Finally pulled the trigger on one of Banzai’s transmission braces and installed it over the winter. With spring finally arriving I had a chance to put a few miles on it and thought I’d share….

Very happy. I’m not making huge power, maybe 300 at the wheels. And I’m running Noltecs for engine mounts which reduced the “spoon in a bowl of jello” movement but never really eliminated it. That always bugged me a little. Well, this brace pretty much eliminated what was left. Plus, I really haven’t noticed any increase in nvh so far….and I think I’m pretty sensitive to that.

Installation was pretty intuitive and smooth, although I did read thru Banzai’s instructions. I think the big thing is to leave all the fasteners loose until everything is installed before tightening.The only other issue was one bolt hole not lining up quite enough to start a bolt. I put it on the drill press and increased the hole dia. about 2 mm. Spritz’s some black paint in hole and all was well.
Maybe 30 minutes total for the install, but that was on the lift.

Seems like every so often someone posts on an issue with what ends up to be a warped or twisted PPF from some PO doing stupid things. If you’re making anything significant over stock power, maybe with fatter, stickier tires, you might want to consider one of these. Track or auto crossers for sure.


http://www.banzai-racing.com/store/F...040.1680038096

 

I have noticed that my powder coater seems to have changed to a thicker material, might be the reason why you had to open up the hole, but I don't know which one you are referring to.

 

Thanks for the review! This is one of those upgrades that is on my "to do" list that is just waiting for time and a little bit of disposable income; glad to hear it works as advertised and was an easy install. I'm guessing on that one hole you had to bore out a little bit that the issue was too thick of a powder coating applied on the hole's inside diameter that needed to go, as opposed to the hole being too small or misaligned to begin with?

 

This brace is the one thing Mazda forgot. It should’ve came on the car from the factory. Outstanding product.


~ GW

 

The aft one on the ‘main’ brace above the exhaust. It really wasn’t much.

 

Mazda didn’t forget it; intentionally not used for a passenger vehicle wrt NVH and only ~280 bhp output.

like anything though, once you add power and aggressive/abusive use then some things need to be changed or upgraded to account for it.
.

 

Imagine how many 5th gear synchronizers would’ve been saved had they.


~ GW

 

I still chew up my 5th gear synchros with it but nonetheless it is a great product.
and yes mazda should have installed a transmission mount like most cars with a transmission mount


my only issue while it has nothing to do with the brace itself, i managed to strip the threads that it mounts on after many years of abuse. Nothing a set of helicoils cant fix

 

or made the chassis and PPF system stiffer, that didn’t happen until the SE3P unfortunately.

so you get a bandaid for your scuffed OD knee instead.
.

 

Forgotten or intentional, I figured it was a combination of over confidence in their innovative PPF and the engine mount design (especially the early ones), cost, assembly-line considerations, and weight-saving.
It was probably a mistake even at stock power levels.

 

Yeah really. Right up there with liquid filled diff mounts. I wouldn’t be as bold to call his mount a Band-Aid, but I understand your analogy. Everything is a trade-off, we all can’t reinvent the wheel. As you know, sometimes you have to work with what you got. Either way, it’s a super nice piece from a reputable company.


~ GW

 

Judging by your signature, I can see why you do. Efr 9280 @28 psi will get it done. You just may be outside the realm of a normal fd .

 

well my 5th gear is my overdrive, i do not use it on track or even on the street unless i am actually cruising. I even switched my 5th gear to a taller ratio so i can cruise without getting a serious migraine i dont even power shift from 4th to 5th.
i consider my fd a very normal fd. it behaves like a slightly modded street car but it can slingshot you when you want it to.

the extra power is what stripped the threaded inserts but the fact is that the synchro design from mazda is poor. good thing is, its a relatively easy job to replace it

 

One of my threaded inserts was stripped from a previous owner. I actually found on those, you can tap them to the next size just fine. But a helicoil works great also.


~ GW