09 transmission installed
 

finally did it--
70mph== to about 3.2 to 3.3K on the oem tach(stock size tires), oem rear .
just short time with the car 1-2-3 gears i cant tell much difference.
4-5th is what a close ratio trans should be---its great for my power band.
6th---welll see above!

The shifter actually shifts worse than my 04. There is wide shifter movement from 2-3nd. 5-6th are more notchy( i do have the steel bushings instead of those plastic ones) and it requires more throw. but it is driveable and probably be ok once i get used to it.
Does the R3 have a different shifter?
its very quiet.

It is bigger in size and it feels heavier but the WORSE thing
is you cannot fill the trans through the shifter---it will not drain into the trans --it just puddles.
That I hate.
But that 4-5 ratio is really sweet.:)
olddragger

Hmmmm - nice. What's 70 in the previous manual? 3800-4000? I think it's around there but I forget.

Sweet, what was the reason for going with the 09'? Can you fill ours through the shifter?

sounds good.

I didnt realize the 09 trans had that different of a ratio for 4th gear.

I hate how tall the 4th gear ratio is on my trans.

Hey, congrats OD, do you know what the rpms are at 80mph?

I dont like the sound of this 09 tranny one bit. Sounds like the RX-7 tranny. I'll pass. But wish you the best of luck with it.

at 80mph it is about 4 K!!
i wanted the higher gearing because of my particular power band (pettit s,c etc)
if i was na i would do the trans for the fact it is stronger.
3-4 are about the same ratio as the earlier model?
the 04 you can change the oil and fill it through the shifter which is very convenient The 09 you cannot. What is the capacity of the 09 trans? mine was full on install.
OD

just curious. in what way?

its their a DIY on tranny oil filled thru shifter, i wanna start doing this if possible.

I'm pondering fitting the AT diff in mine to get a similar result . Did you look into doing that OD ?

IIRC 70 (112km/h) is right below where the secondaries open. Feel free to correct me if this is not right as my baby is in storage since november :(

No--i didnt as my tranny was slowly going bad anyway and I ran across the 09 deal.
After more experience driving with it the 3-4-5 gears fell like a dang motorcross bike in comparision to the o4----I really really really like the 5th gear.
Stronger---the case is stronger, i now have steel bushings instead of the plastic ones.
Does the R3 have a different shifter?

afaik, the r3 does not. but iirc, the miata short shifters will drop into that trans. and they ~$100.

isnt the auto rear diff a 4.3? is such a small change worth it? 4.44 to a 4.3? it seems like its not worth it.

^Damn! dont let AJ read that lol

S1's Aisin Manual Transmission : You can fill it up thru the shifter hole, much easier than using the "fill hole" on the side, we all know how much space we got there.

S2 MT : Nope. I never seen the tranny in person but from the graphs, it seems like the tranny is something like my FC's tranny, the shifter is nowhere close to the gears and it doesn't seem like its connected. I can't fill my FC's fluid thru the shifter hole either, I have to do it the hard way.

I have a question OD, do you think its "worth it" to do the swap?? and does everything line up correctly without any mods? like the drive shaft ? Cuz a brand new S2 tranny cost less than a "Rebuild with lots of new parts" S1 Aisin.

And you mention Bushing, are you talking about the Mazdaspeed one? where do you install that anyway? I have it but never get a chance to install it (yet)

Do you have a stock 09 transmission in your 04? I was wondering because kersh4w talked about a 4.3 rear diff while the 09 MT has a 4.77, which is significantly shorter. Also, the RPMs for an 09 at 60 are 3242 in 6th while you are about there but at 70mph.
Source: https://www.rx8club.com/series-ii-technical-trouble-shooting-160/2009-rx-8-transmission-gear-chart-discussion-135710/

From what I understand, you used a 09 MT with a AT rear diff (?? year) in your 04?

Sorry if I havent been following your posts like everyone else probably :)

no, i dont think he has an AT rear diff. brettus was talking about putting one in his car.

My bad, cant read! :confused:

no i have the standard rear(that doesnt sound right?) for the mt--4.44?
Its a bolt in swap-- no problems. it is heavier--easy to tell

Thanks for the lead on the miata short shifter!

I would do the swap again--to me it is worth it. had to drive it for a little while to realize how it changed the car.
The shift pattern actually helps from going from 5th to 2nd when trying to get to 4th--dont laugh i have done this at rd atlanta!
OD

this maybe interesting to me in the future, are the ratios shorter? going turbo in the future and thought the current ones would suit the turbo vs the new ratios on the 09s

Glad you are liking it Denny. I'd love to drive it once, if you get the miata shifter. Very curious.

Hey Dude
Boy that was a long day. How was Christmas for all and I hope all are doing well.
Say Hello to Abby for me.
Yes-- Now that I have it settled in so to speak i would not hesitate to recommend this swap.
The more I drive the oem shifter the more I am liking it. That gap is good to help prevent a 5th to 2nd downshift!
Take care man--stay in touch.
OD

Makes more sense than fixing an 04-08 transmission. 6th gear in my 04 manual: 60mph = 3000rpms, 70mph = 3500rpm and 80 = 4000rpms. I'm going off memory but that seems correct.

wat transmission oil did u put in with ur new tranny?

There's a replacement 6th Gear set from Japan for the S1 trans that will lower it from the factory 0.843 ratio to 0.795

4000 rpm @ 0.843 = 3772 rpm @ 0.795

Do you know where is that available and how much it costs?
I would love to have a taller 6th gear that would lower the cruising RPM in 6th on the freeway.
In fact, I often found myself skipping the 5th gear and go from 4th straight to 6th. So essentially, 5th is the least used gear for me. In fact it would be great to have the current 6th gear as 5th and get a taller 6th gear (like this replacement gear set you mentioned).

But buying this is probably expensive (like everything that's imported from Japan) and the actual replacement procedure is likely also cost-prohibitive. This is not something I'd trust myself doing.

the taller 6th gear is letting me get 24-25 mpg (on the interstate)if i drive it right:)
Thats good---but its the 3-4-5th close ratio's that I really, really like. Reminds me of a dirt bike.
I used redlines gl 4 gear oil in it.
It does take just a little to warm up --just like the engine.

i know this thread is ancient but i just wanted to comfirm that the 09+ trans is a direct bolt in for the s1 RX8 right?

Nope requires you to mod the wiring and there is a small chance your exhaust may need to be altered to fit.

Hoss is right--but its just one of the switches that go on the trans needing swapping out.
The exhaust thing--i run a mazsport dual resonated midpipe--it has large resonators and it does get close to this bigger trans. I just added some DEI cat converter heatshield to the resonator and no prob.

The latest is I maybe swapping out my diff for the 4:77 ( sII model) as my use of the car has changed. If that does happen I will also be doing a microblue treatment on the diff assembly as it has a LOT of drag.

sounds like you confused your pumpkin with your noggin.

OOoo... nice... for the wiring, can any old technician able to do it without looking into the manual?

For the diff... why not go for the 5.125 ? :naughty:

lol--little to low for me--i still do street drive it some. Oh yea --its just a straight swap. Nothing complicated.

Team never heard of Microblue?
Dont think the rx8 has a diff with a good bit of drag to it?
You know this better than I do.
What have you done? Did you run WD40 in your diff to get that 220rwhp dyno--lol?

I had an OE diff with a Kaaz LSD in it then. I now have an OE diff with an OS Giken LSD in it. I use Redline 75W140 oil. So sorry to disappoint your howling little dance around the fire, but there's no magic juju going on there.

Maybe you should start off by explaining what a "lot" of drag is in numerical terms or why all of a sudden "microblue" is your latest subject to go ape posting poop on? For a professional racer with deep pockets it might be worth investigating, but for the average street wanker it seems like an extravagant point of your favorite fixation i.e. minutia.

nevermind. you know that every car is different in its drivetrain loses. mine will be a little different than yours for example. The best general statement that can be said is that on a rear wheel drive car with helical cut gears the diff will cause a 7-11% lose.
But, actually it is very difficult to measure drivetrain lose. Coast down test on a dyno doesnt address the dynamic lost experienced during acceleration. Dynamic lost ( during acceleration) is different from static lost ( during coasting). Dynamic lost is dependent on many different things obviously.
So if I could give the "numbers" concerning drag/resistance on our car that a back yard shade tree monkey mechanic could obtain without a bunch of impressive equipment, then I would really have something and I could retire. But I cant--no one can.
Best I can do is tell you the dang thing doesnt coast downhill easily. Matter of fact I have a ford truck that coasts better!

If you want to learn about microblue then just do your homework. Its not a miracle in most cases, but if you want a coating/treatment--its good, real good.

For me, i have used Liqui Moly's Ceratec on my 04' trans and has recently added it to my diff whilst repairing it...

It does provide some pretty good protection... not sure how it is compared to microblue...

Thanks for all this info on swapping in the 09 trans. I'm about to buy an 09 tran from a friend that totaled his car before installing it.

Does anyone think $500 for that trans is good or bad?

whether or not your car coasts easily is determined by a whole lot more factors than differential friction, you really know how to push my facepalm button :lol:

so here I am bumping this thread once again. lol would you happen to have picture of the connectors you used? my S1 trans took a shit and im upgrading to the s2 trans once it gets here. just would like to see exactly what I need to get. im no wiring guru so plz excuse the noob question.

scissors, a soldering iron and some tape.
Oh, and a shorter final gear since the gearing is hugely different (and it sucks)

The taller gearing works out great for the FI guys. I cut and soldered all my connections like BSE mentioned. I would not trust a crimp style butt connector under the car. I also used marine grade heat shrink wrap. The marine grade stuff has glue in the middle for extra water and corrosion resistance.

Soldered wire spices are forbidden in aircraft due to the likelyhood of the solder fracturing under vibration. Instead, high-quality crimp connectors are used which clamp both the bare wire and the insulated part behind it. One version I use for critical joints is Amp (TE Connectivity) PIDG.

Connectors will work too.
I cut the wires, slid a thin hose (diesel fuel return line one) over one and then soldered the 2 terminals together. After that i placed the hose over the spliced wires and taped it back. It's not ideal since the crimps you mentioned are way better but it's still working.

any pics to the ones u guys did?

It mounts up and looks alot like stock but a bit bigger. I put some heat shielding on mine to help cope with the turbo and waste gate dump pipe heat.

No need to solder

Depin the connectors off the S1 trans sensors and swap them onto the S2 trans sensors. Pretty sure the actual internal tabs are the same.

ill give that a shot. sounds like the easiest route.

got another question I could not find an answer to. Im buying a new clutch kit for the car and was wondering if the EXEDY aftermarket TOB will fit in the S2 trans?

TOB?
The clutch is the same anyway.

throw out bearing.

im assuming it will but just want to double check.