Hi all, long time listener, 1st time caller.

I've had my Fiat DOBLO (119) 1.4 1368cc. 77hp High roof for 6 months now, Love it. Very handy. But have always noticed it seems (to me at least) to rev very high once i head over 60-70 MPH on the motorway. I'm aware that this is more a utility vehicle and not a speed machine, but was wondering if it is usual for revs to hit 4000+ once i get up a bit of speed? It only has about 15000 miles on it, it's an 08 that had little to no use when i took it. I'm trying to be nice to her and not make the engine do too much, but it seems the engine/revs roar a bit once i hit speed.
Or is this normal?
Any ideas/tips or personal experience would be much obliged.
Thanks

Yes, ours is the same. It does about 17mph per 1000rpm in top gear which is less than 1:1 which may be ok for a heavily ladel van but poor for a family estate.

Our mercedes B-class diesel is a 7 speed auto which does 37mph per 1000rpm. The contrast is amazing.

Yes its a great shame, cracking engine designed for low end torque and flexibility saddled to a super low ratio final drive which revs the bejesus out of it. Its as if fiat didn't bother changing the final drive when they took out the 1.2 and put in the 1.4.

Hmmm...... I've just aqquired one of these.... Is there a way around this ?? Maybe a higher ratio diff or larger diameter wheels/tyres ?? Anyone up on modifying these ??

Its quite common on smaller engined petrols - 1.0 VW Polo revs at 6000RPM at 70mph!

I've done some research and the best option seems to be to fit the complete gearbox/final drive from a 1.4 grande punto ! There are only 2 main differences...1st gear: doblo-4.27 to 1..grande punto-3.909 and the diff ratio: doblo-4.5 to 1....grande punto=4.071. So,a slightly 'longer' first gear and a higher ratio diff..... I think that this would give usefully longer legged gearing to the doblo,without it struggling.
The other option would be the 6 speed 'box,out of a 1.4 16v Stilo.....even longer legged in top gear !
Would just need to check the speedo accuracy,but I think it would still be o.k....
What do we think ??