obd 2 1.3 from aspire in festiva?

[justintime]

Hi i m a new member wondering if anybody has put newer obd 2 1.3 in a festiva and if so if it improved milage in the lighter festiva, i m still looking for my first festiva and there is a 97 aspire at local u pull it with good engine wiring, computer and all, and the milage would be worth the work to me if there was a gain to be h ad

[JPT]

It's the same basic engine, just with a roller valve train. Same HP rating, but should be a bit more efficient.

Bolts right in.

[Bert]

It's the same basic engine, just with a roller valve train. Same HP rating, but should be a bit more efficient.
Bolts right in.

Well, sort of. There's lots of stuff you have to swap over from an older B3 engine (dizzie, pulleys, manifolds, sensors etc) if you want to retain the Festy electrics. But as JPT says the roller rocker arm arrangement on Aspire B3s ought to be more efficient that what was OEM on Festys.

[TominMO]

What mainly improves mileage in the Festiva is the higher overall gearing for the Festy 5-speed, compared to the Aspire 5-speed. The approx 300 lb weight difference is unimportant at hwy speeds, considering that the Aspire is more aerodynamic.

[justintime]

If i were to do this i would use all 96 or later electronics as would also like obd2 diagnostics. Does the obd2 aspire use electronic speed sensor or could i just use festiva 5 speed, thanks for the info

[Bert]

What mainly improves mileage in the Festiva is the higher overall gearing for the Festy 5-speed, compared to the Aspire 5-speed. The approx 300 lb weight difference is unimportant at hwy speeds, considering that the Aspire is more aerodynamic.

No doubt you're correct (aerodynamics) but the effeminate 'bubble cars' never could overcome the equivalent-added weight of 2 more passengers for the same engine, to give them any decent "zip" over Festys. Now if you did get your hands on an Aspire B3, and the tranny that goes with it, then all of a sudden (especially if you also consider doing the "essential" Aspire suspension and brake swap; now's your golden chance to score a sway bar/front brakes/e-brake/rear trailing arm & brake assembly off the same car) your speedo will read perfect again. This really has nothing to do with the physical drivetrain gears but rather the speedo take-off gear. Apparently there is some fussing around to do with tranny mounts (grab everything you can from the JY, ya hear!) if you choose to use an Aspire 5 speed but once you've gained the opportunity to get away from 12 inch trailer/golf cart tires life suddenly becomes that much more grand.
Aspires are not common anymore (slight understatement) and have become of more use for making soup cans and/or modernizing Festys then anything else.

[justintime]

Local u pull it has "totaled" 96 aspire still complete maybe i should ask for a package deal and buy whole donor car?

[TominMO]

And you are correct too, concerning the added two adult passengers and acceleration. For city driving, the two cars probably get about the same mileage, and the Festy's taller overall gearing is little or no liability regarding acceleration, since it's lighter. On the hwy is where the aerodynamics/gearing factors come into play. The 5-speed Aspire is spinning faster than the Festy on the hwy, and is slipperier, so the acceleration would be improved compared to a Festy with the extra 300 lbs. How much? It hasn't been accurately tested, as far as I know.

On a recent trip (Indystiva), in my Aspire I got 45 MPG going west @ 55 MPH. Coming back east @ 65+, I got 42. I expected less; shows how aerodynamic the bubble-cars are. Wind factors are unknown; but I remember it was a breezy day, and prevailing winds here are generally west-to-east. The distance each way was maybe 250 miles.

Edit: As far as availability, I'm seeing more Aspires in the JY nowadays than Festys.

[justintime]

Does anyone know 5 t h gear ratios festiva vs aspire

[TominMO]

They are the same. It's the final drive gear that makes the trannies different.

[justintime]

Can i use festiva trans with obd2 electronics. Any speed sensors to worry about?

[Bert]

Local u pull it has "totaled" 96 aspire still complete maybe i should ask for a package deal and buy whole donor car?

96s had graduated to OBDII (I think) but the suspension and brakes are worth more (to Festy nuts) than the motor, for sure (if you decide to negotiate to buy the entire car). B3s are a dime a dozen (on this site but not to me, just yet) but I (and many others) do know the inherent value in having possession of an intact Aspire when it comes to preparing for upgrades of everything else. B6/B8 'something or other' engine graft is destined to be your baby, I know it.

Jump, my boy!

If you bring this otherwise dead and useless car home please know that you are have now entered the trenches and there's no turning back nor offering to surrender. Festy owners are 'certifiable', mostly harmless, and they don't use a lot of gas while they're at it.

[JPT]

Local u pull it has "totaled" 96 aspire still complete maybe i should ask for a package deal and buy whole donor car?

If you can get it cheap (most likely) then that would be your best move. You'll get suspension and brake upgrades and a spare engine and transmission along with all the little bits and pieces you'll need.

[FestYboy]

i'm not aware of any VSS on a manual OBDII aspire (i have a 97) though it's possible that the PCM pulls a signal off the speedo cluster (not the trans)

if you DO decide to swap over the Aspire electronics (OBDII), be aware that NOTHING from the festy will be re-used. and you will have to integrate the festy interior harness to the aspire electronics (for the idiot lights and such)

[Aspire SVT]

The obd 2 aspire does read a vss from the cluster. In reality they all send vss to the pcm. just the older ones dont use it for emissions I was driving my 97 auto around after I got it out to reset the obd monitors so i could take the test and it was taking forever to set the cat monitor. Decided to stop and pull dtcs and the PCM had a vss code in it because I had the speedo cable unplugged from when i was working on swapping a tach cluster in it last fall. Didn't think it would have mattered but I snapped the cable back on it, cleared the code road tested. dtc did not return and the monitors set in around 3 miles. I was looking at an evtm tonight at the cluster section and it showed it on the first page going to the PCM for the 1995 and 1997 diagrams. Also if you look on the back of the cluster where the speedo screws are there are two electrical screws that attach it to the printed circuit. This is true on both of my se clusters and the base 97 cluster. I swapped in my tach cluster tonight but I changed the base speedo head over to the tach cluster to keep the mileage.