I was just wondering how strong an fd tranny is? I have never heard of anyone breaking one but i wasnt sure if that was because the motor usally goes first or what. just wondering
thanks in advance --Arron

 

It's actually a pretty damn strong tranny. Synchros will have problems, but it takes quite a bit to REALLY mess one up to where it isn't functional. I've heard that 3rd gear is the one that goes when you're making a LOT of power - like well north of 400hp.

Dale

 

i had a 1 month old race tranny that I had built, it was a stock case with better internals was awsome but was running some nitto 555r's and when I hit second it bit to hard on the road and cracked it right where pan and the driveshaft is. So gears I hear are good for over 600hp but the be careful on the case

 

double post

 

Here's an example of a trans breaking.

Watch the last video titled z-club 2.05 loosing 3rd in t-1

Apparently they're not that tough Those are really tears flying out of the top of my head.

http://fritz.sysadmin-racing.com/

 

ouch, just like that huh.

 

So when is it a good ideato upgrade? and what cind of tranny do you upgrade to? because we are on the subject how strong is the drive line on a 3rd gen? the reason im asking is because im in the middle of a single setup and am looking at atlest around 405whp and im wondering how well its going to hold up?

 

Should be fine. I've heard most people don't upgrade that part of the drivetrain until 500hp+, then you're getting into dog-box gearset options only.

Lets say this: it's about 5x cheaper to break a couple of FD trannys than to upgrade the transmission. Diff, powerplant frame, driveshaft, axles will probably have problems first.

Run a search for "6-speed" by user Jimlab. He's far from the only one out there who knows these transmissions, but he's participated in a bunch of threads on the transmission upgrade subject. You'll find plenty of info.

Dave

 

you'll be fine. end of thread.

 

so what's the mod on Fritz's car?
How much HP was he pulling when his tranny went out?

 

Since Fritz was racing his car it is very likely that too much power wasn't the reason it broke. It could have just worn out, gotten too hot or maybe shock loaded with a really hard shift. You know how excited Fritz gets when he is gaining on another car...

As far as upgrading your transmission. There are not really any easily affordable options. I say if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

I second it.

 

You obviously didn't watch the vid

Also if you watch the vids I rarely grind em, drag em, etc....but I do get excited when I spot a fast rear bumper LOL

After talking with my mechanic who races spec miatas it just happens after a certain # of hours on the track even to the miatas.

This was my 6th or so track event with the car and I'm sure Brad (the previous owner) probably had 50 to 100 days on it.


Like some others have mentioned the drive train on the FD is one of its better components. **** breaks and I just happened to see this post right after my trans died and had to reply

 

How much is a new stock tranny? (sorry i have a first gen and im lookin at buyin a 95 with a bad tranny)

 

New trans from Mazda Comp is around 1900 or so shipped.

 

What exactly broke?

Dave

 

I got lucky mine was 500 and here in town I just had to go and pick it up.

 

Has anyone ever monitored the oil temps in the gearbox? A lot of times, under competition use, a good oil cooler and an electric oil pump fix a lot of problems, especially if combined with squirters aimed at the contact points. I don't have personal knowledge of this applied to FD's, though.

Of course, that won't help with things like engagement dogs shattering, but it will help a lot with bearings and the gears themselves. What actually breaks with FD trannies?

Take care,
Shad

 

Fritz... I know you didn't break it with bad driving... I was just teasing you. The way it just suddenly went sounds like it just decided it was time to retire after a long hard life.

They last a long time even under race conditions... just throw a good low mileage Jspec tranny in when it breaks... cheaper than getting fancy with the oil coolers.

I called Mazda Competition a month ago and they said that a new tranny is about $2100 now and they are backordered from japan at least 3 months.

 

Hello-

I dunno about that... an electric pump is $125 or so. A cooler is about $100. A fan (if desired) is another $75. Add some AN lines (another $50-100) and you're done. For the price of at maximum one used tranny, you might be able to keep your existing one from blowing up all the time.

Then again, if "all the time" translates to "once every 5 years under race conditions," then who cares... :-)

Take care,
Shad

 

Pretty much, the only guys that I've seen break tranny's are the road racing guys. The drag guys break diffs.

 

Nah, we break tranny's too.

 

i do know that a particular tuner has finished prototyping a Tremec rotary adapter which is the ultimate solution re transmissions. it should be available in 05. the ultimate vendor is a somewhat pricey real deal professional drivetrain racing components ( you might find it easy to guess as there is only one) but once it is made i am sure that the creative resources on the board should be able to build something similar at a fraction of the $s.

the tremec is easily and cheaply found in boneyards as it is behind most camaros corvettes etc etc and comes in an unending amount of gear ratios and is plenty stout. if you want more Tremec info just visit their website. a cutting edge trans.

howard coleman

 

I imagine one of the main challenges with using another type of transmission in the FD would be modifying the power plant frame.

 

Or eliminating it.

Howard, by "Tremec", are you referring to what was formerly the Borg Warner T56 6-speed (now Tremec-manufactured), or are you referring to the Tremec aftermarket 5-speeds (TKO, TKO II), or are you referring to the T5 5-speed that came in pre-1993 Camaros, etc.?