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- 2008 Mazda5 GT
Before settling on the Mz5, I was looking into a ’07 manual SX4. The 5sp also suffered high revs at highway cruising. In 2008 (2010 upgraded to a 6sp), Suzuki revised the 5th gear on manuals and made it taller, allowing the car to drop ~500 rpm when cruising in 5th. This lowers NVH and improves HWY mpg by about 2MPG (MPG was/is a big gripe about the car), but decrease 5th gear pull by a little. I think this is a worthwhile trade off when you can (and should) down shift if you really want to overtake someone. Members then went and bought and swapped out the 5th gear. Since it was a manual, the gear can be swapped without dropping the transmission.
I have always wondered if Mazda did the same or if the same 5sp tranny with a taller 5th gear existed in another car that can be reused. I think Mazda, being a smaller shop, do a lot of parts bin sharing but there's no way to confirm tech details unless we have a Mazda insider. I do a bit of HWY cruising and really dislike the noise. The MPG improvement (~1-2) is icing on the cake and help to justify/offset the added cost (gas is only going to go higher). Did a bit of searching and found there 'was' (not sure if they are still in business) a vendor that made a taller direct fit/replacement 5th gear. Anyone here looked into this? The posts are kinda old but if they are in business, I would consider it as it pays off in the long run and in other ways (comfort for the family). However, this is only half the battle. One would still need to find a competent transmission shop to do the swap…
http://www.mazda3 forums.com/index.php?topic=47528.0
EDIT: Just re-read and noticed this on post 12 by the OP.. as it is a Mazda stock part... trade secret though. . So this may very well be a different 5th gear from another Mazda... But what? hmmmmm.
Also, some of the math on RPM drops gets lower and lower
I have always wondered if Mazda did the same or if the same 5sp tranny with a taller 5th gear existed in another car that can be reused. I think Mazda, being a smaller shop, do a lot of parts bin sharing but there's no way to confirm tech details unless we have a Mazda insider. I do a bit of HWY cruising and really dislike the noise. The MPG improvement (~1-2) is icing on the cake and help to justify/offset the added cost (gas is only going to go higher). Did a bit of searching and found there 'was' (not sure if they are still in business) a vendor that made a taller direct fit/replacement 5th gear. Anyone here looked into this? The posts are kinda old but if they are in business, I would consider it as it pays off in the long run and in other ways (comfort for the family). However, this is only half the battle. One would still need to find a competent transmission shop to do the swap…
http://www.mazda3 forums.com/index.php?topic=47528.0
EDIT: Just re-read and noticed this on post 12 by the OP.. as it is a Mazda stock part... trade secret though. . So this may very well be a different 5th gear from another Mazda... But what? hmmmmm.
Also, some of the math on RPM drops gets lower and lower
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