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6 speed tranny?


urimashe
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Hey, the title says it all, I am looking to find out if there is a 6 Speed tranny out there that will bolt right in to our pathfinders with little to no modification to mounting points or what not, reason I am asking is I am finding way to make the pathy a little better on the gas, a little better with the manual shifting, just overall more street friendly, I want to find one because I want my pathy to be a nice road pathy, I want to be able to take it from one end of the USA to the other comfortably, and look good doing it, Now, as far as offroad, I plan on finding a good ratio for hight and tire size to be able to have some basic trail fun while keeping the pathy comfortable for long road trips, might even find some kind of air ride system for my pathy? who knows, But for now, I am worried about finding a good 6 speed tranny.

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And with the 350Z transmission you'd need to make up a divorced transfer case set up unless you can bolt a rear Pathfinder housing onto it. If not, a custom cross member, three custom driveshafts, custom linkage, etc. Andthe shifter location on a Pathfinder and Z will more than likely be different plus the starters nah be on different sides of the bell housing. For a VG Pathfinder its not going to be easy nor effective since they're so gutless. A VQ might be doable but for all the work still not worth it.

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I vote the other direction. Put in a VG33 with VG30 cams, furniture, aftermarket intake and headers/exhaust.

That should get you 180+hp, then adjust your gear range with the tire size, hence your improved mileage. A little more work than what you wished for, but much less than the reality of it and it gets you to the same place. ;)

 

 

I am finding way to make the pathy a little better on the gas, a little better with the manual shifting, just overall more street friendly

So what is your true mileage now, what is wrong with the shifting and how does another gear make it more street friendly?

I ask because I drove a manual WD21 for years and found it quite driveable, but maybe not finely tuned.

 

 

B

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My gas mileage did not improve, nor decline with a VG33. I did get a chance recently to drive a five speed truck on the street and I definitely prefer its drivability over the automatic.

 

If you wanted to get crazy with it, I believe the five speed was used in several cars as well, maybe you could mix and match the gear ratios you want by tearing in to the transmission.

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Unless he was trying to dial his rig in for a certain speed would changing the gears really net him any better mileage?

 

 

 

umm yes. That's the entire point of offering/having different gear ratios.

 

 

My other car is a 1995 Honda Civic. You may all be familiar with the ridiculously popular engine swaps into Hondas and all that. Well, when doing a 'B-series' swap (the engines from Integras mostly), you have a choice of pretty much 3 transmissions. A 'B16' (shortest gears), a 'GS-R' (medium gears) or the 'LS' (longest gears) transmission.

 

Of course, if you have lower power, you want to make the most of it. So you find the transmission with the shortest gears to achieve the best acceleration. So, naturally, you go on a search for the B16 transmission. Only issue is, it makes your engine run at ~4500rpm at 75mph. If you take the 5th gear out of the LS and put it in the B16 trans, you are essentially trading a .848 5th gear ratio for a .714 (or ~18% reduction). Doing this procedure gained me a net of 5mpg.

 

It affected my drive-ability very minimally. In the city, I still have 4 short gears, but on the highway, I put it in 5th and watch the RPMs drop way down. It made a significant difference. You may be able to do something similar with these 5 speed trans, but putting a 6 speed in is totally out of the question. I know anything is possible with enough fabrication and money, but let's not get into that. Like others have said, you would need to put in a vq35 mated to a 6speed trans out of a 350z or G35. Nothing else really came with a 6 speed. Or use the drivetrain from the newer Frontiers with the 4.0/6speed. If you can find a suitable 6speed, there are companies that will make you adapter plates for any trans/engine combo if you're willing to pay enough.

 

Also, you'll find that a 6 speed won't really increase MPGs that much. You would think that the 6th gear would cause super low RPMs at highway speed, but this isn't the case. In a 6speed, the gears are spread differently so that the last gear isn't a whole lot lower than in a 5 speed. You just have better acceleration and slightly better MPGs getting to that last gear.

It is possible you may be to rig something up with a non-Nissan 6 speed. Maybe a T56, or others.

 

 

You may have better luck just changing your differential/final drive ratio.

Edited by fast5speed
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My gas mileage did not improve, nor decline with a VG33. I did get a chance recently to drive a five speed truck on the street and I definitely prefer its drivability over the automatic.

 

If you wanted to get crazy with it, I believe the five speed was used in several cars as well, maybe you could mix and match the gear ratios you want by tearing in to the transmission.

 

I just drove my dads SE-V6 4x4 D21 with a 5 speed and it was way more responsive then my WD21 with the slushbox. it was also doing ~3300RPM on the highway, whereas mine attempts to loaf alone at 2500RPM but doesn't really have the power... so is typically doing 4000 RPM in third lol :pullhair: l

Edited by Inyourface1650
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umm yes. That's the entire point of offering/having different gear ratios.

 

Of course, if you have lower power, you want to make the most of it. So you find the transmission with the shortest gears to achieve the best acceleration. So, naturally, you go on a search for the B16 transmission. Only issue is, it makes your engine run at ~4500rpm at 75mph. If you take the 5th gear out of the LS and put it in the B16 trans, you are essentially trading a .848 5th gear ratio for a .714 (or ~18% reduction). Doing this procedure gained me a net of 5mpg.

 

 

Similar situation with my second generation Escort GT. I never got around to it but there was a v6 car that had a taller fifth gear that would have netted me lower rpm's for better freeway mileage.

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Also, you'll find that a 6 speed won't really increase MPGs that much. You would think that the 6th gear would cause super low RPMs at highway speed, but this isn't the case. In a 6speed, the gears are spread differently so that the last gear isn't a whole lot lower than in a 5 speed. You just have better acceleration and slightly better MPGs getting to that last gear.

 

NAILED IT!

:aok:

 

As stated, look at models that have 5 and 6 speed MT offered, they usually end up in nearly the same final gear ratio.

Example 5SPD = 0.825 vs 6SPD = 0.842 not much of a difference or gain in the end.

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There isn't really a whole lot you can do to improve the MPG's of a WD21. Start with a two wheel drive model, lower it a bit, get lighter weight wheels, and probably 27" tall tires. and you'd probably get 20-25 with it regularly.

 

I know my Automatic 4x4 SE when it was all stock got 22. Now with heavy 33" mud terrains it gets about 16, maybe.

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Reminds me of that guy on here several months ago that had us all on a wild goose chase.
"The vg30e in my wd21 pumps out 200+hp and gets 30+mpg. Custom rear end, blah blah blah." Anyone else remember that guy? Said he was like 19 or something and fabricated everything in his spare time.

 

 

To be honest, the MPGs our trucks get are kinda above average. I have a D21 King Cab, 4x4, 5 speed, SEV6. I use it for work, so it always has ~300-400lbs in the back. I'm running the stock 31x10.5 tires. My driving is probably 70/30 city/hwy. I get a solid average of 17-19mpg. I know it's not always a fair comparison, but most other [pick-up] trucks get like...low teens. Sometimes single digits. For a short time, I was looking to get a 1999-2005 F-250. The ones with the v10 struggle for 14mpg 100% hwy. The v8 gas managed 16mpg. ~12mpg or less in city. I was on InfamousNissan for a minute, and I think I remember the 4cyl 2wd 5speed hardbodies getting something like 24mpg at most.

I think I'll stick with my 17city/22hwy. but you know what they say, it's all in the driver. Sometimes my 1995 Honda Civic hatchback gets 40+mpg, but I've managed to return less than 28mpg on occasion.

 

But if you're determined, there are some basics you can do: reduce weight, reduce resistance, change gear ratios.

You could take out the rear seats. Leave your spare tire at home. Remove A/C components (100+lbs believe it or not). Installing lighter wheels makes a huge difference. You could get thinner tires to reduce rolling resistance. But watch out, your braking power and suspension response will diminished. They will also wear faster.

Edited by fast5speed
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My gas mileage did not improve, nor decline with a VG33. I did get a chance recently to drive a five speed truck on the street and I definitely prefer its drivability over the automatic.

 

If you wanted to get crazy with it, I believe the five speed was used in several cars as well, maybe you could mix and match the gear ratios you want by tearing in to the transmission.

I thought I had heard others mention modest gains in MPG. :shrug:

 

 

I just drove my dads SE-V6 4x4 D21 with a 5 speed and it was way more responsive then my WD21 with the slushbox. it was also doing ~3300RPM on the highway, whereas mine attempts to loaf alone at 2500RPM but doesn't really have the power... so is typically doing 4000 RPM in third lol :pullhair: l

 

This is 1/2 the reason right here. ;)

 

3 inch AC lift, 2inch Body Lift, Rancho 9000XL shocks, Rear Swaaaaaaaaay bar delete: 33x12.5x15 BFG AT's

 

 

B

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the part about going up past 3000 and nearly 4000 rpm on the highway is what im attempting to fix with the 6 speed, that and the getting up to speed as stated, I find that with the 5 speed I have to shift at 2600-3000 rpm with every shift otherwise the engine gets a little groggy or dosent want to respond as well to the shift change. what im attempting to do is ease the work the engine has to do to get up to speed to help it along with a smoother transition from gear 1-5 or 1-6, I plan on taking this pathy after school when my depts. are paid across country, visit all the sites I want to see, and explore a few trails here and there and perhaps meet a few new pathys along the way.

 

I understand that the pathy isn't the quickest, nore the lightest of vehicles around, but as a Nissan pathy lover, and the other lovers on here I think you could understand why I just don't buy a new mode of transportation.

 

I first would like to thank everyone for there input, it has been something to chew on, I would like to find a 6speed that would fit a vg30, or maybe as someone suggested, find a more suitable gear for the transmission, If it did come down to changing the ratio in the dif then I am sure someone has a suggestion to that right away.

 

anyways, thanks again for the reply's I like the ideas, and I like the way this topic has taken lol, doing some research on my end as well, will let you know the progress!

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But if you're determined, there are some basics you can do: reduce weight, reduce resistance, change gear ratios.

You could take out the rear seats. Leave your spare tire at home. Remove A/C components (100+lbs believe it or not). Installing lighter wheels makes a huge difference. You could get thinner tires to reduce rolling resistance. But watch out, your braking power and suspension response will diminished. They will also wear faster.

 

What? Removing the functionality of an SUV over three pounds is totally worth it.

 

I thought I had heard others mention modest gains in MPG. :shrug:

 

B

 

Could just be my truck! And to be honest, I haven't been able to check its mileage since swapping the 3.3 in, I don't drive it enough.

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