[Beery]

Indecisive me again.

I may have an opportunity to get a hold of a Vitara 3 speed auto for cheap, (The start to any great idea!) but I have some questions.

To start off, I know these are a bit of a compromise compared to something like an AW4, but I'm fine with that. (maybe) I just want an Auto... without the effort of an AW4...

So, gearing: The lack of overdrive is the obvious one. I spent a bit of time with a gearing calculator and I'd be running roughly 3900rpm at 100kmh (31's, 4.9 transfer, (maybe 6.4* which are 1% lower) and 3.7 diff gears) which is high, but I think manageable. I've been doing stints on the highway in 4th gear to simulate 1:1 ratio and I find it bearable.

*I'm not sure what transfer ratio to run. I ordered 6.4's recently because I was set on this car staying manual ( ) But I'm not sure if it will be too low in low range with an auto? The tall first gear of a trimitic puts crawl ratio at 43:1 with 4.9's or 56:1 with 6.4's. That seems pretty reasonable, considering crawl is 66:1 with 4.9's and a standard manual, but I'm not sure how that will feel with an auto - On paper I think 6.4's should be sweet, even with 31's? The 1% extra reduction in high range obviously isn't ideal but it's still under 4k rpm at highway speeds.

Here's the thing that might make this entire idea a bit silly: I want to put it behind the standard g13a, just for simplicity reasons. Is it just going to be a giant sluggish doughball of a thing? I had a g16a converted sierra before (the motor these auto's come behind) and I wasn't overly impressed with it compared to the g13, so I'm thinking it might be okay.

The floor work, jackshaft shortening doesn't worry me. I think a lucky 13 adapter (or make something) sorts out bolting up the gearbox. A closeout bush for the jackshaft. Simple Reverser light wiring etc..

Do these have front driveshaft clearance issues like the AW4 with no bump stop spacing?

Anything else I should know?

I'm basically looking for the simplest way to get an auto in the car, but still be able to drive it to tracks. Thoughts welcome.

[sideways]

I don't think there's anything to wrong with 4400rpm @110km/h, that's pretty much how I drive my Jimny and how I drove my Sierra before the 1.6 and we did some pretty big drives.

At least a lot of the work you've gotta do to fit the traumatic will make it easier to fit an AW4 if you decide you hate it.

[Beery]

yea, from what I understand a standard jimny sits ~4k at 100kmh. I'm fine with that part of it. I feel the car is geared a bit tall currently anyway.

hmm, from my research i think there's a fair difference as far as fitting. I don't know if the tunnel work will be sufficient as the AW4 is longer (maybe wider too?). Because it's longer the jackshaft length will be different between the two, and the crossmember/gearbox mount work will be different, so I'm not really sure how much work will be saved. Basically it's a lot more effort to fit an AW4 regardless, and i'm basically forced to fit a g16b, further adding to the job list (which isnt a bad thing, im just not that interested for this car)

Some stuff will crossover, but I think it's either keep it manual, or pick trimatic and stick with it.