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MG MGF Technical - 6-speed gearbox?

Just a thought for these winter nights. MGFs use what I believe is a Honda gearbox. If this is correct, is there any chance that other Honda gearboxes might be persuaded to fit? It would produce some interesting numbers, which might sort out the rather uneven gaps in the current gear ratios.
Comparing mph/1000rpm
MGF 5.3/9.2/12.9/16.4/22.1
Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC 4.9/8.3/11.9/14.7/18.2/22.0
(I've corrected for MGF size wheels)
Honda Civic R 4.0/6.2/8.7/11.5/14.4/17.9
Comparing mph@6800rpm
MGF 36/63/88/112/(150)
VTEC 33/56/81/100/124/(150)
Civic R 27/42/59/78/98/122
So the Civic R box would be too low geared, but the VTEC 1.8 looks not bad.
Could it be done?
Mike Cunningham

Honda were involved in the design, but it was AFAIK only ever intended to be mated to the K Series engine, so the chances of it being swappable with other Honda gearboxes I'd presume to be fairly slim. The VTEC engine has the gearbox on the opposite end to the K Series, which to me suggests it spins the opposite way.

bandit

Shame! Unless you could turn the engine round as well...
Mike Cunningham

The PG1 box had numerous variants depending on application, so there may be potential to cherry-pick gearsets from other boxes to alter the ratio intervals and/or final drive. IIRC Quaife do a range of internals, but aimed primarily at racing, where spending £60k on a gearbox doesn't raise eyebrows ;o)
bandit

AFAIK you shold have a look at the Renault store for a 6 speed.
Kasper

Your other alternative Mike is to go for a Steptronic which already has a 6 speed sequential gearbox fitted as standard :-)
David Clelland

I have a Getrag 6-speed from a Mini Cooper S sitting in the garage awaiting further investigation... ;o)
Rob Bell

Just had a look on the Autocar website to see what the gear ratios are on that, but unfortunately it's missing the crucial numbers. It quotes max power as 173 bhp at 5500 rpm on 195/55 R16 tyres, so it may be a bit high geared for the K .. :o[
Mike Cunningham

Possibly, but I am sure that there are more than one differential ratio available for it; it was also used on the Mk1 Focus RS...

I need to get it out of its wrapping and compare it to the spare PG1 to see how much modification would be required to get it to fit on a K-series. But given that Getrag is the gearbox used on the related KV6 in the Rover 75, I am hopeful that this should not be too much of a stretch... :o)
Rob Bell

Then there's the little matter of the linkage - in theory, you could cook up a sequential electro-mechanical system with a push-pull gearstick and some logic circuitry....
PS don't visit the Getrag website or you may start phantasising about DSG systems!
Mike Cunningham

I don't think that the linkage will present too much of a problem - but they may be my famous last words!!! I'd anticipate a similar selector mechanism on the gearbox to that found on the PG1, which should hopefully mean that the standard MGF gear selector cables can be modified to connect to the Getrag...

Hmm... DSG... Must... resist... looking... at... crashed... Audis... on... ebay... argh!

;o)
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 12/12/2009 and 04/01/2010

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