transmission options

[firstturboII88]

What transmissions are easy to swap into a turbo II? Can you put a 6 speed out of an 8 into the fc turbo or are there any other options?

[RXtreme8]

for what purpose? Are you putting down 400 to the wheels and breaking shit? or did yours finally die and need a cheap replacement? Or you have deep pockets and just love to spend time and money for little to no gain?

The stock T2 tranny is almost bulletproof, I would mess with it myself.

There are no plug and play options. All options require work. I've seen people slap FD and Miata trannys into an FC. You might get a T5 to work too, who knows. All would require extensive work like custom driveshafts, fabbing brackets, housing adapters, etc.


Since it looks like you are fairly stock (based on your signature), I would stick with a stock tranny and rather spend your time/money playing with the rear diff. Throw in a 4.30 (from a 89 GTUs) and you'll be golden!

[firstturboII88]

I knew there wouldn't be much to gain and I knew some custom work would be needed, that's what its all about is customizing to your own liking but, I bought the car with fifth grindin and It seems to be getting worse really fast and I know this Is the only downside to that trans. I was just curious to see if the rx8 6 speed would bolt up or any others before fixing the turbo2 trans. Pockets aren't deep just have access to welder and materials. Thanks for the info anyway

[RXtreme8]

I can't tell you whether it would even fit, but assuming it did.... As I see it, there is only one reason to swap in a RX8 transmission.... the cool factor of having 6 gears. And several reasons in my opinion to Not do it.... 4th gear, 6th gear, and PPF.

The Series 1 RX8 (04-08) is a sucky transmission for one. 4th gear shift forks suck ass, and often crack leading to lose of 4th gear. And 6th gear is not high enough, so it's not really like a true overdrive. While Mazda completely redesigned the tranny for 09-10 (much stronger and better gear ratios), those are going to be impossible to find.

The other piece is that starting with the FD, Mazda went to a Power Plant Frame design. The PPF links the rear of the transmission directly to rear differential. So effectively the Engine, Tranny, driveshaft, and rear differential are all One integral peice. Much better/efficient for getting power from the engine to the ground, and much less vibration. On the FC, the front of the tranny is bolted to the engine, and the rear is suspended from the chassis. The diff and bolted to the chassis. So the system relies on chassis strength and all the rubber bushings holding everything together. The engine and diff are twisting in opposite directions.

Now, I believe the PFF mounts could be utilized to bolt the tranny to the chassis, but I dont' know if that would compromise the structural integrity of the tranny housing. The tranny casing was designed to channel the torsional forces through the entire system, and I'm worried that mounting the tranny to the chassis could induce forces it wasn't designed for. Who knows... maybe I'm just way overthinking this.

The real factor may be the physical dimensions. housing to shifter. If the 8's tranny is longer then fine, you can fabricate custom motor mounts and move the engine forward a little so the shifter lines up. If it's shorter you may be in trouble or looking to make a custom interior too.

[firstturboII88]

Well I did some research of my own just to see what exactly was out there on info and found on RX7club a thread where people were sayn all two rotor engines from 85 up have the same bolt pattern for the bellhousing and to confirm I contacted a friend I used to work with at aamco and he said the same now as far as the trans itself it seems to have a similar design as what's in a mustang orlt1 camaro where either a special mount bolts up or a version rod would but uninstalled it looks like a regular trans could you please explain how the trans connects to the diff ie brackets or other thing so I could better understand.