Which Gearbox To Use On Mi16? 1.6 Or 1.9

[floodys 4 1 Cars]

i'm about to fit the mi into the gti and i have a 1.9 box but people say its best to use a 1.6 to get good aceleration? has anyone run a 1.9 box and a 1.6 and seen much difference between fuel return and/or aceleration!!!???

[mattmk1 0]

Iv used most engine / gearbox combinations. 1.6 box was huge fun on the country lanes but annoyed the hell out of me on motorways. At 70 your doing 4k ish rpm and the mi is starting to make a fair bit of noise at that point. My brother had a 175 bhp mi with 1.9 box and it was awesome. I absoultely loved it for all round performance. Motorway cruising was a dream, and to be honest it was still good down country roads as you could leave it mainly in third and it would pull from 60 to 90 ish without trying, perfect for powering between bends.

 

I now use a xsara vts box and wouldnt swap it for the world.

 

Everyone on here loves the 1.6 box but i always got the impression that the mi would spin up and race through the gears easily, but you would look at the speedo and always be slightly dissapointed. It was as if the engine was racing away yet never actually propelling you as fast as you want to go. And 1st gear is useless, unless you like wheelspin.

 

Its all preferance though, boxes arent expensive and only a days work to swap so just see what its like. If its track car or weekend thrash tool 1.6 box may bring more smiles. If you do motorway miles you'll get tired of the 1.6 box quickly.

 

Personally, and controversially, i would much rather have a 1.9 box on mi than 1.6 if its just general daily use and the odd thrash around.

[Gtiracer 0]

I would use an mi16 box if you can for the best compromise between the 2.

 

1.6 is good for accelration but will be boomy on the m-ways

 

1.9 is too long a gearing IMO

 

 

hope this helps

 

 

take care floody braintree dude

[Baz 421]

0-60 1.6 box is actually slower that the others due to needing third gear.

 

Otherwise 1.6 would be my choice, the extra few revs really doesn't fuss me, doesn't do any harm.

[rapidmi 4]

1.6

 

only way to go

[gav_mi16 0]

I loved the 1.6 box, the close ratios and the acceleration, the fun on the b-roads! As mentioned above, any high speed cruising and it's annoying. I now run Mi16 g/box, 1st 2nd ad 3rd are nice and tight and 4th and 5th open out a bit.

 

It all depends on how you want to drive the car.

[mattbenselin 0]

I love the way the 1.6 box eats rpm, makes the car feel more alive than the 1.9 box. The difference at 70mph is only 400rpm which is no biggy.

 

And 1st gear is useless, unless you like wheelspin.

 

I had thought of putting the 1.6 FD in my spare 1.9 box to give a longer first gear and make it more usable.

[hcmini1989 16]

i had the original mi box in my pug when i bought it i then destoyed that and couldnt find one localy so bought a c15 van gearbox stamped be4 and its brilliant great acceleration and with a bit of top end

[StuF215 1 1 Cars]

1.9 box with 1.6 final drive is a good choice.

 

However fitting the 4.4 mi16 final drive is amazing, I had one fitted to a carb'd mi for about a year with lots of motorway miles. Its not as loud as you would expect cruising @ 70/80 seemed to quiet down at 4200rpm!!

[SweetBadger 91]

I found the 1.9 box awful on my MI, was fine once it came on cam but if you planted your foot out of a slowish corner in 2nd it would bog down and take forever to get on cam and come alive...

 

Got an MI box now - it's far better suited to the engine and still retains the long 5th so motorway miles aren't too tiring.

 

If I didn't have to use it on the motorway I'd go for a 1.6 box

Edited June 12, 2009 by SweetBadger

[S33GAV 0]

Mi16 engine with Mi16 Box, the way it was meant to be

[mattbenselin 0]

The 1.6 box should do about 30mph @ 6000rpm, the 1.9 box 38mph @ 6000rpm. So you could do a test to see which you have.

 

A 1.9 box with 1.6 FD will do 34mph @6000rpm, so only a 4mph increase, not sure if it's really worth doing thinking about it?

Edited June 12, 2009 by mattbenselin

[woodsy 0]

I was using 1.9 box when put my mi motor in and must admit it was bit boring really.I now use a 1.6 and feels so much quicker

except as said before when you on motorway it gets bit loud.Depends what you are using car for i would say.A customer

of mine has 1.9 box with 1.6 diff and that is really good mixture, thats on his 8v motor though.

[24seven 104]

I've a 1.6 box on mine which again is great for a bit of fun, but motorways are noisy, especially with minimal sound deadening and groupN engine mounts, but it's nothing a good set of headphones won't dispatch with. If I could choose another box, I'd probably go with an Mi box or a xsara VTS one.

[welshpug 1,627]

what about a 1.6 gear cluster on the Mi16 F/D? 17 mph/1000rpm 5th

[Baz 421]

what about a 1.6 gear cluster on the Mi16 F/D? 17 mph/1000rpm 5th

 

Essentially the same as a 1.9 with Mi FD.

[mattbenselin 0]

A few 4.4 FDs have been on ebay recently...

 

...I was tempted but the higher ratio will render 1st gear almost useless and probably spin up 2nd and make motorway driving a chunk noisier on top! Would be good for track/race car on the right circuit though.

[casanova2007 0]

On my mi ive ran with a 1.9 box and currently have a 1.6 box in there and its a lot more fun. Sure it a little louder at 70 (my cars got a loud exhaust anyway) but thats why they invented ipods for wasnt it?

[boombang 2]

A few 4.4 FDs have been on ebay recently...

 

Any idea how much they going for, also how much complete Mi box would go for?

 

Have a 306 S16 box sat in my garage at the moment and was pondering selling as is or breaking down and selling off bits.

[mattbenselin 0]

I've seen 2 on eBay recently, the first went for £75, the second £26.

[welshpug 1,627]

dont fancy the S16 F/D in the rally car alex? works very well, had a ride in kev's car with one in it yesterday.

 

he's after another f/d if you have one spare though, not a 405 box is it?

[boombang 2]

I've got one in my box already, built some time ago.

 

Is 1.9 with 4.4 FD and Quaife.

 

Is 306 S16 box so same as 405 IIRC.

[floodys 4 1 Cars]

ive got hold of a quaife now and got to decide if its going to be a 1.6 or a 1.9. in answer to some posts i reckon it will be mainly a second car, not much motorway work, hopefully track action including a drive once/twice a year to the ring.

[Baz 421]

1.6 then!!