Gearbox swapping

[Tahrey1043]

Putting a 5 speed in will affect the insurance?

Kirk to Sulu, abort maneuver! (oh, crap, too late - it goes in today! )

Well... all the same... the spreadsheet should at least help with figuring out rpm drops and the like, what speeds your engine is turning at certain mph in each gear, so you can figure out good change points (generally its good to get the power peak roughly halfway through your rev range in a particular gear - or at least, in 3rd (and 4th).... 2nd, take what you can get if thats not possible, and in 1st its good if you can match the firm bite of the clutch with maximum torque), and where your best economy may be in top (supposedly halfway through the torque range or at the peak, depending on what figures you have - eg mine is currently about 50mph but will climb to about 62 with 5sp).

la la la

[GroovyCarrot]

Well, I certainly imagine it'll affect the insurance, being a major modification to the engine / drive train of the vehicle which has a fairly significant effect on performance.. on the other hand, having an extra number on the gear lever is subtle enough that the insurance company would be fairly likely to overlook it if you had a claim, so I suppose it's fairly safe.. I shall do a bit of research on it next week, see if having it declared would affect the premium or not.

[Tahrey1043]

I dunno..... its not exactly a performance mod - the first four ratios should, in theory, be exactly the same as what I'm running now, I just get a +20% overdrive for quieter and more economical cruising - but at a lower speed as without a steep descent it'll never come within even a thousand revs of the peak power (unlike 4th - where it sits bang in the middle of the power band at top speed).

Hopefully making it possibly even a candidate for a slight reduction in the premium, like I've heard people arguing for when fitting a turbo to a caravan-towing estate... Gives it better pulling power for going uphills and therefore less likely a candidate for being the root of an accident when someone tries to overtake.

Now, if I was to stick doug's induction kit on and get a de-cat zorst, they might start to ask questions when I wrote it off Ere.... this car's got 49hp instead of 45... have you been racing in it?