Are Festiva, and Aspire transmissions the same?

[Americanclassicg]

My trans is still kicking, but I dont think its going to outlast the rest of the car. I ran it out of oil once, and limped it the short dsitance home. Its started grinding when going into first, and I found a small chunk of a gear(1mm wide, and half a centimeter long) in the oil when I changed the seal.

Its still holding on, but I will probably have to replace it down the road.

Im going to start looking for one now, so I can hopefully get a decent deal.

Anyways, are Aspire transmissions the same as festivas? It would open up my search options a lot.

Thanks

[JPT]

There are slight differences.

The final drive is different. Festivas have a 3.77:1 ratio. Aspires have a 4.06:1. You'll travel down the road with about 150 RPM more and lose a couple of MPG on the highway.

They both bolt up the same, except for the front mount. If you're swapping in an Aspire transmission, you need the Aspire front mount

An Aspire transmission in a Festiva will still use Festiva axles.

Everything else is the same.

[Americanclassicg]

So, if I were to put a feisty trans in my aspire, all I would need is the front mount?

[zoom zoom]

is it 3.77 or 3.85???????!!! somebody needs to crack into one and take pics!

[Bert]

I've been running Aspire suspension/brakes/4x100 wheels on my Festy for 2 years and enjoy everything about the swap except for the errant speedo reading. There are no nylon retrofit speedo cable gears available to correct this. Presumably an Aspire tranny swap into an entire Aspire/Festy swap (ie over to minimally oversize wheels) would mostly correct this. Final drive ratio one way or another has not been pronounced noticeable for me (tallest wheels I've run are 23" dia) with regard to acceleration or fuel economy so I would presume an Aspire tranny swap to be mostly a convenience or economy (availability/purchase) thing. Meagre clutch dimensions and all the other weak points of Festy/Aspire drivetrains towards upgrades to B6/B8 are equally inherent to all B3 trannys, I suspect.
If fuel economy is primarily your 'bag' there really isn't much out there that can lifted/carried in one hand, and Festy trannys (and likely also the Aspire versions) is definitely the way to go if all you're looking to do is keep the weight down and fuel economy up.

[JPT]

So, if I were to put a feisty trans in my aspire, all I would need is the front mount?

Yes. You use the mount that goes with the transmission.

is it 3.77 or 3.85???????!!! somebody needs to crack into one and take pics!

Everything I've ever read says it's 3.77. Supposedly the ring gear has 68 teeth and the pinion has 18. For the Aspire, it's 69/17.

If you want to mix and match ratios, you could come up with 3.83:1 and 4.00:1. Lot of work though.