Hi everyone,
A bit of a letdown video this time; I'm not very satisfied with the results. (As well, I was on an autistic shutdown phase during this period; not the best time to make videos!)
But here goes:



Disclaimer: Rodney's kit is top notch and he shipped it to France very quickly. It's just I can't feel a big difference before/after with my car?

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"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. - The fastest Fiero in France! @turboslugfiero
https://youtu.be/hUzOAeyWLfM

Rafe, with the select cable being so stiff for the Getrag in my Formula, it's next to impossible to go from 2nd to 5th instead of 3rd (as you did in your video). However, this stiff select cable occasionally bites me in the butt when downshifting from 5th to 4th. More times than I care to admit, I've started to grind Reverse gear (while going 60+ mph) instead of going into 4th.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-03-2024).]

Patrick,
My cables are also from Rodney, albeit a few years ago.
I don't feel any binding and everything moves easily.
Maybe less easy now with the bushings replaced, but it seems precise?

A thing that I forgot with this 3rd/5th gear fumble was that I'd broken a gearbox mount the day before. I had replaced it that same night and was back at the track the next day.
That's when I raced the famous (for France) red Mk2 Golf of FDB.
Maybe I'd snaged the cables or upset the adjustments while changing out the parts?
Though I didn't mess up any of the other races that day, so maybe it was just me being a crap driver on that run!?
🤪😄

------------------
"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. - The fastest Fiero in France! @turboslugfiero
https://youtu.be/hUzOAeyWLfM

quote Originally posted by Frenchrafe: Patrick, My cables are also from Rodney, albeit a few years ago. I don't feel any binding and everything moves easily. Maybe less easy now with the bushings replaced, but it seems precise? A thing that I forgot with this 3rd/5th gear fumble was that I'd broken a gearbox mount the day before. I had replaced it that same night and was back at the track the next day. That's when I raced the famous (for France) red Mk2 Golf of FDB. Maybe I'd snaged the cables or upset the adjustments while changing out the parts? Though I didn't mess up any of the other races that day, so maybe it was just me being a crap driver on that run!? 🤪😄

Have you ever driven a 4 cyl 5-Speed Isuzu, or a 4-Speed Muncie? I'm just curious (in your opinion), how that compares to the Getrag?

I unfortunately have absolutely no advice to offer, as I've only ever owned a single manual transmission Fiero (that ran), and it was a 4-Speed 85-GT. The shifting was actually quite good... based on my very limited experience of driving stick shift cars (a bunch of Volvo 240s, and a Toyota Corolla) at the time.

Todd,
I've only ever driven 1 Fiero; mine.
I've driven other cars (lots) and most of them have nicer gear changes than this.
But I've also driven some bad ones, like Renault 5 Turbos, that had the precision of a wooden spoon when gear changing!
From what I hear, '80s Porsches 911's are crap as well (hard to shift properly).

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"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. - The fastest Fiero in France! @turboslugfiero
https://youtu.be/hUzOAeyWLfM

quote Originally posted by Frenchrafe: Todd, I've only ever driven 1 Fiero; mine. I've driven other cars (lots) and most of them have nicer gear changes than this. But I've also driven some bad ones, like Renault 5 Turbos, that had the precision of a wooden spoon when gear changing! From what I hear, '80s Porsches 911's are crap as well (hard to shift properly).

I suspect the issue with the 911 is the same issue I have with my 73 VW Bus. I've had other stick shift cars since, but those Porsches and Volkswagens all use linkage-driven gear shifters, rather than cable-driven. So there's so much more room for slop. In the case of my VW Bus (and I know the Porsche is the same), the shift brackets and rods literally poke through the floor and you can see them from the road. Like... at the pivot locations, you'll have a bracket that covers it from road debris, but otherwise... they're exposed to the elements and when those plastic bushings wear our, they basically don't work at all. Not to mention that some of these transmissions only had synchros on the first gear (?)... man, it's awful, haha...

Best manual transmission I've ever used, was the one in my Pontiac Solstice. I was younger at the time too... late 20s, but I could shift from 1st-2nd-third so quickly... with precise movements... almost like the transmission was pneumatic.

My 4-Speed Fiero seemed decent. When I compare it to the car I've driven since... I'd have to say it wasn't so bad.


But that was one of the things I was worried about as I'm going down the path of converting my 87 Fiero from automatic to manual.

quote Originally posted by Frenchrafe: From what I hear, '80s Porsches 911's are crap as well (hard to shift properly).

A friend of mine has a very nicely restored Porsche 914-6 which he uses for autocross. When my Fiero had some problem at one autocross which ended the day for it, my friend allowed me to drive his 914-6 in place of my Fiero. I loved the power and the handling of this Porsche, but the shifter was the worse shifter I had ever experienced in my life. I definitely would not want to daily drive a vehicle with a shifter that bad.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-03-2024).]

Sorry. But I've got to say this...
Based upon my experience, the Fiero is the worst shifting manual I've ever driven. And the Isuzu is much smoother and easier to shift than the Getrag. I seem to remember the 4 speed being easier as well, but it's been a long time.
In particular (and I've mentioned this before, to widespread yawns) the FWD Getrags seem to have a much stiffer "select" action than the Fiero-specific Getrags. I don't know why. (It's not the cables. I've been through several stock cables, and several of Rodney's.)
But I've got two FWD Getrags, installed in cars, and a third, brand new one sitting on a float, in my shop. On the float is also a Getrag that was removed from a Fiero. The Fiero-specific boxes select action seem to take much less pressure to actuate.
It would be interesting to compare. Has anyone got access to the '93 Cavalier equivalent of the 22P book? I sure would like to see what they are using for centering springs, in the internal mechanism.

Best manual I've ever driven?
Mazda Miata, hands down. And our '97 5 speed was at least as good - if not better - than our 2016 6 speed. But I liked the '97 better, as a whole, anyway.
Strangely enough, our '21 Jeep Wrangler is also kind of nice. But it's just... different. (Think "buttery smooth truck transmission". )

Apologies for the hijack. Just seemed like the appropriate place to jump in with this.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 10-06-2024).]