Just got a 93 Escort GT to replace my 92 Protege DX
 

I just bought the Escort GT (1.8 BP DOHC) to replace my Protege DX (1.8 SOHC).

The protege had proven to be extremely reliable, but it was worth next to nothing and I knew that sooner or later it was going to break. Besides, the thinnest oil that I could run was 10w-30 Castrol GTX High Mileage to avoid a smoke screen.

I plan on stripping down the Protege and swapping most of it's good parts over to the Escort.

The EPA ratings show mpg to be far lower than my old protege. I don't know how much I believe this.

Any thoughts on this vehicle and whether or not you think it may be able to produce good gas mileage?

I am thinking of keeping the protege, but I don't want to keep get stuck paying the taxes, insurance, and maintainence.

The car will be driven 26 miles round trip daily to the my areas train station, then it will sit in a commuter lot all day much as the protege did.

Any thoughts at all?

As you can see, I am doubting the capacity of the Escort GT to live up to the protege's good gas mileage, but also doubting the Protege's ability to live much longer.

What I am trying to say is that I wanted something that looks and feels good without going nuts for my daily driver. It has been a long time since I had a nice DD.

Manual or auto?

I don't recall a lot of Escort drivers, but the ones I remember seemed to easily do much better than EPA numbers.

This one is a manual.

It is equipped with the mazda bp engine used in the protege lx.

I doubt you match the mileage of the Protege with your Escort, but testing is the only way to know for sure. My Escort does, but I have a motor tuned more to the low end, taller gears, and a longer, highway commute. Just taking a wild guess I'd say you could get at least 35 mpg in the Escort.

I think you are right. Nice to see another scort here. :)

I would NOT get rid of the Protege.

I bought mine new in '91 and sold it in 2005.

Sigh, shouldn't have. :(

I usually got 28-32 City and 36-40 Hwy with it, even 14 years later.

Wonder what I would have gotten had I knew how to drive better like a hypermiler? :)

Didn't replace much, Muffler, struts, and radiator were the only things that needed to be replaced. (Besides the irritating electrical stuff.)

I know exactly what you are talking about on the radiator. Mine clogged causing overheating.

Amazing durability. I am tempted to keep it now.

Come to think of it, why would the 1.8 dohc get worse gas mileage than the sohc with the same tranny?

I have read that dohc motors can get better gas mileage than sohc ones and I have also heard the inverse.

This is why.....

Gear ratios for the '90-'94 LX (also Escort 91-96 Escort GT)
1st - 3.307:1
2nd - 1.833:1
3rd - 1.310:1
4th - 1.030:1
5th - 0.795:1
Final Drive - 4.105:1
RPM at 60mph - ~2900 (with stock tire size)

Gear ratios for the '90 SE, '91-'94 DX
1st - 3.416:1
2nd - 1.842:1
3rd - 1.290:1
4th - 0.918:1
5th - 0.731:1
Final Drive - 3.619:1
RPM at 60mph - ~2350 (with stock tire size)

I am dissapointed.

Ouch!

Looks like its time for a tranny swap!

I always thought that all things being equal, DOHC was a little worse for economy because you have more moving parts (more friction).

In the mid 80's Honda had 2 SOHC heads to choose from for their HF CRX's. They chose the 8 valve head rather than the 12 valve head.

I'd love to find a set of cheap roller rockers for my 87 Civic.

I worked on a 1999 Saturn with SOHC 1.9L and noticed that it had rollers built in to the bottoms of the hydraulic valve lifters.

What about this link here? Maybe there is hope.

https://www.pansypatrol.com/the-gas-mileage-mod/

Great post, I have a 95 Protege Lx 5 speed with 151k on the clock. At 65mph i am close to 3000 rpm, 62mph at 2700 rpm. At 24 to 2500 rpm going 57mph. With this info i should be able to lower the rpm in fifth. My 95 is a 1.5 sohc. Was thinking also to get coil overs to replace the struts and lower the car about 2 inches. My 89 240sx automatic in electric overdrive cruises at 65 mph at 2400 rpm. Changing the 5th gear is going to make me very happy!

Thanks...looks like we posted at the same time.

Yes, I have noticed your mazda before. Great numbers. I made my numbers over 1 gallon of gas in the city (with only 2 traffic stops though) and my wife and baby in the back.

Funny thing is, there were 2 quarts of lucas stabilizer in there and 2 quarts of 20w50.

What I don't understand is the final drive ratio?

If just the 5th gear is swapped, it won't effect the final drive ratio will it?

I have to swap the tranny as another posted stated.

Most of my commuting is in the city anyways. I drive 13 miles to a train station, and 13 miles back 5 days a week.

If you look at the gear ratios, I'll be better off in 1st and 2nd gear with the LX/Escort GT tranny anyways...it's just the 3rd and 4th gears that are shorter.

The 5th gear swap sounds great..heck I could pull it for free from my protege or get the even longer probe one.

I don't see how that is going to help me with my final drive ratio though or with my city driving.

However, I do like to get into 5th gear at as low an rpm as possible without lugging my engine.

Can someone help me out with understanding a final drive ratio in layman's terms?

Also, could someone let me know if I am on the right track with the lx\escorts 1st and 2nd gears being longer and better for fuel economy but worse in 3rd and 4th gears.

Can someone let me know if the longer 5th gear will balance this out...or is the fact that the final drive ratio is so much longer a fuel economy killer?

Thanks

I'd also be interested in clarification on "final drive ratio". It seems to differ depending on who you ask.

Some people seem to think it's the ratio in the differential.

Others think it's the complete ratio between the crankshaft and the pavement in high gear. I always thought so until the last year or so when people have talked about it the other way. Obviously, for this definition of that phrase, changing out 5th gear for a taller one will change the final drive ratio.

Yes that would be very useful.

Everyone seems to imply that its the ratio in the diff.

I hope that the latter applies!

I can tell you this: Volkswagen uses the term "Final gear" to mean the differential. That much is for sure. From https://www.vw.com/rabbit/completespecs/en/us :
Transmission Gear Ratios:
1st: 3.78
2nd: 2.12
3rd: 1.36
4th: 1.03
5th: 0.77
Reverse: 3.60
Final I: 3.65

Note that it says "Final I"; this is because another similar model (the GTI) has a two-speed differential that has a different ratio for 5th and 6th gear than 1-4...crazy Germans. :D

Anyway, the issue is merely semantic. When you change your 5th gear, it doesn't change your differential, but it does change your RPM at a given speed in 5th gear -- so when you're cruising on the highway, you don't have to buzz along at a million RPM having run out of gears long before you ran out of torque.

IMHO- The "final drive" is the ratio of the differential gear set only. I can see how you would also calculate in the rest of the gear sets to get a "final drive ratio" for each gear that you are in. Most manuals give the ratio of the final drive only and then they also give the ratios of the individual gear sets. You can combine both figures to get the final drive ratio.

If you have all of the ratios (final and individual gear) and you know the stock tire size, you can figure the rpm in top gear at 60mph without even seeing the car.

94auto, i have found if you start off in traffic in 2nd gear then shift into 4th gear will help. If you travel the same route every day then map it out for the duration of the lights, then compare it to any alternate routes through residential side streets if any. The idea is to keep moving at any speed and avoid many stops. I do this in my home city. Changing that 5th gear does not look so hard. I will go to the junk yards where there are LOTS of Fords to choose from. In the last 2 years i have only found 1 95 protege.

This is neat stuff. Thanks for that information. You have a nice engine for FE.

Do you know if the 95 protege tranny is the same as the 90-94?

I don't know if the 95 tranny is the same as the 90-94. I posted up on the site and will wait for a reply. It can't be to far off and i would think it will still work. If no reply i will do it any way as it seams to be fairly simple. May call the mazda stealership and see if they know.

You would probably do best to go to www.clubprotege.com and hunt around.

I hope this helps.

jj94auto, what's your username on CP? Mine is the same as here.

1cheap1, the tranny is not the same unless it from a Canadian Protege GT, very few made that year. Best bet for FE, but not easiest: 5th gear swap, final diff gear from certain year mazda (can't remember which). 3.85 ring gear vs the 4.105, megasquirt (customize a lean burn). You can get back into the mid 40s easily with that.

dx92beater

Thanks, i am already on club Protege. Will try to find anyone who has swapped out the 5th gear to the one from the probe. Chris from Panseypatrol gave me the transaxle code that will allow me to do the change. If it does not match then it will not match up.