Zf vs g260

[Jonny Cash]

Bear with me, I know there are many discussions on this subject. Since there are alot of new swaps out there, I figured id reach out for the most recent feedback.

Which trans did you use for your swap, and why?

[samiam3356]

260 with 3.46S.

Love this combination.

[ck_taft325is]

I'm a fan of the ZF. But I like the idea of not having to yank my engine to change the pan.


That said if your ZF has fresh fluids it'll be buttery smooth and mine doesn't have the ZF "lean" as some have complained about. Although, 1st and 2nd can be a bitch at times. I'd say 1 out of every 100 take off's first gives me some trouble.

[328ijunkie]

ZF>all
and the 5th gear lean is a 8$ fix.

[Wh33lhop]

The 260, since I didn't want to buy a new transmission, diff and driveshaft.

[Jand3rson]

The 260, since I didn't want to buy a new transmission, diff and driveshaft.

This. I also had mine totally scrubbed clean, fully resealed and flushed/filled with RedLine MTL Synthetic. I can't wait to drive it and see how it feels.

[e30pq]

I'm running a 260 in my S50 cabrio but we run a ZF in our track E30.

What's the 5 gear lean? Is this referring to the orientation of a 260 behind a 24v engine?

[e30rapidic]

ZF>all
and the 5th gear lean is a 8$ fix.

this is true.....but dayum what a pain in the ass to fix!! I just did mine last week.

[Jonny Cash]

I'm a fan of the ZF. But I like the idea of not having to yank my engine to change the pan.


That said if your ZF has fresh fluids it'll be buttery smooth and mine doesn't have the ZF "lean" as some have complained about. Although, 1st and 2nd can be a bitch at times. I'd say 1 out of every 100 take off's first gives me some trouble.

Is this related to the tilt of the motor? I havent found any info on the lean. Can anyone elaborate

[samiam3356]

Think they are referring to the inability to get the car into 5th and sometimes reverse is affected by the same issue. Not a hard fix and Robert on tech explained how to do it rather simply.

Janderson, you should post up the holes in your 260 so people can see how to modify the tranny so that you can remove the oil pan with the tranny still attached.

[Jonny Cash]

Im leaning towards using the 260 also, interested to see what you did.

I also noticed a few guys used a g240. pros, cons?

[e30pq]

G240 is a direct fit with no lean. You could use the stock E30 trans bracket.

The G240 will work unless you plan on driving the car hard. There is a limit to how much torque the G240 can handle.

I blew up 2 G240's in 2 months this year but that car puts out 300+ ft lbs of torque.

[ak-]

I'm running a 260 in my S50 cabrio but we run a ZF in our track E30.

What's the 5 gear lean? Is this referring to the orientation of a 260 behind a 24v engine?

The shifter has a tenancy to lean over to 5 when in neutral.

[giantkeeper]

S50/ZF/3.15

The ZF came as a package with my motor.

[bubbajan21]

The 260 has an O/D 5th gear, so you can run a higher rear end ratio. I like a high diff ratio for a faster feeling car, but not as much speed to get into trouble with. I run a 4.10 with the 260 and still have reasonable revs on the highway with a lot of fun around town. With a 1:1 5th on the ZF, you have to run a lower diff ratio (or drive down the freeway at 4.5k RPM's).