P5 is geared really HIGH..

[2True]

Hey everyone, still a NEWB. But only to here and Mazda in general..

I have owned a few M/T's in my day and I have noticed with my new P5 that it's geared really high. I just made it past the break-in point and took it out for a little "jont" through the Alaskan highways. I never really took it out of 5th once, because it's already up to 3.5K rpm at 70MPH. I think that's high, most standards don't even make it over 3K at 70mph. That doesn't make 5th very much of a gas-saver..
3rd and 4th are short too :/

I was just wondering if this was normal for a Mazda or if I need to get my tranny looked at :confused:


Those corners were FUN though!! (wiggle)

[dmitrik4]

i thinnk you mean it's geared really LOW (or short). as in, a car like the viper (2000 rpm @ 80 mph) is geared high, or tall.

and yes, the gearing is short in the Pro. makes it fun to drive and peppy, but a PITA on the highway, esp with its loud and rather rough engine.

[twistedrx7]

actually he's right the higher the gearing the shorter it is, and yea the mp5 is geared high but thats a good thing(drive)

[Micah]

yep, fuel economy isn't the best, but it's worth the fun of driving it. My automatic isn't any better I assure you. My previous car was a 1994 Ford Escort LX sedan, 70mph@2000rpm. That car got roughly 36MPG when I drove mostly highway miles. Now my little brother has it and wants(dreams) to do a cosworth swap.

[20ESGUY]

I think two of you have got the terminology backwards...the lower the gearing the higher the rpm's, and is considered short. The higher the gearing the lower the rpm's and is considered tall. i.e. the protege has a 4.11:1 ring and pinion which is actually lower than say a 3.73:1 gear set. in all honesty the protege is geared about normal for a 4cyl car...most r&p's are around the 4.0 - 4.11 range. The tranny is completly normal with the execption of first gear which is in the 3.6:1 range, fourth is 1:1 which is standard and fifth is 0.85:1 i believe. whenever you drop below 1:1 you are overdriving the driven gear, hence the term overdrive, if you're above 1:1 you're underdriving the driven gear...which is helpful if you want to drop your crawl ratio or multiply the torque factor from the tranny/t-case in a 4x4

[spazspike]

I finally got out of the break-in period the other night and decided to go for a cruise on the DC beltway. I found at 75/80 my RPMs to only be at about 3000 and the engine noise to be unnoticable with music turned on low. Certainly not annoying or noticable with the music off.

Mind you... that mine is even a 4-spd.

[Mike R]

All 4 bangers are like that. It's to compensate for the lack of power/torque and to make the car be in the range of the "cruise RPM" of the motor. Even my old 5 speed 4 cyl stang turns 3200 at 65-70 mph. Much different than my Grand Marquis (5.0V8) which is like 1200rpm at 60.

[RAAZ227]

The gearing is great! You get good roll on power!:D

[2True]

Kewl, than it's just geared LOW (I thought it was low, but double q=guessed myself) to keep the torque at your convenience. That makes sense I guess.

[igdrasil]

Yeah, I must say gears kind of sucks. And....if you are going turbo, it is worst.

1st gear is useless for turbo.
2nd gear is very good
3rd is awesome
4th and 5th SUCKS big time

but this is just me...
;)

[uclap5]

keeps the emissions low as well... darn ULEV...

[turbodcee]

I noticed the same thing on my manual P5. On my 700 mile road trip through the mountains I was cruising at 75-80mph and I felt as if I was beating on the car because the RPMs were up around 3500-4000k. I felt like I was driving my rotary.

At 60 mph the car doesn't pull very well with the RPMs that low. I got about 30 mpg for the trip (all highway).

[twistedrx7]

Originally posted by 20ESGUY
I think two of you have got the terminology backwards...the lower the gearing the higher the rpm's, and is considered short. The higher the gearing the lower the rpm's and is considered tall. i.e. the protege has a 4.11:1 ring and pinion which is actually lower than say a 3.73:1 gear set. in all honesty the protege is geared about normal for a 4cyl car...most r&p's are around the 4.0 - 4.11 range. The tranny is completly normal with the execption of first gear which is in the 3.6:1 range, fourth is 1:1 which is standard and fifth is 0.85:1 i believe. whenever you drop below 1:1 you are overdriving the driven gear, hence the term overdrive, if you're above 1:1 you're underdriving the driven gear...which is helpful if you want to drop your crawl ratio or multiply the torque factor from the tranny/t-case in a 4x4

umm ...the higher the # on r & p the shorter ur gearing is which in turn means higher rpms for a given speed. for example my rx7 has 5.12 gears(comes stock with 3.90) which completely killed its top end but made the gears shorter . so when someon says shorter gearing or geared high it means a higher gear ratio(drive)

[20ESGUY]

umm ...the higher the # on r & p the shorter ur gearing is which in turn means higher rpms for a given speed. for example my rx7 has 5.12 gears(comes stock with 3.90) which completely killed its top end but made the gears shorter . so when someon says shorter gearing or geared high it means a higher gear ratio

yeah you're correct...you said it a little differently than i had explained it...the higher the gear number is a lower gear, so you're saying the same thing. when you explained it the first time it sounded like you meant that the higher the number the high the gear, ie 5.12 is higher than 3.90 which is incorrect..5.12 is a lower gear ratio than 3.90.

[dmitrik4]

think of it like this:

a Jeep Cherokee 4x4 has a low-range gearbox. in that gearbox are gears which have ratios of 7:1 or 8:1...lots of engine revs at extremely low vehicle speeds -- lots of torque. that box is geared LOW, or SHORT. "short" or "tall" have nothing to do with the actual size or ratio of the gear b/c yes, that is backwards.

example of a taller/higher gear ---> .50:1 (~viper's 6th gear)

example of a shorter/lower gear ---> 4.02:1

[J&SZoom]

hey Micah,

Is your brother fixing up that escort lx? tell him togot to escortracing.com. It is a site like this with alot of usful info and a message board.

[RAAZ227]

Originally posted by igdrasil
Yeah, I must say gears kind of sucks. And....if you are going turbo, it is worst.

1st gear is useless for turbo.
2nd gear is very good
3rd is awesome
4th and 5th SUCKS big time

but this is just me...
;)

2ND and 3rd gears are your power gears for drag racing. 4th gear is kinda there. Unless your are 10 and 11 sec 1/4 miles then you are using 4th gear a lot more. Then you might want to upgrade your tranny. :D

[Action Jackson]

The first gear needs to be taller.

I wish that there was a 6th "fuel" gear.

[dmitrik4]

me too. quiet cruising and good mileage. i can handle downshifting to pass.

[Brian MP5T]

The MP5 has a close ratio set of gears and 5th is a bit hard on gas. Gas is cheap, rev it out and if you are woried about fuel economy drive slower. Your car sound normal to me. /members/Brian MP5T/mazda mp5t - zoom zoom - (1).jpg

[Action Jackson]

I took my P5 to the track and the close ratio gears proved to be nicely spaced on a twisty track.

I'd still like a gas gear and taller first gear.

[dmitrik4]

why a taller first? the car is too peppy off the line? ;)

it's not the gas mileage i worry about on the highway, it's the friggin NOISE...it's tiring after a few hours.

4000rpm is definitely not as melodious (or as smooth) as it was in my RSX-S.

[Action Jackson]

A taller 1st gear b/c the P5 has lots of low end torque and the shift to 2nd comes way too early. I think the P5 can easily handle it, then again, I've never had it fully loaded up.

IMHO revving hard in 1st for NORMAL STREET DRIVING is just a waste.

It's not a dragster to start off.

Sometimes I start off in 2nd anyways.