I've read lots of posts, Taka's included of upgrading the diff and tranny to redline.

Any thoughts or reports from people who have had in for a period of time. Still happy, reckon it makes a difference?

I'm going to put the beast up on the pegs to paint the calipers (again) and while I'm at it thought it would be a good opportunity to do a change of oil.

Also does anyone have any suggestion where to buy the stuff in aus. There are a few online sites that sell it.

 

I think you can get Redline at Ric Shaw's (ring first)

To tell the truth, I have had it in for a while and don't notice any difference. I originally hoped it might reduce the 1st-2nd notchiness. But then I have been accused of being insensitive....

 

Same here....I've had it in for ages and it does nothing to reduce the 1st to 2nd notchiness. In Australia it's as dear as poison too..... $30 a quart.

Buy a more readily available (ie, cheaper) good quality oil if you want to swap out the original gear.

 

Burson has them

Ditto Gomez's comment really.

But I would not mind changing the gear and diff oil to red line again. What other are cheaper. Mazda charges roughly the same aren't they?

 

Just put in motul gear 300 fully synthetic in gearbox.Is highly regarded and used by subaru rally teams internationally. Is 75w-90 and ester based.

Was having annoying notchiness and sometimes difficulty doing fast 1st to 2nd gear change at high revs. Motul has helped but not completely eliminated .

Further I adjusted the clutch pedal height because engagement point was very close to floor (Ie I felt I had to fully depress clutch pedal at every gear change to avoid snagging(but not crunching) 1st to 2nd and this has really helped considerably>

The combined motul gearbox oil change combined with some adjustment of the clutch pedal has vastly reduced this annoying notchiness, allowing me to do far slicker and quicker changes

Regards
Rexi

 

Rexi,

Congrats on the improvement.

How much do you think the improvement is due to changing the oil and how much is due to the Motul?

 

Had Redline in for a year, smoother, but just a little.

Then heard about putting a bit of Redline MTL in with the MT90 - smooth as butter, and second only to the legendary Miata gearbox!

I put one quart (comes in quarts) of the recommended 90 weight, then topped off with most of a jug of MTL, which is a lot thinner. Made all the difference in the world!!! Smooth, snick-snick shifting, no hesitation, no notchiness, still hard to find reverse, but that's a whole 'nuther problem.

S

 

Oil cocktails! This is getting serious

 

mmmmm cocktails.......i'll be back...............

 

I was thinking about trying motul out in my trans and diff. motul mention mixing for viscocity on their web site. I think I'll just stick to the recomended viscosity.

 

Taka, I would say that the motul improved notchiness by about 70 % of the overall improvement with the clutch pedal adjustment accounting for the remaining 30%.

The motul allowed me to be finally able to do fast 1st to 2nd gear changes without bauking for the first time ever since I bought the car new in 2003, but the shift still had some resistance and notchiness though much reduced.
It was then after adjusting the pedal that I could finally do fast and quite smooth changes.

Off the subject for a moment, does anyone know on average how long U.S postal air mail should take from the states? I ordered the MS suspension kit from onlinemazdaparts.com on the 14th Feb and was told that delivery should take 4-10 working days, but hasnt arrived as yet???

By the way I only settled on the motul gear300 75-90 after much reviewing of all the gear oils on many different forums and it had many favourable responses especially for nochy gearboxes. Cost was approx $30 per litre frpm autobarn.

Regards
Rexi

 

Online orders from the US usually takes less than 14 days. US Postal Service also has a tracking order # to see where in transit your parcel is.

You can also ring them up and tell them of your concerns.

Regarding notchiness on 1-2 shift:

Upshifting at 3k revs often needs a slower approach. Anything above 5k I normally can ram it in. Flick it with your fingers. I can't really complain... most cars I've had were not as smooth to shift compared to the Aisin 6MT.

I've got Redline in mine. The thin oil is not good for slower revs when upshifting - as mentioned you need to shift slower below 3000. 5000 and above is the optimum range to not feel the notchiness when ramming it in. I dunno... I think the gearbox is sweet!

 

I think rx-8 and Mazda owners are spoilt in general when it comes to notchy gear changes.

I reckon you don't know what notchy is until you have driven a commodore 6 speed! they are dam notchy it's like you are forging your own path through the gearbox. strange thing is I have read rumours that the Holden 6 speed is made by the same company that does the rx-8 box. how Holden can get it so wrong and Mazda so right is amazing (to me anyway )

 

Aisin is the name of the company, but I think that gearbox is only in the Commode SV6 manual and is reported to be quite sweet relative to the Tremec 6sp used in higher output Commodes

 

just a quick q...

has anyone experienced Royal Purple?
http://www.royalpurple.com/prodsa/auto.html

i know alot of ppl swears by the Royal Products.....

 

Lock was using that wasn't he?

Hmm, all this oil stuff confuses me. Most don't seem to notice a marked improvement (but I note the few who do that have posted above). I also don't get the complaints about notchiness. I actually like the shift action and don't mind at all that you need to be firm with it to shift quickly. Still, guess it's good to experiment to see if there's any improvement wirth getting.

 

Hmmm, mixing oils... I don't know. Gear oils are special brews, probably all sorts of detergents and other additives mixed in. Who knows what could happen if they're incompatible? Me, I'd stick to a synthetic (ester based) by a regular manufacturer (Shell, Mobil, etc). I have a funny feeling that there's a whole lot of marketing hype in this area, just like there is in polishes.

On the subject of synthetics, I have been very impressed by the low amount of soot that I see in my oil. Grand Prix Mazda service my car with a full synthetic, and I've been topping up with a full synthetic too. I'm getting close to my 50k service, and the colour is very pale. I have read the arguments about synthetics and seals, and happened across an article by DuPont on their Viton fluorocarbon elastomer which is extensively used in automtive seals. They say that the trend towards synthetic oils has driven them to produce new formulations which can stand up to the synthetics. This accords with what Mazda have been saying about the Renesis motor; i.e., it is OK to use synthetics.

 

that would explain why the V8 box is crap.