WhiteAP1

I'll be ordering the ring and pinion from Kia next monday, and i though i should ask if theres anything i should know about that might not be too obvious (ie. shims or other parts i may need) Ive searched the forum, but everything seems to be focused on ricks gears or the US Kia final drive (different ratio) So if anyone who has experience with this please chime in.

AusS2000

I believe you need a shim kit from Honda.

RedRover

You'll also need a number of once-only bolts. You can probably get these from spare parts at a Honda dealer. I could be wrong but I think you might be the first person in Australia to install a 4.6 or a 4.7.

If you participate at the drag races every week and this is the main purpose of your car, then it will be interesting to see if the new ratio improves your times (and by how much). However, if your car's main purpose is a daily driver then I'm guessing it won't be long before you start telling us that the stock setup is best for normal usage.

WhiteAP1

hmmm interesting. It is a daily driver and i also intend a few track days. Ive no interest in Drag racing, got the wrong car if i was. So im guessing ure saying that a 4.44 or 4.57 would be better suited for daily driving?

Blackie

Well yes and no I would imagine. Say you're usually cruising along at a comfortable 2500-3000rpm e.g. 60kph in 4th gear. You may now find that with the new gears you're now at 3500-4000rpm and you need to upshift to 5th gear to get the revs lower and make cruising a little more comfortable at 60kph. This is fine if you don't do a lot of freeway/highway driving, where at 6th gear on the original 4.1 diff you're travelling at 100kph and doing 3400rpm. With the new 4.44 or 4.57 diff you could be doing well above 4500rpm just cruising on the open highway, which can get a little grating.

WhiteAP1

The higher revs dont really worry me, nor the extra dollars at the pump. I willing to sacrafice that for the performace gain.

So anything else apart from a honda shim kit and once of bolts. (and of course yellow box)

Also if anyone has changed their final drive (any ratio) please chime in on how isnstilation went. Great help so far

RedRover

I've got the 4.44 installed. It's tolerable for daily driving but whenever I drive another (stock) S2000 I can't help notice that the standard 4.1 is better for suburban travel.

The 4.44 gives a better set of ratios for Phillip Island but is quite wrong for Winton. In daily driving it means you can use 5th in 60 zones. On the freeway cruising at 100Km/Hr you're using (approx) 3630rpm instead of 3330rpm. The difference is eight percent (8%).

DavidM

I willing to sacrafice that for the performace gain.

Make sure you do a bit more reseach as with a different final drive you will also get a performance drop. You will get a gain in some situation, AND drop in others. It goes hand in hand with a final drive chage.

It's a give and take where 'overal' performance will be more or less the same, but will be improved at some speeds, and worsened at some other speeds.

Vuey

hey whiteap1 ...

have you driven one with the final drive mod ?

might just want to try it out before you go ahead with it , going by some of the response's i would certainly think twice before i do it

WhiteAP1

^I Understand that, and its safe to say ive covered every final drive thread in here (its the reason i joined s2ki.com) . Looked at the gear calculator, ricks, J's, mazda the whole lot. Im aware that third gear will be needed to get to 100km with this ratio, and i'll lose about 20km top end speed. Ive done pros vs cons and asked plenty of Q's. Just thought id ask in the AU forum seeing as though we get a different ratio.

Instilation is my main concern now.