Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: TurboFource on Saturday,April 29, 2023, 06:19:03 AM
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To start off, I have never driven a Europa or anything with a Renault tranny.
From shifting my 352 by hand (of course no parts are spinning etc. and I plan to change to Redline after a couple hundred miles), I get the feeling the shift is not silky smooth like later trannies or Japanese ones.
I am thinking more along the lines of a Toploader or Muncie's clunky shifting.....?
Comments welcome
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I don't have any experience with Muncies or Toploaders but compared to many front engined cars, shifting is a little clunky. On the other hand, I have a 6-speed 2005 Mercedes C230 and I much prefer the feel of my NG3 to my Mercedes tranny.
My car used to have a 365 and a previous Europa I owned probably had a 352. It's been a long time since I used either one of those trannies but I was never bothered by a lack of smoothness. It's never going to be as good as an Elan or a Hewland for example but I never found them objectionable. I think for some, it's a problem with expectations.
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Renault transaxles are not known for their silky smooth shifts, especially when cold. Nature of the beast. Redline, shift linkage in excellent shape and they are not bad. Add a cable shifter and they are pretty good. They never get great though.
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To start off, I have never driven a Europa or anything with a Renault tranny.
From shifting my 352 by hand (of course no parts are spinning etc. and I plan to change to Redline after a couple hundred miles), I get the feeling the shift is not silky smooth like later trannies or Japanese ones.
I am thinking more along the lines of a Toploader or Muncie's clunky shifting.....?
Comments welcome
It is more deliberate than snick-snick-snick. Clutch in good condition and adjusted properly? Linkage set up and all unreasonable play taken out of it? Metal spherical bearing ok in the top of the frame? Top hats at bottom of the shift lever in good nick? It is what it is when all is together properly. As JB says, they're never great, but, if all is where it's supposed to be and adjusted properly, once warmed up, they're tolerable (if deliberate...remember, in the stock setup, you've got 6+ feet of linkages, ball joints, pivots, and mechanism to move around before you even get to the shift mechanism in the box.
I've had good experience with Redline MT90. I'm running Miller's (because that was what was in the box when I bought the car) gear oil right now (GL4)...and when I drop the lump, will drain (who knows how long it's been in there?) and refill with Redline. Used it in my S2 and it was like night and day.
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Thanks for the replies, they confirmed what I was expecting.
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Thanks for the replies, they confirmed what I was expecting.
Part of the charm of the Europa. The Esprit was better, but even that was lacking when compared to the original Elan.