i noticed on my 05 XA that when im doing 60 mph im up at 3 grand......like im suposed to have a 6th gear.....does scion offer another gear ratio or a differnt transmission because i feel like im damaging my car not ony that but it kills my gas milage

 

Remember that the engine size is only 1.5 liter. It depends what gear you are on or maybe your not in the 5th gear?

 

I'm planning on getting larger wheels/tires to lower the RPM at highway speeds. Not too much larger (total circumference) but it should lower it by about 2-300 rpms and not effect mileage/handling too much.

 

60mph at 3K is normal you'll get use it all in due time

 

I think going from a stock 23.9" to something like 24.2" will only see a diff of about 200rpm tops. If you want to really drop the ratio, look into a final drive from a echo.

 

Yeah its not a huge difference, but its enough to lower the "buzziness" of the engine when driving on the highway (70-80 Mph).

I had not thought about the final drive from an echo... Any idea how much it would cost?

 

The part is the cheap thing. Installing it is where it gets costly, unless you can do the work your self. Over all, I would say the part can be had for around $200 I would guess. If it was not for different mounting spots, I would say just get a echo tranny & swap that in. Also while you have the tranny down, should install a light weight fly wheel. It wont help lower RPM any, but it would make the engine not need to work as hard = better gas milage.

 

Wow 3.722:1 ratio, thats a big jump from 4.31:1 ...

I think the tire/wheel combination maybe a happy medium (esp since I was hoping to get new rims in the not to distant future). Now all i have to do it wear out these brand new stock tires so I can justify buying new ones =)

 

Yeah it is a big drop, but that would be the "6th" gear style RPMs your looking for. I would think 60mph would turn you about 2200rpm with that gearing. The only bad thing, with the added weight of a xA, the sporty edge the gears give a xA, over a echo would be gone.

 

For the original poster, here are some links you may find useful if you wish to go the same route I'm planing on:
- http://www.car-videos.com/info/tirespecs.asp
- http://www.car-videos.com/tools/speedrpm.asp

Stock size is 185/60-15 w/ Final Drive of 4.31 which roughly yields 60.8MPH@3000RPM and 81.1MPH@4000RPM

Going up to 16 Inch rims:
- Tire size 205/55-16 = 63.7MPH@3000RPM and 85.0MPH@4000RPM

Not sure if that is the exact size i will go with: I wanted to stay closer to the 185-195 on width, but you get can get an idea or what to expect..