Interested, depending on price.

 

The pros of changing the final drive is better acceleration and probably stronger gears.
The cons are worse fuel economy and possibly a noisier differential.
I switched from the factory 2.56 rear to a 3.73 rear in my Skylark and it made a HUGE difference in acceleration, the car pulled much stronger, especially in the lower gears. There was a pretty big difference in cruising RPMs, but a change from 3.5 to 3.9 wouldn't be that drastic. Changing 6th gear to make up for the higher RPMs would probably be more work than it is worth (I installed a 4 speed OD tranny to make up for it). Also, you would need some way to adjust the speedo, possibly a flash could be included with the TS Ecu to correct that also. You don't normally see a gain in trap speed from gears, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a .3-.5 second reduction in ET. I would definitely have these installed by a professional, if the gears do no mesh correctly they can make a lot of noise, and depending on the materials they are made out of they can make more noise than stock.

 

I don't think that's a reality right now. it would involve swapping out specific gears, which is going to run well past $1000. That's not worth it and no-one has this available for purchase anyway.

The final drive swap is great if you run quarter miles a lot or track the car a decent amount and don't spend all too much time on the highway or don't mind the hit you'll take to your fuel economy. You might see a decrease of 1-4 mpg on the highway. But the Z will be a great deal faster. Given that exhaust, intakes, etc. aren't doing much for HP, a final drive swap could be the most cost-effective mod for the Z.

 

little_rod - Basically, what you are talking about is changing the actually gears in the tranny. It is possible to do that, but right now, no one has specific gears to swap ours out with and if there was an option, it is very costly to change those gears. What dwnshift is offering is the final drive which changes all the gears. It is not part of the tranny. It's two different things.

 

We are working out pricing today.
We also might hit the strip tomorrow to see what kind of results we can get. I have never been to the drag strip before........there arent any turns there right?
So I would be a complete Rookie there.

 

There was no response to the question regarding the 5AT owners. Will there be any options for us?

Thanks!!

 

We know that there is a slight difference in the rear end for the AT rear end. We received a AT diff early in the year from motorpsorts by mistake and noticed the difference. The complete rear end housing form a manual tranny will bolt up to a at drive shaft. Why tere is a diff hvae no idea. We could easily get some measurements and produce the final spec for AT owners.
We can also put together a complete package which would include a new rear end housing, new diff , and the new final drive. This package would be a complete "plug and play" style sytem. We sell Nismo and OS Giken.

 

BJ- this will not affect VDC/TCS will it?

 

Nope.....it will not effect the VDC/TCS.

 

When I had my Integra Type R I installed a ATS 4.9 final drive (stock was 4.4). Definetly the best mod I had done to the car period! Definetly interested in this upgrade.....

 

is the tech. ecu required? is this something i can deal w/ everyday (my daily driver)? how easy is it to install/get installed, and uninstall (estimated $ for installation)? what mods is your car gonna have when you take it to the strip? ...good luck at the strip, this sounds like great mod, i'm definately interested

 

On my car now as far as engine mods I have Injen intake and Exhaust.
Installation should be done by someone with exp......it isnt as easy as putting a cold air intake on def.
The Ring and pinion installation itself woulnd take that long its getting it to the point of installation and putting everything back together that would take the longest.
The other option is just orering a complete housing wiht new diff and all....then you would drop the old rear end and bolt in the new. But that will be more money.
CHeers
BJ

 

will it void out the warranty on the transmission if you install it?

 

do you know how much the new complete housing costs?

 

i'm not sure how this is installed or where it goes or anything about it (dunno my way around an engine), but i do know dealers cannot VOID a warranty just because you have modifications done to your car...they have to prove that the mod caused the damage, and then they can only refuse to fix the problem...

 

I am chaecking into cost on the complete housing.
I dont think a dealer would have any idea a new final drive was installed.

 

Dealers will never know you changed the final drive unless someone has driven a stock Z before and can tell the gears are shorter, or if they take the diff apart.

 

Cool, thanks guys for the insight. Didn't see the difference, thanks for letting me know. I am still a little interested in this, though.

 

Didnt go to the strip today.............its back to reality on the weather in Cincinnati....in the 40's and cloudy with drizzle.
It does light up the tires in second gear.
I am borrowing a G tech Pro from a buddy and we will fiddle around with it this weekend some......
Should have some numbers on Monday.

 

Pros:
-Going from 3.54 to 3.9 will increase thrust available at the wheels by 10% throughout the power band. To see a similar gain from an engine mod, you basically need a mod or mods that will give you 10% approximately 20-25 WHP throughout the band which is impossible. With these gears, the car will pull 10% harder everywhere and in every gear. These gears will give you a significant acceleration difference that YOU WILL FEEL.
-3-4-5-6 rd gear on acceleration will be sigficantly improved even with the stock tires since they will be able to put the power to the ground.
-Top speed will not be affected by this mod
-Definately the best NA mod for the buck for road racers

Cons:
-A car like the s2000 stands to benefit a whole lot by a gear set like this one, thats why they are very popular with the s2k crowd, the s2000 can use more thrust, especially down low.
However, as it stands, the 1st two gears in the 350z are already short, almost too short, buying gears like these and putting them on a stock tired car will not net a siginificant improvement in the 1/4 mile. It's simple, the stock tires car only put so much acceleration to the ground. Therefore for there to be a benefit out of the hole (1/4 mile), wider rear tires + grippier tires will be neccessary.
-Although you will be accelerating 10% faster, every gear is also 10% shorter, which means you have to shift 10% sooner. Example: You accelerate with both cars, assuming that the car with the gears is able to put the whole power to the ground, the car with the gears will accelerate 10% stronger but will shift earlier while the car with gears will go to 2nd, the stock car will still benefit from the gear multiplication and thrust of 1st for a little longer pulling back some of that lead, same thing for 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6...

- Installation is a real ***** as you need someone that has experience doing differentials, if the gears aren't installed properly they will wear out and be caput very soon, you are looking at the very least $300-500 depending on your local prices for install. ***Don't cheap out here, you need an experienced installer***


Whats the net affect of all this:
The net effect however, will still be postive AS LONG AS YOU CAN PUT THAT EXTRA THRUST TO THE GROUND, I can draw a chart showing this but I am too lazy

So in conclusion, this is an excellent mod for road racers, lazy shifters and anyone who wants to get more neck snapping acceleration . For 1/4 milers, to be a significant gain, you will need wider rear tires + stickier tires to be able to deliver this thrust to the ground, otherwise you will just spin your wheels since you will have 10% more wheel torque or thrust even at 1000 RPM

Thumbs up to you guys for making this available to the 350z community.