tourneo surprisingly high geared

[aln101tf]

Hello all.
Had / still have a mk7 swb, low roof, rwd, 115ps remapped. Really nice drive.
Just bought a Custom Tourneo swb 125ps.
Taken by surprise at how high geared it is.
Wont tolerate 6th at less than 55mph on the level, and its barely above a tickover at that, so any incline or corner needs a change down.
It has no "lift" at all in anything above third gear, and is clearly outside its "comfort" zone in all gears except first. The fuel consumption is much poorer than the Mk7.
Am I right in assuming this is just a tourneo (car like) setup, and the "vans" have the more normal gearing?
It has the usual 215/65x16 tyres, and the engine runs very smoothly otherwise.

I don't think I'm going to be able to accept this gearing setup even on its own, and I certainly doubt that it will tow my caravan satisfactorily.

Does anyone know whether the final drive gear set (and diff) are interchangeable with any custom????? I assume this would be where the difference is made.

rgds Alan

[Nederbelg]

Noop, my 290 LWB Van has the same gearing! Even 2nd gear is often too much in Town, wenn cornering. That, plus the fact that the 2,2 really doesn't have any "Oompf" under 1400r/min and the really poor clutch, makes it a B..tch to drive at low speeds in trafic.

The "final drive" / diff is in the gearbox, so changing the gear ratio means changing the gearbox

Gr Nederbelg

[Altransit]

I'm not sure what sizes are available that are suitable for a van, but would it be worth considering lower profile tyres to reduce the rolling radius

[aln101tf]

I'm not sure what sizes are available that are suitable for a van, but would it be worth considering lower profile tyres to reduce the rolling radius

I did expect someone to suggest that.
Firstly I am not a fan of low profile tyres. They look silly, and they don't offer any protection to modern weak alloy wheels.
I did do a rough calculation though, and even 55s would only drop the gearing by about 5%.
That would be noticeable, but I think it would need to be heading for 20% to be any use.
I have about 1200 revs at 50mph, I think. It would need to be up at 1800 to be worthwhile. That's 50% more ( or 33% lower gearing)
I'm still finding it incredible that Mr Ford has geared it higher than any car.

PS Just had a look at pictures of the 2.2L gearbox, and the transfer gears / diff are integral. I had hoped it would be a separate case on the end of the gearbox.
Does anyone know if there's a Custom model with different (lower) transfer ratio?
Alan

[Nederbelg]

As far as I know, ther are at least 3 different gear ratios available. Somewhwere in the Price/ Specs list, the different ratios where mentioned in combination whith the different load ratings. I think the 310 and 330 had shorter gears.

Gr Nederbelg

[Eggski]

My DCIV was the same until I got it remapped and now its much more driveable with plenty of low down torque to save dropping down gears.

[bigjohnthomas]

What you need is an Infinitely Variable rubber band drive
Like the daf variomatic
Or just change bloody gear instead of trying to drive round in over bloody drive everywhere

[aln101tf]

I had my Mk6 and Mk7 remapped to fill in the weak bottom of the powerband, and both were a nice drive as a result.
I'll be doing the same to this custom, if I keep it but all the power in the world won't make up for unsuitable gearing though, so I really need to see if there is any substitute box available.
Searched this forum, and the only reference I can find is that a 330 might be 10% lower.
Anyone know where I could find definite detail on ratios? I need to be sure before I go looking for another gearbox.
I could live with using 5th instead of 6th, but I'm down in 3rd before there is any sign of life.
Alan

[hughesyn]

What's wrong with just using a lower gear?
If 3rd is the right gear for the speed and load, then use 3rd.

Sounds like Ford have got it spot on. Those with heavy loads can always drop a gear. Whereas someone seeking an economical and quiet cruise has a tall 6th if they desire.

My 170 auto mk8 purrs along in 6th just fine, I would hate shorter gearing.

[Nederbelg]

The Transits (Custom) with automatic gearbox, have a substantially shorter gearing as the manual ones!!! Something like 20%, which means more than one gear down from 6th.

The problem whith the too larg gear ratios isn't in 6th, but in 2nd and 3d.

Gr Nederbelg

[dumper]

The biggest problem is that first gear and reverse are to high if you use the van off road and it’s rough and need to go slow the turbo is not coming in and they bog down the gear ratio spacings should have been spread out to give more pulling away power on my mk8 I’m in the process of changing the ratio as it’s to high

[aln101tf]

We all (including me) moaned about vans needing a higher gear for cruising, and were enthusiastic when the Mk7 got a 6th gear, until we found out that the new 6th was the same ratio as the old 5th.
So I realise as a vast number of vans spend a lot of their time on dual carriageways doing 60 plus, and as 60 -70 6th gear will be in the powerband,
the longer legged custom will mostly be welcome.
The other large percentage that spend their time in cities probably never go fast enough to notice a problem.
It's the bit in between that doesn't work. I'd be happy enough if it was only 6th that was an "overdrive" for cruising. Trouble is that all the other gears are "overdrives" too.
I spend most of my time doing 40 - 55 mph on poorer single carriageway A roads, with hills and hairpin bends, and dopy motorhomes to overtake. For this, the tourneo is quite frankly gutless, and it shouldn't be at 125 ps. It's not lack of power, just purely a chronically bad choice of gearing.
My Mk7 has more "lift" in 6th than the tourneo has in 3rd. Should I really need 2nd gear to overtake at 40mph? Is it correct for a vehicle to be doing less than 3000 revs at its max speed?

Alan

[Altransit]

I first noticed this problem when I fitted 16" wheels with bigger tyres, to my Mk6.
There was quite a drop in acceleration, and it wouldn't pull uphill on a motorway when loaded, without changing down to 4th gear. But the biggest nuisance was when turning sharply (into a side road for example) I found that I needed to change down from 3rd to 2nd, and almost immediately back into 3rd because second was too low once back on the straight road again.

My Mk7 seems to have a perfect diff for the engine power, at 4.11:1, (or is it 4.27? I can't remember without checking!) it gives me good acceleration, minimal gear changing, and a reasonable top speed before the engine starts getting "busy"

Just out of interest, is the Custom gearbox different, or can a Mk7 one be used, (assuming they're both 2.2)

[dumper]

When I had my mk6 135 devils engine to some to me the best transit engine I have ever had 9 years and no problem with a 3.7 diff I forgot what the gear lever was for now with the 3.1 diff in the mk8 if I drive at 50 mph on single carriageway Roads haft the time I have to drive in 5th gear or up and down the box . has the high diff ratio been put on the vans to pass some sort of emissions test set at 50 mph I think if the stupid anti stall stuck on I think I would go faster in 6th then the 50 mph I normally drive at to me when they came up with the higher ratio diff the gear ratios should have been re done so 1st was usable to take off without riding the clutch on slight inclines this is a probably design in to wear out the clutch for Ford to make money when it is out of warranty.
rant over I still love my mk8

[aln101tf]

I first noticed this problem when I fitted 16" wheels with bigger tyres, to my Mk6.
There was quite a drop in acceleration, and it wouldn't pull uphill on a motorway when loaded, without changing down to 4th gear. But the biggest nuisance was when turning sharply (into a side road for example) I found that I needed to change down from 3rd to 2nd, and almost immediately back into 3rd because second was too low once back on the straight road again.

My Mk7 seems to have a perfect diff for the engine power, at 4.11:1, (or is it 4.27? I can't remember without checking!) it gives me good acceleration, minimal gear changing, and a reasonable top speed before the engine starts getting "busy"

Just out of interest, is the Custom gearbox different, or can a Mk7 one be used, (assuming they're both 2.2)

Its just occurred to me too that the Mk7 had a 2.2 fwd.
That would be a great fix.
It doesn't look quite the same in pictures I've seen though, so I doubt if it would be compatible. Anyone?
Alan