Standard vs close ratio gearbox - advice appreciated

[Hiro996]

Hi all,

 

I am currently looking to purchase a Lotus Evora n/a. I have looked at 5 now and believe I have found the one for me.

 

The example I have settled on has a standard gearbox, I would value peoples opinions with regards to the models performance with this gearbox please.

 

When driving the car, other than the lack of torque under 2,500 rpm I found the standard gear box to be fine and the performance to be great but I was told by one garage (admitedly trying to sell me an example with a close ratio box) that the standard gear box was not worth buying - naturally another garage (both were official Lotus dealers) who had a car with a standard gear box told me the standard was actually better since you still have the performance available but can also experience a relaxed drive when you want to, on the motorway for example, by enjoying the longer ratio in the top 2 gears - so now I'm confused as I thought the standard gearbox was fine!

 

I would value any opinions from owners of both the close ration and standard gearbox as I am concerned I am missing something having only been in each type of car for about an hour!

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my first post, looking forward to owning my first Lotus (I'm told the VX220 Turbo I owned a few years back is not a real Lotus!!!).

[CocoPops]

Welcome from another exVX220 owner (SC'd 260bhp).

 

I've never driven a Long Box, but having spoken to two people who have driven both.... If you drove a CR box car and then a Long box car, you'd be disappointed.

 

If you've only driven Long boxes, then you'd know no different.

Even in my CR box'd car, I skip 5th quite often.

[cdl]

I have the standard box on mine and have never wished I had the close ratio........... until I took it on track a couple of weeks ago and them I kept wishing they were a bit closer (especially after a go on my brother's s2 exige which seemed massively closer).

So I suppose it depends what you want to use it for. For mainly road driving I think both are fine, standard probably better if you do lots of motorway or duel carriageway, close ratio if you are going to take it on track a lot.

For me I wouldn't let it hold me back if I found a car I really liked

Good luck with the search. You have made a good choice, amazing cars!

Cheers

Chris

Edited May 12, 2015 by cdl

[series_one]

If you are doing big milage or on highways often then the long box is definitively better. Unless you are attacking backroads or tracking it more than you are driving on normal roads then you will not miss out. If you do big milage or alot of highway driving the fuel bill and higher cruising rpm of the CRB are significant. 130kmh at 2200rpm is bliss as far as I am concerned. The long box is an excellent gearbox for European trips. Yes on certain roads you may miss CRB for 3rd gear but that is an occasional complaint only.

[LazyDonkey]

All the first cars came with the long box as standard, including the ones that won all the car of the year titles in 2009.

 

So the long box doesn't ruin the car or suddenly make it shit. 

 

it's true there is a gap between 2nd and 3rd and you do notice it when changing down, likewise round knockhill there were parts of the track where 3rd felt too long but 2nd too short......for that the CR box would have been brilliant. Likewise on a real switchback road 3rd can dull the acceleration if you're really on it. 

 

BUT

 

Being able to leave the car in 3rd and hit 120mph is very very addictive and having 6th as an overdrive is really good for mpg.  It also means you can have a fairly loud exhaust that then won't annoy you on the motorway as you are sitting at 2k instead of 4k at 80.  I've never got out of my car and thought  "that wasn't fun the gearbox held me back"

 

For the miles i'm doing and the usage i have i don't wish i had the CR box.   If it was a weekend and track toy i would maybe think differently. 

[CocoPops]

As said, I never drove a long box, only 2 cars with cr boxes.

James however drove cr and then long.

He went on to say if he drove long box first, he would have been turned off he Evora.....

Said that even hitting the limiter in 2nd in sport mode, still drops you too low into the Rev range in 3rd?

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I wouldn't let it bother you either way, especially if you've found a car you like and that fits all your other requirements.

[LazyDonkey]

As said, I never drove a long box, only 2 cars with cr boxes.

James however drove cr and then long.

He went on to say if he drove long box first, he would have been turned off he Evora.....

Said that even hitting the limiter in 2nd in sport mode, still drops you too low into the Rev range in 3rd?

 

Turned off the evora he never bought

 

I've never red lined it in 2nd and then thought "shit where's the power?" when changing up.  

 

It's all relative.   There are people who say the NA is too slow and you NEED a supercharger

[Gravel]

Turned off the evora he never bought

I've never red lined it in 2nd and then thought "shit where's the power?" when changing up.

It's all relative. There are people who say the NA is too slow and you NEED a supercharger

If you don't want to care what gear you're in let alone how many teeth there are on it, I can highly recommend a bit of boost

[mdavies]

37.5 or 27.5 - mph per 1000 rpm in top. Take your pick. I tested both: not with a barge pole came to mind for one, loved the other.

 

Depends what sort of driver you are and driving you do.

[series_one]

37.5 or 27.5 - mph per 1000 rpm in top. Take your pick. I tested both: not with a barge pole came to mind for one, loved the other.

 

Depends what sort of driving you do.

 

Corrected ^    ;-)

 

I suspect 99% of Evora owners are the same 'type' of driver. 

 

If you did say 55,000km a year in an Evora a CR box would made fuel bills inconveniently high.

 

 

(Edite to note that ^ was your 666th post!     )

Edited May 12, 2015 by series_one

[DJW]

Lots of good advice above.

Haven't driven both boxes in Evora, but have owned caterhams with long and close ratio boxes. If car is mainly used for hooning / track work then CR makes sense. If mainly used for driving long distances / touring then Long Ratios makes sense

All said if you find the LR box works for you then buy it. Don't worry what others think as there will always be a market for both.

Edited May 12, 2015 by DJW

[gregs24]

1st and 2nd are identical in both gearboxes - so that gets you to 75mph exactly the same. After that 6th in the CR box is the same as 4th in the standard box which means a bit busier on a motorway as well as the fuel penalty.

 

Unless you are going on a track the standard box will be fine, and probably better in a daily driver

 

Of course you really need the IPS where third is even shorter but where 6th is getting closer to the standard box !

[Gravel]

Does anybody know the price and service intervals of the flappy paddle box from the GT4 race car version? That's the one I really want

[mdavies]

Pierre (series one), 666 really! Thanks for pointing it out!  I won't argue a "piece of string point" but personally I just don't agree. I say that drivers who would (by choice) buy long or short are not the same sort.  Or am I in your 1% ............. perhaps an accolade!

 

Quite separately from the topic, on a matter of protocol, I'm not happy about you misquoting my post.  Quoting, then saying the above is rubbish - perfectly ok, but to change it in a way that new readers would not readily spot is not the way to do it I think, 666 or not!

Edited May 12, 2015 by mdavies

[Hiro996]

Thanks for all the posts, each of them are very much appreciated and very informative.

 

Can anyone advise, other than the larger drop in revs - does third gear on the standard box still provide enough 'shove' (want for a better word) - I do not participate in track days for cars (I have a motorbike for that!) but I do like to enjoy country lane driving at the weekends.

 

The spec I have found is great so if the general consensus is that 3rd is still a good usable gear on country roads then I am tempted to go for the standard box example I have found.

 

Thanks again all, really appreciate it.

[blueg33]

Long box here and I never feel as if a cr box would be better even on most back road blasts. If anything I think 3rd gives more flexibility.

On long motorway runs I have averaged over 40mpg at a steady 78 mpg.

[Colin P]

3rd is ideal for country roads on the long box. The only time it is ever an issue is when you have someone doing exactly 40 mph and you want to overtake, as you either get a delay before the power delivery comes in, or you change into second before overtaking and have to change gear whilst overtaking. If they are doing 45 then your fine!

On the other hand 3rd gear is excellent for joining motorways.......

[series_one]

Pierre (series one), 666 really! Thanks for pointing it out!  I won't argue a "piece of string point" but personally I just don't agree. I say that drivers who would (by choice) buy long or short are not the same sort.  Or am I in your 1% ............. perhaps an accolade!

 

Quite separately from the topic, on a matter of protocol, I'm not happy about you misquoting my post.  Quoting, then saying the above is rubbish - perfectly ok, but to change it in a way that new readers would not readily spot is not the way to do it I think, 666 or not!

 

no offence was intended Mel! Certainly not trying to make anything hard to spot, my 'corrected   ' wording was tongue in cheek to make it obvious. But this is a friendly and nice forum so I'm sorry my post made you unhappy. 

 

I think all drivers would prefer the CRB but the the comments above show each box has it's own benefits. I know my optimal is a bespoke set of different gear ratios and that is coming in future.

[Sbfdave]

We had a long N/A for 4 years and then replaced it a year ago with an S with the CR.

 

My personal preference was the long box but the wife much prefers the CR (and it is her car so what do I know) - so as said before it really depends on what you are going to use it for - is it a car for going places or just a toy. Perhaps I'll change my mind after 3500 miles in France this summer, but then again I might just have gone deaf.

 

Probably the best option would be an S with the long box, but unfortunately they never made those.

[auRouge]

3rd in a Standard box is great. I never craved a SR as most of my driving is on a motorway. A country road weekend driver might be more fun with an SR though...

All Evora's are great, find a high spec all three packs in a colour combination and condition you're happy with.

[Stuno1]

So all s models have the short box? Good topic and interesting to read. Personally I would never want a sports car with a long ratio gear box when a short ratio box is available. Defeats the object of the car for me personally as it would be a second and fun car not my daily hack.

[LazyDonkey]

MY12 onwards had CR as standard.

 

This shows the main difference...

 

 

Taken from here

http://wiki.seloc.org/a/2GR-FE_Gearboxes

 

So there is a difference of 15 mph at max revs in 3rd.  15 mph!   Not 50.  

 

I think we need to get it into context though, as i said before the long box doesn't ruin the car - far from it.  It does make it a lovely long legged GT car when you want it to be though. 

 

Remember articles like this were written with a "long" box in the car

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/241450/lotus_evora.html

 

Not trying to get into an argument over which is best, that's pointless - just try to say that the long box doesn't ruin the car or make it a waste of time. 

[blueg33]

I have to say, I can't really see the issue, for 99% of driving on A and B roads the car is not slower or less enjoyable for having the longer ratio box, its not hard to keep the car in the sweet spot of the power band with either box when pressing on, you can make far more difference to the A to B speeds by setting up for the corners and balancing the car.

 

To say the longer box defeats the object of the car is miles from the reality of actually driving these cars anywhere but on the track.  The point of a throttle and an organic lump with a brain behind the wheel is that you can make adjustments to keep it sweet.  Driver a turbo car and this becomes even more apparent, but still doesn't lessen the ability of the car or the enjoyment of driving it.

[CocoPops]

On my commute this morning, I couldn't have cared which box it had... the sun was shining and I've just had two days in Milan, so was lovely to get back into the Evora