Changing Rear Axle

I drive Mercedes 190E 2L 1991.
1. I have changed the rear axle assmbly (wih a used unit) from the original ratio of 3.23 to 3.27. Is performance affected? Does this affect the car when going uphill? What about fuel consumption?

2. The motor box does not illuminate brightly after I changed to new bulbs and maximised the dinner control knob. Any other way to brigthen it?

3. If I changed from 2.0L to 2.6L, does it really save petrol?

Reply:
1. Theoritically, your hill climbing wil improve with a slightly loss of top end speed. You may find a slight increase in fuel consumption but that would depend a lot on how you drive. As difference in the ratios is not much, you may not even notice any improvement or loss in performance.

2. If by motor box, you mean instrument cluster, you may want to check the earthing of the instrument panel. Sometimes when there is insuffucient earthing, the lights will be dim.

3. Normally a larger capacity engine will give you better consumption if the gear ratio match the engine. In your case I think that if driven correctly and not revving the engine excessively, you should have better consumption. This is only guess and you will need to find out in actual case.