flyboi1121

how much does this bad boy cost and i'm sure labor will vary a bit, but can u share with us what your costs were?

mdw1000

Well, i bought the gear 6 months ago from JonDemand, so the prices are probably a bit out of date. I got the gear with shipping to Paul for 675 USD. Paul is charging me 450 for the build plus a 500 deposit until I send him my old diff as a core swap. It was originally going to be 300 for the build, but the FEED gear had some problems so he had to do some additional machining on it. Not sure what shipping will be for the new diff or shipping the old diff back. Not sure what installation costs will be yet. A family member of a good friend is a good mechanic with his own business, so I'm guessing my install costs won't be too bad. I'm guessing my total outlay will be somewhere in the 1500 ballpark, maybe a bit more.

Keep in mind these were "group buy" prices from 6 months ago, so I'm guessing it might be a bit more now.

TimzSI

mdw1K, what kind of difference, in terms of tenths of a second, do you expect this new gear ratio to do in the 1/4? Half a second, or more? Your car sounds lightly modded, otherwise. I would think a car with a full exhaust, some sort of intake and a pulley would see maybe a full second of improvement.

TimzSI

btw, I'm totally throwing out random numbers. I'm just trying to match the improved acceleration you're defintely going to feel, with the increased shifting you'll have to do. Shifting at the line in a 1/4 can kill a time, when a car is actually fast. Know what I mean? Anyway, just wondering.

flyboi1121

hmmm half a second...? if this final drive did that much of a difference for 1500 dollars... i think everyone woulda gotten it. i got all the bolt ons and it shaved .5 secs lol.

i mean if it did make that big of a difference, that'd be great, but from what i read, people said they felt only a slight more pull earlier in the rpm and reading that, i dont think it'll do much for shaving more than .3 (if that) on the 1/4 mile

mdw1000

Well, I haven't seen any hard numbers from anyone. I vaguely remember Paul at Mazmart speculating that it might take a quarter or third of a second off the 0 to 60 time for the 4AT. But that discussion was about 6 months ago, so my numbers could be way off. And he was just speculating off the cuff, no hard calculations.

But keep in mind I have an automatic, so my shifts are either automatic or with paddles - usually with paddles to keep the revs up

As far as intakes, exhaust, etc, I have the mazdaspeed dual exhaust. From everything I've read on here intakes and exhaust add sound more than power with this car. My MS exhaust definitely improved the sound. As far as power goes, I thought I felt a slight difference, but that could have been me just infatuated with the sound.

Every review of it I've read on here seems to be good, especially for the 4ATs. Our gearing is so tall that it has to help some. If nothing else i figure it will help get to the upper revs faster where the power is.

RX8Maine

In stock form, you end up in 4th gear before crossing the line, and a 4.777 is not enough of a ratio change to cause you to top out 4th and need fifth. It can only help.

mdw1000

Got my diff in the mail yesterday from Mazmart! Will be dropping it off thursday for the install, so hopefully I'll have a review sometime early next week.

devildog1679

Just in time for this weekend's track day at AutoBahn

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

i wonder how close my track wheels and tires are to this diff. I am running a 17" wheel with a 235/40 Toyo ra 1.
olddragger

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

According to the tire size calculator, your tires give a 6% difference, for an equivalent to a 4.70 ratio......

S

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

pretty dang close!

thanks
od

staticlag

how does acceleration feel?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

you can't use a tire size calculator , you have to use the actual measured loaded radius and even then it changes some due to the tire ballooning out due to centrifugal force relative to speed

one of the better ways to derive the info is from the speed vs engine rpm vs trans gear from a dyno

rotaryPilot

Hi everybody, when can I buy a 4.77 final drive? I have read some posts about Mazsport. Will Mazsport supply a 4.77 final drive?

Thanks

mdw1000

I'm guessing the quickest way to get one is Mazdaparts.com. I got mine from JonDemand for a bit cheaper, but it took several months.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

with the 17's on i can tell you that acceleration is MUCH better. It was a secondary gain as my original intent was better gearing for the tracks I run and tires are much less expensive.
olddragger

mdw1000

First impressions are pretty much the same as others have said. Revs faster, rpms are higher at a given speed and gear, acceleration is improved. Acceleration hasn't made a great leap or anything, but is definitely better. Time will tell if I decide it was worth the money.

My total outlay for purchasing, shipping, building, installing, etc is going to be right around 1600 USD.

My mechanic did say the diff swap was more time consuming than he thought it would be.

Many thanks to Sam at JOD and Paul and Rick at Mazmart for making this happen!

lazi

^ glad everything came out nicely! keep us posted on how it is in the longer run!

mdw1000

After driving it a bit more, I'm definitely noticing more of a difference around town. Haven't taken it on the highway yet.

takahashi

Any problem of you guys during fitting?

mdw1000

Mazmart had to do some machining on mine...

takahashi

Really really really love you to elaborate more mdw1000

savedsol

So much money on an automatic? Why?

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

lol. i know someone who has spent well over 10g's on his automatic... i won't say who though

the answer: cuz he can.