highway speeds

[donm]

While I'm pondering my "winter storage" answers, another question came to mind that I've been meaning to ask. What is the general consensus on how well these engines hold up at typical highway speeds?

My Spider seems rock steady at 60-70 mph with no vibrations of any sort but will these speeds cause any excess wear on the engine that I should be concerned about? The car has 100k miles on it but I gernerally like to drive at about 70 on the highway and even in 5th gear the engine is turning over at a pretty good clip. The car doesn't seem to burn any oil and it sounds great mechanically but I'm just wondering if these speeds might affect engine longevity.

Don

[So Cal Mark]

your engine is making peak torque at those speeds, so it will be happy

[rlux4]

Lots of people take their cars on long trips. I've taken two trips from SoCal up to Oregon and Washington, about 2000 miles round trip. This is nothing compared to Ventura Ace's epic 7000+ mile trip across the US two years ago. Then there are the "Iron Butt" runs that are made. A group from the bay area regularly take trips lasting a week or more. It's a pretty sound to make that kind of trip and listen to the engine purr.

[mdrburchette]

It seems my Spider is just catching his second wind at those speeds. Like Mark says, that's where they're happiest.

[FiatColombia1]

Have anyone modified the transmission to make it to 5th gear with a less rev engine, it is feasible? cost? worth it?

[baltobernie]

I'm looking into this, but first estimates are that it will be expensive, at least $500 for the gears alone, and of course if you're that far, you might as well rebuild the entire transmission. This is a wintertime project, so don't expect anything soon.

[spider2081]

Some people put the automatic rear end in place of the 5 speed. this is suppose to lower the highway RPM a little. I'm not sure just how much. Maybe someone could comment on the RPM changes

[baltobernie]

One of our club members has this diff in his 2-litre, twin IDF car, and it is a great setup. I think he's seeing 3k @ 60mph vs. 4k in the 4.33 cars. You do need a more powerful engine to pull this big gear.