i own a 92' protege lx, and i don`t know about the other protege models, but as for the lx 5 speed it seems to be geared insanely low, so low that it seems to have alot more power than it really does!!! is this just me or has anyone else noticed this?

 

could it be possible to get a 6th gear ? tranny swap, whatever...

cuzz went i'm running around 160kmh in 5th gear the engine is running over 4000rpm.

 

i already got a dx.

 

i decided to back my statements with evidence so i took my car out and looked at my shift points, i shift at right around 3000 rpm so this is just normal driving, and values are not altogether too accurate just general idea.
1 gear 12 mph
2 gear 20
3 gear 30
4 gear 40
5 gear 60 mph at 3300 rpm

now compared to my brothers supra that shifts at 20 somethin going into 2nd not out of, and on the freeway has only 2000 rpm going 70!!!

 

Yeah, when I had my 90 LX (stolen), driving in 5th on the highway at over 70 mph was annoying, to say the least. It was probably the thing I liked least about that car. I do miss the car for a lot of other reasons (it was fast, cheap, fun to drive, easy to park, had everything I needed, etc.). Are the DXs just as annoying on the highway? I know they're not as fast......

 

my 93 is not as bad as my 89 integra was. damn thing would rev high as hell going down the hyw.

 

Weird!? My SE doesn't have the same gear ratios at all, my top speed is 120mph and the engine will rev at 3 500rpm at 150 km/h (a little bit more than 90 mph).

 

now correct me if i am wrong, but the more power you have the lower your rpms will be on freeway, so if you did mods the gearing would become better on freeways? right

 

Weird!? My SE doesn't have the same gear ratios at all, my top speed is 120mph and the engine will rev at 3 500rpm at 150 km/h (a little bit more than 90 mph).

I'm pretty sure the SE is basically the same as a DX for some first-gen Proteges (they have the same engine). The LX (which in current generation is the ES) has a 125-hp 16v DOHC engine.

I loved my Protege LX, but I think I'd like something a bit more, um, relaxed on the highway. My old roommate had an old Accord (84 DX), and it was pretty slow, even with a 5-speed, but it was really relaxed on the highway (like 2500 rpm at 75mph). Not that I want an eighteen year old Accord......

 

Yeah...i have a 92' SE and it's awesome in the gear ratios....about 150 kph and it's around 3700 rpm in fifth.....and it still feels solid in the acceleration department....i thought the trranny was the same as the DX and same engine too...but mine is Really fast...so i don't know...i just love driving it....the civics can't catch me...

my top speed has been just over 210 kph...just over 120 mph...and my dad's pro (97' LX) has done about the same...he raced this pimped out accord....and dominated it ...his is stock...but on the highway...at about 120kph it is doing about 4200rpm in fifth...

the ratios are way diferent...

 

so even if i get as much power as i want. I know it is close to impossible, but if i had 300 Hp my cars top end would still be the same? because you said earlier that it is all a matter of gearing and has nothing to do with power.

 

For the record, the SE/DX are the same car for the 1st gen Protege. The SE was a 1st year thing. They changed the name for '91.

Gear ratios for the '90-'94 LX
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)

Now, your tach may read differently, but they're not all that accurate. Mine is about 4-5% high throughout the rev range.

FWIW, I think that the SE/DX has a faster 0-60 time than the LX, due to being able to hit about 64mph in 2nd. Car and Driver tested one as doing 0-60 in about 8.3 secs, IIRC. The 1/4 mile time was slower, but getting to 60 on only one shift helped the time.

The easiest way to relax freeway rpms in the LX would be to have a custom 5th gearset manufactured, since 5th resides outside the case, but I doubt that the savings in fuel would ever pay off the expense of having gears cut, unless you could find, oh, 50-100 friends willing to chip in on that mod.

FWIW, the early VW GTIs had a short 5th gear. Someone did make a taller 5th for them, but it cost about $400.

 

Prior to buying my '92 LX new (now with 220k miles) the motor magazines ran the car up to 144 MPH in stock trim.

The only thing other than tire size that might prevent achieving this top speed, assuming you are seeing the redline and/or running it up to ignition cutout RPM, would be clutch slippage.

 

Car and Driver tested it with a radar gun and got a top speed of 122mph. I remember Road and Track testing the pre=production car in Japan and saying they were lapping at 130mph plus, but that was on the speedo. And the JDM 1.8BPs made 10-20 more HP than the US versions.

I believe that the top speed of the Familia GT-X (JDM 180 hp turbo BP, AWD sedan) was 144 mph, however.

I've seen 125 on the speedo, but it was more likely about 118mph (based on tach readings and error, tire diameter, etc) when it was fairly new (about 8k miles).

The last time I tried a top speed run, it topped out at 115 mph. That was admittedly with a tired engine, 205/50-15 tires, and at about 4500 ft altitude. It might have gone faster at sea level, but not much.

 

then is it possible to adjust the gearing to make a DX geared like an LX to make it faster?