thingy08 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 The time has come to spend some money on my 2002 TD5 '90. The first job is to sort out the transfer box and would like to carry out the Ashcroft transmission Discovery gear upgade to alter the gearing. Has any one had any experience of this mod? Does it reduce acceleration / performance much? does it increase the top speed? does it reduce fuel consumption?. If you've done this do you think it is worth the cost? Any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Chua Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 yes, i've just done this mod. immediate notices are, it's quieter! ok, that aside, the LR drives more like a car and you don't have to rev the engine so hard to get up to the change up speeds = save a few ml of diesel each time. pulling out of a junction, you get out of the way faster, as you can rev up the engine higher in gear 1 without feeling like the engine is going to explode. you cruise easier, if you usually stick between 90km/h to 100km/h, if you are usually running faster than these speeds, then the GKN overdrive will be a better bet. downside, less power in hill climbing on the motorway especially in gear 5. however, it will still accelerate, just slower. an engine tune or rechip will solve it instantly. if you do towing or run around with a fully loaded truck, then i don't think this is a good choice. i haven't off roaded with this setup yet, so i'm not sure if you'll find climbing out of a tiny ditch in high 1 a problem, but there's always low 3. hence, if your truck sits 95% of the time on tarmac then it's not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpman Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 thingy, yes, I had the ashcroft gears fitted recently to my td5 110 (standard except for EGR removed), I agree, it's so much quieter, this is because the ashcroft gears are stone ground and run together better - so I'm told. The gears were more expensive than advertised on their web site but I had more cogs. I local LR specialist fitted the gears, that took 1 1/2 days so that was expensive too... but diesel seems to be going up 1p a day at the moment, so I will get a return on my "investment". Also, did you know the new defender has the same ratios as the discovery / ashcroft upgrade. As for acceleration - not really much difference, just change gear less, I don't need to use 5th at 30mph, more like 40mph and the economy must be better, I can't remember how many miles to a tank but I think it's around 500, but we are carefull drivers anyway and don't tend to blast about, we have another car for that! Still do some trailer towing (0.5 -> 1 ton), again, won't take long to get used to different gearing. GKN's - there's lots on the internet about them, I was really tempted to get one instead of the Ashcroft gears, but it looks like they need lots of TLC and some are in the habit of blowing up and they have stopped making them... some will say they have had no problems, other won't touch - I have not had any experience of them just what I've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rogers Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I was shortly planning on handing over my hard earned cash to mr ashcroft for this upgrade too, anyone know if it has adverse effects on the antistall? I quite like using it to set off and crawl in traffic / laning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Chua Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 antistall still works. no problem, just that the truck moves faster. so might not be so ideal for really crawling traffic. TDCi defenders have a gearing ratio in high at 1.211 Effectively when doing this mod you transform a LT230T box into a LT230Q box. Make sure you let the next owner know when you sell the truck as the kit ashcroft sells doesn't have the 'sticker' to remark the transfer box. I'm pretty impressed by the way Dave Ashcroft replied me on every email query even from the presales to the post sales questions, very fast too. Well, everything for 1/3 the price of the GKN. I think it's a good mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Puma is a 1.2 box but all the main g box ratios are different anyway so you cant really make a direct compairson.. 1.2 box will be harder if you do alot of towing or live in a hilly area\, otherwise go for it a great mod and Dave will look after you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicTheOrange90 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I did upgrade on my Td5 110 2002MY and used CS Gears in Coventry. I did find it a bit underpowered (IMHO) and 1st gear starting with a trailer and vehicle on the back was not so much fun. Since getting the TD5 Alive treatment and decat downpipe its a totally different vehicle, and I recon I get at least another 50MPG due to being able to stay in higher gears longer. IMHO do both... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicTheOrange90 Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Sorry, sounds a bit vague, I mean 50 miles extra per tank of fuel, which on the mileage I did, meant that it paid for itself in only a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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