway: at 80mph, I'm doing about 3200, and at 90mph, I'm only doing about 3600. I'm doing 4k at 100mph. Is there that much difference from a F to G tranny?

To what others have said, I like the gearing. It pulls good from 2k to 4k. We have torquey bastards in our engine compartments. Though, I do agree it would be nice to shift into a sixth gear when I'm crusing about 90mph so that the tack drops to about 3000-3150. Going from 3600 to 3000 -is- a difference. Driving half an hour or more at about 80-90mph, I'll notice a louder noise coming from under the car (say I stop at a gas station or just pull of the road from an exit, open the door, and bend down a bit to listen), like the oil is thinned out or something. Maybe I should just put on an oil cooler. Any ideas? I don't want any "Drive slower" responses. :P

Though, like Jess said, the engine prolly has the best fuel efficiency about 3700. *shrug*

carguycw

All base-engine Proteges have wider gear spacing and taller 5th gears.

wight

From what car that dyno is from ??

ProtegeMaster

Say zenilder, are you in a 3rd Gen Pro? Maybe, if I understood correctly, there are differences from the 2 litre to the old 1.6 they used to offer, as my Tach's at a bit over 4 at 80mph in my 2.0 ES.

I'll write down what my specific readings are in a day or two when I get the chance to get on the highway. I still maintain they're higher than they need to be for efficient cruising, dang it! (Stressing, of course, that this is just my opinion!)

zenilder

Heh.. Check my sig. I have a '92 dx.

Well, if the lx has shorter gears, I'm not going to like it. Maybe I'll have the Ftranny rebuild stronger than stock. I like the Ftranny gears. If the Gseries has me running at 4k at 80, that's going to suck.
Oh well. *shrug*

zenilder

Yeah. True. It would be easier to just swap the tranny.
I haven't really noticed any torque steer in the car, to be honest.
Though, if I were to get a Gseries tranny, and I would be running 4k at 80mph vs. 3200 at 80mph with the Fseries, I would rather look into rebuilding the Fseries with stronger gears. I regularly cruise on the freeway at 80mph or faster. If the engine is going to be reving more, my gas mileage is going to suck ***.
Granted, I prolly will put in the Gseries once my F box breaks. I'm low on cash and popping 350 for a used Gseries tranny isn't possible right now. I'll wait till mine breaks, and then swap in the G box in. Then, I'd used the scattered F box to rebuild with stronger gears.

What is the difference between the G5 and G25 boxes? I know they're made for different year Pros, but is anything else different?

ProtegeMaster

Whoops! Sorry about missing your sig! Boy, am I red in the face now!

blades242

I dont know about you guys, but in 5th gear my P5 doesnt accelerate worth crap. Now I dont mind shifting gears and all ( I end up in 3rd and forth on the highway all the time) but it seems to me that it would suck to have to shift out of 6th back into 5th to pass a car when you going 70. Did I completely miss the point here? For my style of driving, the current 5th should become 6th and the extra gear should replace, what I feel, is a gaping hole between 3th and 4th( which is already OD a bit). Not to ramble, but maybe the better solution would be to make 4th 1:1?? What do you guys think?

Don M

If the 6 speed they put into the newer Miatas is any indication of their thinking, 6th gets you no fewer revs on the highway than 5th does in the 5 speed setup, since they changed te rear gearing when the 6 speed came out.

Swapping a stock 5 speed for the 6 speed (in a Miata), actually has you winding the motor up more on the freeway, and not less.

Most Miata 6 speed owners will tell you (if they're truthful) that the shift linkage on the 6 speed is so poor, they wish they had bought the 5 speed.

Don

Makaveli

me and everybody else who drove my car really likes the 5th gear since you can actually pass people....

Pretty strong gear if you ask me, and perfect for the everyday driver that does only 25 km/h over the limit.....