I have always drove an automatic but i bought my first 5 speed.It is a 91 z 305 HO and when i shift through the gears they all seem to have good responce.When i shift into 5th gear and then punch the pedal it seem to be like a passing gear with not much power.What i am saying is that if mu 90 gta auto 350 and this 91 z were side by side doing 60mph and started to race the z would get tore up bad i mean bad.IT does not seem normal to me but i also have never owned a 5 speed before

 

lol. ok i'm going to break this down for you. its really very simple.


automatic thirdgens have 4 gears

standard has all 4 but the fifth gear is meant for highway driving, its geared very low so your car uses alot less gas, it is not meant to be used except on the highway. you will get little to no pull outta the fifth gear. the trick is if you want to pass someone drop it into 4th and gun it, if you want to save gas use 5th




hope that helped

 

thanks for the info that is what i needed to hear.

 

I so want a manual in my car.

~sigh~

Ballpark estimate on that conversion? Anyone?

 

That is why it is called a manual. You have to manually put the car in a gear that fits the situation you are driving your car in. When you are 60 and you punch it the automatic tranny will automatically put it in a lower gear. For the manual you have to downshift to get the same effect. Cars are amazingly simple.

 

Yea, you will wanna shift down from 5th if you wanna 'give er hell' on the highway, unless you already have the revs up pretty high. 5th gear on a T5 is quite tall.

 

The force at the wheels is proportional to the gear ratio. Low gears equals higher torque multiplication with reduced operating speeds. Overdrive (5th) with a numerical ratio less then one equates to torque reduction (at the output shaft) but with high operating speeds. Want to accelerate faster, downshift into fourth.

 

I just got finished putting a T5 in my 88 Formula. About to take a shower in a bit.
I would charge like $1000 to do the swap since it is a major PITA.
The hardest parts were the pedals and pulling the 700R4 out.
Working leisurely, it took us 25 hours to move my 700R4 into my friends 88 GTA and move his T5 into my Formula.

Oh, and my car is much much faster with the T5.

 

That's the idea... I believe a manual transmission leads itself to better performance. Thee are actual reasons why this is true but I am not elequent enuff right now to type it out.

Having a manual requires more "driving". In the Bay Area however, that could actually be a PITA as opposed to more fun (what I really want).

Thanks for the response Zepher.

 

The gear spread is alot better with a manual as opposed to a 700-R4.