986 gearbox failure

[Racer Boy]

Is there a big difference in the gearing? I don't like the gearing in my '02, the lower gears are too tall, and the upper gears (at least 5th) is too short.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Racer Boy

Is there a big difference in the gearing? I don't like the gearing in my '02, the lower gears are too tall, and the upper gears (at least 5th) is too short.

Too tall or too short is hard to quantify so here are the gear ratios so you can make your own determination:

G8600 (97-99)
1st gear 3.50
2nd gear 2.118
3rd gear 1.429
4th gear 1.029
5th gear 0.79
Final Drive 3.89

G8601 (00-04 Base)
1st gear 3.50
2nd gear 2.118
3rd gear 1.429
4th gear 1.09
5th gear 0.838
Final Drive 3.56

G8620 (00-04 S)
1st gear 3.818
2nd gear 2.20
3rd gear 1.516
4th gear 1.216
5th gear 1.024
6th gear 0.841
Final drive 3.444

[lgliam94]

Originally Posted by Racer Boy

Is there a big difference in the gearing? I don't like the gearing in my '02, the lower gears are too tall, and the upper gears (at least 5th) is too short.

My entirely unscientific research (watching acceleration videos of 2.5's and 2.7's back to back) leads me to believe that the lower gears are in fact shorter, no idea about the higer gears though.

[itsnotanova]

I've seen guys go both ways with the transmission and even put a five speed behind a 3.2 or 3.4. The guys who either put a 2.5 5 speed behind a 2.7 or a 2.7 5 speed behind a 2.5 don't really notice a difference. Some spec boxster guys have caught with 2.7 5 speed transmissions and didn't even know until they got inspected by the scrutineers at a race. The spec guys are burning through 2.5 transmissions so quickly that you might have a hard time finding a good used one. I'd stick with the 2.7 transmission because of that. Of course you're in England so finding a 2.5 transmission won't be so hard.

[lgliam94]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I've seen guys go both ways with the transmission and even put a five speed behind a 3.2 or 3.4. The guys who either put a 2.5 5 speed behind a 2.7 or a 2.7 5 speed behind a 2.5 don't really notice a difference. Some spec boxster guys have caught with 2.7 5 speed transmissions and didn't even know until they got inspected by the scrutineers at a race. The spec guys are burning through 2.5 transmissions so quickly that you might have a hard time finding a good used one. I'd stick with the 2.7 transmission because of that. Of course you're in England so finding a 2.5 transmission won't be so hard.

One of the driving factors behind the decision is that the majority of the gearboxes on ebay seem to be from either a 2.5, or a 130k+ miles 2.7, and all the 2.5 boxes are within a reasonable distance to me