performance difference in ef wagon's

[damo03]

G'day fellas.

Been considering buying a station wagon to better suit my needs and the EF's are in my price range and i like them (nice but not too expensive), but I am unsure on the performance differance between the auto's and manuals (rare as hell)!

I want a wagon on gas so this makes the searching for a wagon on gas and a manual even harder. I know with the old 3 speeds there is a hang of a performance diff between the 3 slushies and the t5 (esp after driving a 94 manual ute) but i dunno about the newer 4 speed auto boxes.

Can anyone shed some light on the difference in performance and wear and tear , and if it's worth it hanging out for a manual? I know i can do a conversion, but i would prefer to buy one stock if i can.

cheers...

Damo

[Damo]

the 3 speeds were only in the early EA's from factory.

T5 Conversions are supossed to be easy. =\

[mr_efxr]

Just buy a cheap ef wagon, you can pick them up around the $1900 -$3000 mark now around Melb (research well). Then just go ahead and do a manual conversion. You will probably find in a cheap EF, the auto wear and tear is great and good luck finding a factory manual ef wagon. The manual is way more fun to drive, even on a stock engine.

[damo03]

cheers....even so, with the 4 speed autos have you guys that have converted to manuals experienced more accelleration? how does fuel econemy go?

[EFFalcon]

5 speed manual will out accelerate a 4 speed auto.
there is a fair difference.

[outback_ute]

I would say the manual conversion would be justified on "driving fun" grounds, I don't think there is much in it for fuel use. Regarding acceleration at a rough guess the manual would be a bit over 1/2 a sec quicker over the quarter mile.

[XRated]

Trust me, my brother's old four speed EF wagon goes like the bloody clappers. Certainly gave my ED a whooping off the line!!

[jonbays]

Finding a 4spd Auto EF Wagon with gas should be possible.

A manual wagon that will be hard to find. REALLY HARD.

The manuals will be much faster than the auto though.

Get a 4spd Auto all EF's have them and it will be quite economical driven sensibly.

The wagon is heavy and will not make a economical car in any way on ULP no matter what. On LPG the cost is quite low to run but they are still not very economical.

LPG mixers tend to restrict the inlet and kill high rpm performance of these engines.

[banarcus]

Get a wagon on gas and put in the manual. Mine goes heaps better with the manual in it no questions asked.

[ClassicAU]

Originally Posted by XRated

Trust me, my brother's old four speed EF wagon goes like the bloody clappers. Certainly gave my ED a whooping off the line!!

i have a feeling that if you get yourself a wagon on gas, that its not going to go anywhere near as good as your hoping. my wagon is on gas, and i put an EL motor in it (albeit it being still CFi) and its slow as a wet week! the problem, in my view anyway, is that the gas tank in most wagons i have seen (including mine) is put in the spare tyre well under the boot floor. this means that the tank hangs right over the diff. and i was told that with a full load of gas, it weighs 120kg. add that and the fact that gas doesnt go as hard in the first place, and i dont think there will be very much in the ways of acceleration.
if anyone else can clear this up, i have no problem in being proven wrong, but thats why i have been led to believe.

[damo03]

Thanks guys.

I'll keep a look out for a ef wagon on gas and maybe convert it later. trueblueford.com states that the wagon is only 64 kg heavier than the sedan. I guess with gas tank to boot it would be a bit slower though.

Damo

[mr_efxr]

I cannot make one complaint, goes like shit of a shovel, f'n hammers over the auto, even when I had the 2800rpm stall kit, I think I could still out do the auto.