View Single Post
Old 05-19-2018, 03:34 PM   #66
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
The next thing I'd been waiting on is a kit from Ronin Speed Works to convert the final drive to a Ford 8.8 IRS out of a 2007-2010 Explorer. These differentials have a bunch of LSD options (torsen, clutch type, etc) and a whole mess of ratios available. The motivation here is twofold. One, they're practially indestructible - there are RX-7 guys using these diffs in > 1,000hp drag cars with no failures. And two, the stock RX-8 final drive ratios are not well suited to the transmission I'll be using and the engine's relatively low redline. The kit retails for $1,250 but the guys agreed to give me a discount of $250 if I posted a complete install guide and a review as well as feedback on durability once I'm competing with it.

The kit is really well packed and comes with everything. I'll go into what "everything" is as I go along.



The first piece in the kit is this rear mount. This will bolt to the rear cover of the final drive unit, and the ears will accept bushings and then fit to the rear mount on the RX-8 subframe without modification.



The welds on this piece are really well done. It's made of 3/8" thick steel plate which has been laser cut and it's gorgeous.



This plate will bolt around the rear cover of the diff. But first I need to cut the factory Ford rear mounts off of the rear cover. I pulled the cover off to do this and broke out my angle grinder.

John V is offline   Reply With Quote