Ok I want to put a RX8 six speed in my '89 GXL. I already have a TII flywheel and driveshaft so it will bolt right up. Only problem is getting a RX8 slave cylinder and shifter. Not to mention there isn't anywhere on the trans for a speedo cable. So are there aftermarket sensors that I can hook up to the diff or the shaft?

 

I've been wondering the same thing...

 

There are a couple different types of aftermarket sensors.

The first is just the speedo drive sensor. Its just a piece that screws inbetween the tranny and original speedo cable and makes an electric signal for an aftermarket speedo.

The second is a magnetic/magneto drive. Generally they have a magnet installed on the inside of a rim, and an electrode on the caliper/suspension. Every revolution, the magnet throws the electrons in the electrode around, causing a voltage spike, which in turn gets computed as tire revolution/ vehicle speed. Cars with ABS already have these sensors on the tires, but the speedo drive (on 2nd gen 7s at least, even with ABS equipped, still use the cable speedo drive for the speedo, the magneto is used for the ABS only).

The final sensor is used on almost all newer in-car navigation equipped vehicles. It uses GPS coords and pings from 3+ sattalites to determine location, direction, and finally, speed.
Given the 4 meter resolution of it (16ish feet -- After all, @ 60mph, you're traveling ~~80ft/second), this is probably the second most accurate, after mechanical speedo drives.



I'm pretty sure RX-8's drive by wire has magneto pickups to handle speed and ABS (input any rx8 junkies)