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Banzai-Racing's Transmission Crossmember review

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Old 07-30-13, 02:16 PM
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Eh

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Thumbs up Banzai-Racing's Transmission Crossmember review

Transmission Crossmember

Not too many products come along anymore that excite me or I feel like taking the effort to write a quick review on. However, Banzai Racing's transmission cross member brace is worth the time.

My personal FD is decently tame and still extremely streetable, I did not want this to change. After installing my Mazdatrix short shifter(thanks Fritz Flynn), I still was not happy with the shifter movement I had when letting off the gas. I was hesitant to purchase this because the Mazdatrix shifters are known to rattle with any drivetrain vibration and mine was not rattling at this time.

Either way, to keep this short, I ordered and installed the crossmember brace from Banzai and it installed in minutes without issue(I also removed the factory cat and installed a hi-flow cat). Absolutely no new vibrations from my shifter and it eliminated about 90% of the shifter movement I had letting off the throttle.

This is an excellent modification to really help solidify the car. Such a great mod in fact that you pretty much forget it is there and just want to believe Mazda made the car this way.

Great product, easy install and makes the FD just that much closer to perfection.

David
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Old 07-30-13, 03:04 PM
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^ Cool story bro.....
Old 07-30-13, 03:08 PM
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/\ as much as i hate to say this... It actually works... I blew a tranny & diff after the big power i dynoed... Swapped a JDM tranny & decided to buy this..... So far holding 9700rpm shifts.... which is a suprise to me...
Old 07-30-13, 03:25 PM
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Two thumbs up from me as well. I have one installed on my 20B setup and it works great. No vibrations and smooth shifting. Love the design of the rubber isolator components. Buy it with confidence
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Old 07-31-13, 03:20 PM
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I was first running Banzai's trans brace ( Transmission Brace ), it worked great no movement & very solid shifts. But it did transfer noise in to the car, great for the track not so great for taking the wife to dinner.
I switched to the cross member (Transmission Crossmember) as soon as it was available. WOW!! Just as solid ( at least to me) with no noise transfer. I am not the best driver in the world but I think this has helped a lot with my shifts and it just feels like more power is going to the wheels.
On the "Best bang for your buck" mod list, Banzai's trans cross member should be near the top.
Old 07-31-13, 04:04 PM
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They state it clears a 4" exhaust fine. Just wondering how close it really is. My 4" downpipe, to 3.75" pipe is tucked kind of high. Just wondering if anyone had any clearance issues.

And yes, I've been eyeballing this for awhile. Thanks for the info!
Old 07-31-13, 04:31 PM
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Having a brace does make a huge difference, Im using one similar to their previous style with some added rubber washers at all the mounting points and its such an improvement.
Old 07-31-13, 08:53 PM
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David, David & Joe- We are happy to hear that you are enjoying our product, it is always nice to hear positive feedback.

Originally Posted by XLR8
They state it clears a 4" exhaust fine. Just wondering how close it really is. My 4" downpipe, to 3.75" pipe is tucked kind of high. Just wondering if anyone had any clearance issues.

And yes, I've been eyeballing this for awhile. Thanks for the info!
We don't actually state an exhaust diameter. That being said, if you do not have a fitment issue with the stock tunnel brace, then you should not have any issues with exhaust clearance with our Crossmember.



Old 07-31-13, 09:45 PM
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Ah, I thought I read the size pipe supported. Thanks for the correction.

Looking at the angle, if definitely looks like I will have no clearance issues.
Old 07-31-13, 10:04 PM
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does someone know the weight of this? don't see it on the website
Old 08-01-13, 04:53 AM
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Shipping weight is 8 lbs.
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Old 08-01-13, 05:03 AM
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Its on my banzai order list
Old 08-01-13, 11:13 AM
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Performance-wise, sound aside, how does the trans brace compare with the crossmember?

I was a little tight for budget and grabbed the brace rather than the crossmember but it will be a while before the car touches the ground again and I'm curious.
Old 08-01-13, 12:20 PM
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their products are so simple that i tell myself that i can fab that up on my own. then reality kicks in, so here i am with scrolling with my sweet-*** banzai racing mouse pad from ordering it lol
Old 08-01-13, 01:33 PM
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Banzai - any chance we can do a group buy on these and save a few bucks?
Old 08-01-13, 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Rotors R Cool
Performance-wise, sound aside, how does the trans brace compare with the crossmember?

I was a little tight for budget and grabbed the brace rather than the crossmember but it will be a while before the car touches the ground again and I'm curious.
Believe it works the same, but the brace transmits noise and vibrations. The crossmember has some really nice anti-vibration mounts to prevent this.

I also have installed the Banzai differential brace which works great as well.
Old 08-01-13, 02:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Rotors R Cool
Performance-wise, sound aside, how does the trans brace compare with the crossmember?

I was a little tight for budget and grabbed the brace rather than the crossmember but it will be a while before the car touches the ground again and I'm curious.
I think Joe sums it up pretty well:

Originally Posted by joe1573
I was first running Banzai's trans brace ( Transmission Brace ), it worked great no movement & very solid shifts. But it did transfer noise in to the car, great for the track not so great for taking the wife to dinner.
I switched to the cross member (Transmission Crossmember) as soon as it was available. WOW!! Just as solid ( at least to me) with no noise transfer. I am not the best driver in the world but I think this has helped a lot with my shifts and it just feels like more power is going to the wheels.
On the "Best bang for your buck" mod list, Banzai's trans cross member should be near the top.

Originally Posted by PandazRx-7
Banzai - any chance we can do a group buy on these and save a few bucks?
This really is not a good group buy item, we already produce these in 100 pc batches and we have already done all the R&D. We are not trying to line up 10 or ?? individuals to make a new product. Typically group buys are run for low (or No) volume products where a company or individual does not want to absorb the costs of production. The other scenario is a private individual trying to reduce the price enough by buying at a volume from a company to get one for free for themselves.
Old 08-01-13, 02:15 PM
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Running the trans crossmember and love it. Highly recommend it, and Banzai. Probably THE BEST customer service currently in our community based in MY personal experience.
Old 08-05-13, 01:32 AM
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just ordered one yesterday... cannot wait to install
Old 08-05-13, 12:07 PM
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Banzai is the best I dealt with so far. Great products and timely shipping.
Old 08-05-13, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Banzai-Racing
I think Joe sums it up pretty well:


This really is not a good group buy item, we already produce these in 100 pc batches and we have already done all the R&D. We are not trying to line up 10 or ?? individuals to make a new product. Typically group buys are run for low (or No) volume products where a company or individual does not want to absorb the costs of production. The other scenario is a private individual trying to reduce the price enough by buying at a volume from a company to get one for free for themselves.

or a company could temporarily boost product sale by offering a special price. or close out your batch.

say because the price of cold roll steel has gone down. and your sitting on these which were made a few months ago from a higher cost raw material. so get rid of these, negotiate a new price. make a higher margin.
Old 08-05-13, 01:01 PM
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Even in that scenario we would not have any need to offer a "group buy", we would just mark the price down on our site. There is no reason for an individual to have to wait for 10, 15, 20 other individuals to get money together. We have the product on the shelf at an exceeding fair price ready to ship.

Reducing profit margin, just to "boost" sales figures is a good way to put a company out of business.
Old 08-05-13, 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by RCCAZ 1
Probably THE BEST customer service currently in our community based in MY personal experience.
100% agree with this statement
Old 08-05-13, 06:58 PM
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Banzai has great customer service! I ordered quite a few things from and shipping was fast too.
Old 08-06-13, 02:43 PM
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Originally Posted by RCCAZ 1
Running the trans crossmember and love it. Highly recommend it, and Banzai. Probably THE BEST customer service currently in our community based in MY personal experience.
Fully agree. If only they weren't in Indiana. Top notch business, shop, and rotary specialist. I didn't know you could have all three!


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