Need advice on what year Gem to look for if I want to upgrade speed. I need to get on a 40mph speed limit road for about a mile before I can get off on a side road. Would like to be able to go 35-40 for this short period so I won’t get run over.
I plan to install an upgraded motor. From what I understand, the 1999- 2004 Gems have the right gearing to get me up to 35-40? Is that the years I should look for?
My 2c look of a 2008 or Newer. The older cars require more mods to get what you get Stock with a 2008.
But if you can’t afford a newer gem and or all you can source is a older gem 2000-2002
Dave has reported good results with his
Green Lithium battery’s and for a great price.
Ok here is more FREE advice. If you do get a gem. Don’t waste a Dime on a After market motor or controller.
Get the best car you can afford and then the first mod should be a Nice 24cell Lithium pack. See how your car responds to a High Voltage Lithium Kit and then start buying motors and controllers.
I bet if you had a nice lithium kit. You could get 40 mph out of a beat up old factory GE 5 hp no problem. How long it lasts? Well that’s TBD “ To be determined”.
Be advised the older gems 2000-2002 have drum brakes. So you may save on the car but when you start pushing 40 and you need to slow down, with 2-3 people in the car going down hill drums just don’t cut it. So More Free Advice. Think long game!
If your in Florida, I recommend you contact Kinghappy (Mike) here on the Fourm. He can help you source and build a Gem, I know he has a few for sale right now.
Agree, newer is better. Gear change is easy compared to other mods needed to update steering, braking, ride, etc.
Thanks for the info. I thought the newer (2007-2014) models weren’t as good for upgrading like I want to do?
There is a very clean 2012 not too far away for sale. What would that year model need to get it to 35-40? I am not interested in being a speed demon, just to make 35-40 for about a mile.
I really appreciate the info. Y’all know a heck of a lot more about Gems than I do.
35 is easy with stock motor and gearing. 40 is doable but motor may not last long at 6,000rpm.
Reprogram for more speed or a $125 mm moves the speed limiter.
Higher voltage = higher speed is the next step.
I was thinking I would just buy a good Gem and stick the upgraded motor in it. Is that not the way to go?
if you could find a 2013 with a stock GE 7HP motor and a New Set If Battery’s and a Magic Magnet you would be real close. Now how long you could hold 40 Mph and how long your range would be is debatable.
The stock flooded lead acid battery’s really hold that car back. Get rid of the stock battery’s and you toss 300+ pounds of weight out of the car. Big Performance upgrade.
If I had to do it all over again. I would get with a guy like Dave or Mike (who is in Florida) and have him set you a car Up. No learning curve, and your right in the game. Don’t grind your teeth Learning old outdated techniques and hot rodding gem car practices start from the top and go up. Guys like Mike and Dave and Myself have done lots o cars and know what works.
Not sure how much you know about gems but if your looking to upgrade the motor to gain speed, it will not work. The controller limits the speed to approximately 25mph, if you want to go faster you need to get the controller reprogrammed or get Dave’s magic magnet.
Grant west: I agree with you completely. The less I need to learn, the better. Who are these wizards you speak of?
@LithiumGods is in Naples. I’m only a consultant and have never done any real work. 
How fast a gem can go depends primarily upon what gear ratio the gear box has . On 4 passenger Gems 2002-2004 had 10.35 gears, good. But drum brakes, bad . Around 2006 they went to 12.44 gears , Bad .But got disc brakes, good . 2013 + they went back to 10.35 gears and upgraded the disc brakes and suspension even more . These years have a great ride , stop fast and can be easily upgraded for high speeds . If you have an 2006 - 2012 and have the 12.44 gears you will probably have to change gear boxes to hit 40 mph speeds . The other thing that helps is larger diameter tires , shouldn’t really be used on drum brake Gems because they can over power the brakes . High rpm motor helps some but is the least effective of the three options .
That’s just what I need to know. Thanks. I’ll follow up to get more info.
CHEAP RIDE 2002 thru 2004 8,9 or 10,35 GEARS - 21 inch tires max - RFF 7,5 motor - 7th battery - Daves spoof
These carts had the T2 controller which IMHO is the BEST of all the GE controllers. 21 inch tires are brake friendly and fall into the sweet spot RPM wise for the RFF motor. The extra battery helps the ride. 84 volts gives you a 42 MPH cart, If you keep it under 30 you get an honest 22 mile range (more if you put a bypass switch on the spoof)
This is my current cart. Except at the current time I am running a stock GE 7HP motor. The cart is dead nuts reliable, loves the 84 volts, can spin the wheels when starting, rides great and uses 31DCM batteries at $96 a pop. You cannot get a 40+ Simple Reliable cart any cheaper.
Rodney
So, it seems there are several recommendations:
Rodney is correct for a cheap ride. #1
But remember:
bad ride
bad steering
very bad brakes
Test ride first.
All can be fixed.
These carts are designed as street legal but only under 25 mph. I have seen one that was involved in an accident on the highway and it was totaled. The passengers lived but would not have if they had been going 35. There is no safety equipment on the GEM except the seat belts. We GEM owners should pause a moment and remember why 25 mph is the law for these carts.
True, true…
With the lifepo4 4 cell pack “7th battery” you built for me and a magic magnet, running a damaged stock 5hp motor, 10.35 gears, stock 12" rims / tires, in a 2002 longbed (the heaviest curb weight of all of models from that era) I was hitting 31mph.
Rode like a pile driver, but hey, it’s a truck… It actually rides better when I have 300-500# of crap in the bed. And, yeah, the brakes are kinda meh. A brake upgrade is in the vehicle’s future at some point.
Anyway, hoping to get the transmission put back together and a new 7.5HP R4F motor installed this weekend, along with cleaning up the cables to the lifepo4 pack. Curious to see what it will do with the higher RPM motor. On paper, 8.9 gears would get me another 4 mph or so, but I don’t want to give up the low end torque since I do put heavy crap in the bed.
But more protection then a motorcycle or scooter .