I've done a few searches but haven't found anything on this topic yet. Maybe I'm just bad at using the search...I dunno. I have my heart set on buying an RX-8 and see that everyone is complaining of them being underpowered. I intend on buying one even though I hear these claims on this board. My question is this......Do they make aftermarket gears for the rearend? I see the stock rear-end is a 4.44 which is pretty steep already but with the 6 speed tranny and low torque I'm sure a 5.xx gear would be great and drop the car's ET's down at least a half second in the 1/4....not to mention you wouldn't have to launch the things at such high rpms off the line anymore to run good ET's. I'm hoping one of you guys knows of a company that sells them for the 8 as it would be a great bang for the buck mod...

 

FEED makes a 4.777(700$ish) an I think Mazdamotorsports makes a 5.10 (1000$ish).
The power seems fine to me. If I wanted a car with more power and TQ I would buy one.

This is not a drag race car. It's built to be fun to drive, what I'd call a sporty 4door.

 

The FEED 4.77 is the more popular one I believe and many will swear by it, but unless you plan on heavily modding your car this should be at the bottom of your list.

 

Was just wondering why you say that?

 

Thanks a ton guys. Wow I had no clue gears would be so pricey for this car! I guess I am used to paying a lot less for them, but then again this car isn't nearly as mass produced as other vehicles.

Trekk I understand this isn't a car built for dragging, but it's always nice to pull harder in a straight as well as out of a corner if you catch my drift...no pun intended. ;-)

VASasha thanks for your input on the more popular choice of gearing. Just wondering...why would you put this upgrade at the bottom of the list? Even though it's $1000 for a 5.10 I still think it's a good deal for a performance improvement as I would be installing it myself. Going from a 4.44 to a 5.10 should definitely put the car into the mid to low 14's depending on driver and traction.

I don't mean to offend anyone here by using 1/4 mile times as a reference. I know this car wasn't built for drag racing but it is a great way to reference the differences in the performance of various upgrades. If a half mile oval was the standard in which cars were measured for thier performance then I would reference that instead. ;-)

 

Hey mdw1000 I read your sig......do you know of any guys in the area with that setup(4.77's)?

 

You will just be shifting gears more often. Yes, you will get off the line a little better, but you will have to go through more gears to get to a specific MPH.

If you are good at 1-3-5 shifts, then a different final drive might be right for you. I'm a 1-2-3... kind of guy and I think the gearing is tight enough already. I actually want something lower than stock. (I don't have any FI improvements to my ride yet so I'm not buying anything now.)

With a 4.77 rear-end you are also going to get worse fuel economy. 6th gear is already pretty shallow at a little over 18MPH/1000RPM. With the 4.77 you would be a little less than 17MPH/1000RPM. At 80MPH you would be at almost 4800 RPM in top gear!!

Our cars make 230-ish HP. Gearing doesn't change that. Lower gears will give you more torque but you have to shift out of them sooner - so it's a wash. Shorter gears can also generate more "inertial losses" since more work is being done on the gears themselves, but that's a far more complicated subject.

-Mr. Wigggles

 

Just drive 500rpms slower with the FEED and your gas wont change much. I bet most people speed anyways so it wouldnt hurt to much. Maybe city wise, but my car seems to get the same MPG if I'm going 65 or 75 everyday to work.

 

I think most people have a poor view of gears and when they think of gears they think of the old hot rod that's all jacked up in the back with big tires and little skinnies up front that max out thier gearing by the end of the quater.

I've had lots of cars that I've hot rodded from domestics to imports. Most of the time just like Trekk says, you won't notice much of a difference in gas, on the tach or even shifting as it will only change rpm's slightly....and with 9,000rpms, there is a lot to play with. In fact most of the time you won't even notice a seat of the pants difference. But if you race another car without the mod or take it to the track you will definitely notice a huge improvement. You could race your buddy in the morning and be neck and neck and then race him again later that night with the gear installed(don't tell him you did it) and smoke him. Ahhhh what a great feeling. ;-)

 

not to mention the bearing replacements that are needed for a rear end change. add 200 bucks to any final drive.

 

Mr Wiggles,

I have the 4AT, so my gears are quite a bit taller and more widely spaced than the MT. If I had the MT I probably wouldn't consider it. Plus most of my driving is around town, and I think the lower gear might actually help a bit with that, since most of your in town fuel is used when accelerating.

As far as highway goes, my highway trips in this car are generally under 2 hours. Anything longer and we take the other car.

nmarz77 - I don't know of anyone else who is getting the 4.77 gears yet around here. If you haven't come to one of our meets yet, check out the threads in the MW section of the site - we'd love to have you there!

 

Thanks mdw1000, I am in hot pursuit of finding a good 8 and will hopefully be joining you guys at the next meet.

 

Don't think the 8 is the right car for you if you are into quarter mile unless you are gonna F/I it.

 

Like I said in an earlier post:

I don't mean to offend anyone here by using 1/4 mile times as a reference. I know this car wasn't built for drag racing but it is a great way to reference the differences in the performance of various upgrades. If a half mile oval was the standard in which cars were measured for thier performance then I would reference that instead. ;-)

 

i heard the speedsource rx-8 has a 5.12 final drive. that would be nice. hahah

 

In my forum view settings, I have all avatars and signatures turn-ed off. (I also turned up the number of posts per page to the maximum. All of which really help the loading times of the threads.) I didn't see your signature where it mentioned "... GT AT"

I think there might be some benefit for the AT in using a shorter 4.777:1 differential. The AT is a hard car to get off the line that is for sure.

-Mr. Wigggles

 

^ I have seen several reviews from people with 4ATs that seem to like it, so I'm hoping for the best. Figure if nothing else it will help me get to the upper revs faster.

 

Hey mdw1000 when do you plan on installing the gears?

 

So that's why they pass Vette's Porches and GTO's....

 

I just got word from Mazmart that the new differential is finished, so hopefully sometime in the next couple weeks!

 

Sweet.....keep us posted!