cthree, sorry to hear about your 4.57 woes.

My gear whine can heard around 10 mph with the top up. With the top down, its not noticable at all. The loudest the gear whine gets (with the top up) is around 50 mph, then it dies down after that to a humming type of whine. I have a T1R too, so that probably masks some of the whine.

 

They are fun aren't they My second gear now is like my first gear was when I was stock. I've been 100 and over several times and while the gears are a little noisy, the exhaust note drowns out everything. It's all in the proper back lash and pinion depth.

 

I keep hearing such awesome things about this mod... maybe I'll give in and buy them. What would be the down side to using 4.77s over 4.57s, if any? Also I am assuming that these gear make daily drivng around town easier?

 

this may be a silly question but,
assume youre cruizing the highway at 70 stock S's are around 3.5to 4k rpms where would you be with the new gears installed?

 

Dude...Welcome to the club! 4.57 gives SUPER performance to our car. Mine has a whine but at a level it really does NOT bother me. I have a Comptech exhaust so its not too loud and I can hear and the whine at certain RPMs mentioned aren't that bad. Acceleration is EXCELLENT! If I took all mods off the car,I would leave the gear in.

4.57 vs. 4.77...There is no down side really. 4.57 caps your top end; 4.77 caps your top mph a little further down.

4.57's shift a little more than stock 4.10. Gas mpg suffer @>4?
4.77's shift alot more than stock 4.10. Gas mpg suffer@>7?

To me, 4.57's are more practicle for everyday and Very good for track and autox. Combined

 

 

There is a big difference between the 4.57 and 4.77 gears you are missing.

The 4.77 gears are mazda gears and are not built stronger than the stock gear in our car. They are built for mazdas.

The 4.57 gears are purpose built for the S2k and are MUCH stronger than both the stock gears and the 4.77 gears.


As for mileage, many people say they get better mileage with the aftermarket gears.


Also at 60mph the RPM's are at 3600. At 70mph the RPM's are at 4300.

 

I could have sworn i read somewhere on this board that the stock oem 4.1 gears were made by mazda as well?

 

Ok, but unless you are going with FI, the 4.77 are just fine. I've had mine for a year... no whine, noticeble more pull than the 4.57. I'm glad you like the gears, but I wouldn't mislead folks into thinking that the 4.77 are inferior. There have been several people that have gone from the 4.44 and 4.5 to the 4.77, but I can't think of one person that has down-graded.

 

I'm not saying the gears suck.

But what I'm saying is, remember these 4.77 gears were designed for a car that does not make 240hp. IMO I'd rather have something that was made to withstand the power my car made, stock or not. The 4.77 gears are for the Kia Sportage, which only makes 170hp.

As I said maybe it's personal preference, but I'd rather have the piece of mind of a gear made stronger than our stock gears and made specifically for our car, than one made for a less powerful Kia.