hey been thinkg bout this for a while now that my car only has 4 speeds but i didnt read anything that disproved it, but i was reading the 100 mph top speed thread and people were talking bout 5, but i only have 4

 

Is it a 79 or 80?

 

79

 

There's your answer.

The base SA's came in 4 speed.

 

Good

 

What should my top-speed be then, I havent gotten it above 50 cause its not safe with my tires

 

I got my completely stock 79 sa up to 100. It matters how well the car was taken care of.

 

The 5th gear they added to the higher trim levels is a true overdrive, the maximum speed is in 4th gear. IIRC the 4 gear boxes have the same gear ratios, they're just missing the extra gear, so you car should have the same top speed: 120 or so mph.

 

Top speed is acheived in 4th gear anyway, so it's no deal.

My car gets 23mpg city/highway whether I use 5th gear or not. Although it's a little annoying to be buzzing 4700rpm on the highway, but what the hell, it's a rotary.

fatboy has it nailed: the 4-speed and 5-speed are identical trannies, the only differences are that the 4-speed has a couple spacers to take up where 5th gear slides on on the countershaft and on the output shaft, and the 5/R shift rail only has one detent, for R (obviously). Theoretically you could convert a 4-speed to a five, but you'd need a 5-speed trans to gut, so it'd make more sense to use it if you were horny for an extra gear.

BTW - I've been driving using only 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I might be swapping a 4-speed trans in when I get tired of hurting smoothcases, and most 4-speeds have 1st gear around 2.4-2.0:1 (about where 2nd is now) and top gear is obviously 1:1 like our 4th gears. There's no real disadvantage other than needing a little more clutch slippage after an uphill stop.

 

My car doesnt like 2nd gear starts at all, I have to have a little momentum or burn the clutch off.

 

did i miss something?

so i cant get a higher speed in 5th?

i can, 7500 in 4th and then i sgift to fifth and it keeps accelerating...

 

Mine old SP did, but I dont know about my new SE... It starts to shake really bad at around 110 (flat spots on the tires) so I havent pushed it that far yet.

 

its a 4 speed with a 5th OD