need to know the most simple 5 speed for my '89 festy

[Iseriouslyownafestiva]

i will not be doing this work myself. i am not mechanically inclined. i need to do a 5 speed swap on my 89 festiva 4 speed. will be doing a lot of highway driving and really want this done. my car is all stock. 1.3 carb, 4 speed manual. what is the easiest 5 speed transmission i can swap in to use? and what vehicles have the trannsmission in it? i need to get everything bought so my mechanic can do the swap for me.

thanks in advance for any help!

[bhazard]

A 5 speed from a festiva.


Have you tried switching to taller tires? 155/80-13 are about 8% taller than stock and should give a noticeable RPM drop on the highway.

[Iseriouslyownafestiva]

im still rolling on 12s

[Iseriouslyownafestiva]

any year festiva will work? as i stated i dont do the work lol

[Studebaker]

If you are going to be in high gear most of the time, a 5 spd will not help. The final drive ratio is the same. The extra gear will only help with acceration. If you can find a Festiva 5 spd. Get it, in case you need a new transmission.

[Studebaker]

Yes, any year festiva 5 spd will work. Very few 88/89 Festiva had a 5 spd. 90 thru 93 Festivas only had 5 spd manual transmissions.
Moving up to 13 inch tires is a cheap upgrade. Rims from a geo metro is what you want when you need to replace tires. Start looking for the trans and wheels now. They are getting hard to find.

[Iseriouslyownafestiva]

ty

[SoCalZ28]

Got a 90 5 speed with stock 12's. My RPMs are about 3200 when cruising at 75 mph.

[lessersivad]

If you are going to be in high gear most of the time, a 5 spd will not help. The final drive ratio is the same. The extra gear will only help with acceration. If you can find a Festiva 5 spd. Get it, in case you need a new transmission.

Maybe I'm simply not quite awake yet, but I fail to see where a 5 speed won't help the OP.

From the OP.

" i need to do a 5 speed swap on my 89 festiva 4 speed. will be doing a lot of highway driving and really want this done."

So from my blurry eyes perspective I would say it would certainly help to drop the RPM at highway speed.

As for acceleration, that will remain the same, but the extra gear (5th or high gear) will drop the highway cruising RPM.

As far as I know the final gear set along with all the gears from 1st thru 4th are the same on a 4 speed and 5 speed.

Also if I remember correctly 4th is actually an overdrive type gear and in a 5 speed, 5th is an extra overdrive.

It's the extra gear (5th) that will be the noticeable difference on the highway.

[FestYboy]

^^ bingo, Festivas run the same diff ratio, so the extra gear lowers the RPM at all speeds in that gear. Festivas with the 5 SPD trans have a double overdrive.

[Eaglefreek]

Are you doing this to save money on fuel? If so, with buying a transmission and then paying someone to install it, it will take quite some time to recoup your cost. It might be easier to sell yours and buy a Festiva with a 5 speed.

[Iseriouslyownafestiva]

ok, so i should get a 5 speed. will taller tires and a 5 speed be too much for a bone stock festy?

[Iseriouslyownafestiva]

Are you doing this to save money on fuel? If so, with buying a transmission and then paying someone to install it, it will take quite some time to recoup your cost. It might be easier to sell yours and buy a Festiva with a 5 speed.

I'm not doing it to save money. I'm doing this to make it more highway driveable. I'll be doing a fairly large amount of highway miles with this car. i want to stick with this festiva. i know that mechanically, it is sound and reliable. As far as recouping my cost.... lol..... i drive this car or my 2001 silverado with an 8.1 vortec and auto allison. so i get like 8mpg driving that on the highway. so technically it wont take long to recoup my costs haha.

[FestYboy]

ok, so i should get a 5 speed. will taller tires and a 5 speed be too much for a bone stock festy?

Nope, do it.

[lessersivad]

^^^ Agreed. I'm running P155 80 13's and a 5 speed and it's no problem.