manual tranny upgrade

comish71 · Post by **comish71** » February 22nd, 2005, 9:22 pm

i have a 1993 mazda mx-3 with a klze. when accelerating 1st and 2nd gears are awesome, but 3rd gear does not seem to pull as hard. i read on probetalk (the probe gt's have the same ratio) that the ford contour, ford escort, and ford focus all have similar internal components to our cars with shorter and interchangable gears (including 3rd gear) anyone on here heard of this or ever tried it out?

IanL · Post by **IanL** » February 23rd, 2005, 3:41 am

Do a search on Probetalk - it's been intensively discussed there.

390ish · Post by **390ish** » February 23rd, 2005, 9:45 pm

Strange hearing your post. First gear is fine in my car, however, second seems a few cogs too steep. Rest of the tranny is spaced fine over the range of the engine. I hate second gear in my car. Then again, third gear is were the interesting things always seem to happen. 1.8 liter, 1993 gs.

tatsu · Post by **tatsu** » February 23rd, 2005, 11:58 pm

For those who have not checked out the (VERY long) thread on ProbeTalk, here is a summary of the manual transmission options for the V6 MX-3 and all 1993+ MX-6/626/Probes:

The Ford Focus and Contour (and Mercury Sable and Cougar) use the Ford MTX/75 transmission, which is NOT compatible with ours. It is not even close.

Gro Harlem posted a list of cars with transmissions based on the Mazda G-series transmission used in our V6 MX-3's - I have pasted it below:

87 Mazda 323 GT
90-94 Protege LX
91-94 Mercury Capri XR2
91-96 Escort GT, LX-E & Mercury Tracer
92-94 MX-3 GS (pos 1.8 v6)
93-97 MX-6 (both 4 and 6 cyl)
93-97 626 (both 4 & 6 cyl)
93-97 Probe (both 4 & 6 cyl)
95-98 Protege ES (1.8 dohc)
97-99 Kia Sephia (1.8 dohc)
97-present Ford Escort & ZX2's (i'm not sure of this but ppl tell me they use G-series too)
98-01 626 4 cyl (not sure about 6, i forgot if its a k-series)
01-03 Protege w/FS motor (2.0LX, ES, MP3, Protege5, MSP, and in 02' all DX and LX's got the 2.0 standard)

To this list, I would also add the FWD Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute. These transmissions are usually listed as G5M or M5 by Ford, and are, in fact, Mazda-based transmissions. Pretty near all of the internal parts are interchangeable, but the differentials from the Ford vehicles, with the exception of the Probe, are not compatible.

The ZX/2 SR has the same gearing as the MX-3, while the 1.9L Escort has a shorter 1st gear, and taller 2nd through 5th gears. The Ford Escape has much shorter 1st and 2nd gears (too short for a decent 2-3 gap), the same 3rd and 4th as our transmission, and a taller 5th gear.

The main parts of interest for us to upgrade our transmissions are:

1999+ Escort ZX/2 SR synchros - these are apparently a more robust design, and can be swapped straight into our transmissions

Ford Escape FWD 0.70:1/Ford Escort 2.0L (non-Zetec) 0.72:1/Ford Escort 1.9L 0.73:1 5th gear - these are all taller 5th gears than our stock 0.80, and can be swapped straight into our transmissions. This equates to about a 500rpm difference when cruising at 75mph/120km/h for the 0.70:1 from the Ford Escape FWD.

Ford Escape FWD 4.59:1 ring & pinion - gives shorter overall gearing than our 4.39:1 ring & pinion, resulting in better acceleration, but with about a 5% increase in RPM for any given speed, or an increase of about 200rpm when cruising at 75mph/120km/h.

Ford Escort 1.9L (not sure what year) 1.70:1 2nd gear - reduces the rpm drop between 2nd and 3rd when shifting at redline by about 400rpm. Makes the 2-3 spacing a bit better, but at the cost of making the 1-2 spacing a bit worse - for me, a good tradeoff since I don't drag race, but I like to attack the twisties. 1st gear just gets me rolling...

If you have a nice torquey 2.5L or turbo/supercharged 1.8 or 2.5, the best combo for acceleration might be our 1st gear, Escort 1.9L 2nd - 5th, the Ford Escape ring & pinion, and the 99+ ZX/2 SR synchros.

Limited-Slip Differential Options

There are three (fairly) readily-available options for our transmissions when it comes to LSD's.

First, the Quaife ATB differential. It is available from Mazdaspeed Competition Parts or Corksport with the appropriate ARP bolt kit for our transmissions. This is a "torque-biasing" style of diff, which is excellent for road-racing and 99% of street driving - it really helps put the power down in corners.

Second, the JDM LSD from some ZE transmissions. It is a clutch-type limited-slip, which is good for drag racing but may induce a little bit of understeer when cornering.

Third, the Mazdaspeed Protege LSD. This is also a clutch-type LSD - the notes for the JDM LSD also apply here.

Hope this clears up the situation for some folks! Any questions, PM me and I'll update this post to reflect the additional information...

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » February 24th, 2005, 9:41 am

Yup, that clears up alot of ?s I've had recently. Thanks!
However, one question that I still need answered. Are any of the cars listed equiped with a LSD. I was hopeing that the MS Protoge was, but don't know. Fingers crossed.

tatsu · Post by **tatsu** » February 24th, 2005, 1:06 pm

Yes, the Mazdaspeed Protege has a limited-slip, and it does fit. I will amend the post above to include info on differentials.

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » February 25th, 2005, 3:10 am

I have a question here.....

tatsu

Second, the JDM LSD from some ZE transmissions. It is a clutch-type limited-slip, which is good for drag racing but may induce a little bit of understeer when cornering.

All the KLZE's that ive seen are Auto's so do the auto's have LSD's
if the factory option box was ticked? and will a auto diff go into a
mannual?????

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » February 25th, 2005, 3:13 am

lol my second gear also sucks :O gs 1.8

IanL · Post by **IanL** » February 25th, 2005, 3:24 am

kiwi_MX3 wrote: IAll the KLZE's that ive seen are Auto's so do the auto's have LSD's
if the factory option box was ticked? and will a auto diff go into a
mannual?????

Not sure, but most of the KLZE autos will be from Millenias/Eunos 800, which are auto only. I would expect that, being a "highway cruiser", they don't have LSD as a rule. KLZE with MTX come out of MX-6s and 626s, but they stopped that about 1997-8??, so the supply must be very limited by now. Logic suggests that most of the LSD-fitted cars would have been MX-6s.

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » February 26th, 2005, 1:12 am

Cheers Ian,

There is a decent supply of MX6's down here, have to
start hunting around the wreaker's a bit for cost's..