4.88 Final Drive review / Spencer Fabrications

[Hawk77FT]

Originally Posted by Hostile_Kittens

Would swapping the 4.3 out of a junkyard auto FR-S in to a MT BRZ make a significant difference over the 4.1? Would I need to go to 4.5X to feel anything significant.

If I plan on going with a JRSC in the future should I just leave it alone?

I think 4.3 is already present in some old RS200 Altezza (very hard to come by). Not sure if it will exactly the same specs in order to fit but it might worth looking into it. Weir Performance had something similar. Otherwise it might be just a matter of waiting for some kid with a 2017 one, run out of talent and pick one up cheap from wreckers in your area.
With that said however, for a manual 4.556 final drive is better in my opinion and priced well. (toyota part)
I have done mine and could not be any happier.

[blackspike]

I have the Mfactory 4.67 final drive with the auto transmission and i love how fast the car feels with it.
The oem Michelin Primacy tires are getting wheelspin when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear - now i have Continental SportContact 5 in 225/45 17 - no more wheelspin but also very hard to drift around corners.
Unfortunately the Mfactory final drives are whining.

I would love to have a 4.88 final drive which is helical cut and silent like the oem final drive.
But here in Austria it's not easy to get the parts and find a dealer who can install it.

[phrosty]

Just swapped to my winter wheels and discovered something ridiculous. Holding brakes down and mashing accelerator to launch, I can spin the rear wheels at a stop.

Pretty sure this means I can go to muscle car meets now, right?

[Falcon]

Welcome to the World of Burnouts!

[Joesurf79]

Has anyone tried calling Spencer Fabrication lately? They're phone seems to be out of service?

[jcw99]

i can't get on their site, something about a server as an explanation

[Silver Cervy]

What's the average price for a 4.88 job? Assume I'd have someone install it for me.

[Icecreamtruk]

Originally Posted by Silver Cervy

What's the average price for a 4.88 job? Assume I'd have someone install it for me.

In Canadian moneys: it was around $500-$600 without me doing anything. Meaning I drove the car to the shop and brought them the parts and then picked up the car the day after and then raced the car the day after that

Edit: this doesnt include the price on the FD itself or bearings if you change them (depending on the shop and the wear on yours you might be able to reuse them, I didnt), and the price of the oil. All in all it was around $1400-1500.

[Silver Cervy]

Originally Posted by Icecreamtruk

In Canadian moneys: it was around $500-$600 without me doing anything. Meaning I drove the car to the shop and brought them the parts and then picked up the car the day after and then raced the car the day after that

That's amazing, seriously. I'm looking for ways to make my car feel faster without going FI and this looks like a great upgrade. Didn't even know they offered diffs that high. Gonna be doing the whole intake/header/tune combo soon so I'll see how she feels after that.

Edit: Even after your edit that's still less than what I was originally expecting, and only a fifth of the cost of a turbo kit. Still very interested.

[Icecreamtruk]

For a quick and dirty before/after, I already had drop-in, exhaust and tune on the car when I did it. On the track, speeds shifted. Where I'd normally be in 4th, im now in 5th and so on for every gear. On the street it feels better, you shift more often without having to drive at 2k rpm in 3rd all the time like a granny.

So street use: awesome mod, I'd do it.
For track use: I'd do the 4.5 or 4.3 if I had to do it again.

[Silver Cervy]

Originally Posted by Icecreamtruk

For a quick and dirty before/after, I already had drop-in, exhaust and tune on the car when I did it. On the track, speeds shifted. Where I'd normally be in 4th, im now in 5th and so on for every gear. On the street it feels better, you shift more often without having to drive at 2k rpm in 3rd all the time like a granny.

So street use: awesome mod, I'd do it.
For track use: I'd do the 4.5 or 4.3 if I had to do it again.

It's my DD so no problems there. What kind of speed limits do you have where you live? Normally around here it's 45 so I'm driving around 50 at 1800 rpm in 5th, which is technically worse.

[Icecreamtruk]

Originally Posted by Silver Cervy

It's my DD so no problems there. What kind of speed limits do you have where you live? Normally around here it's 45 so I'm driving around 50 at 1800 rpm in 5th, which is technically worse.

30 most of the time. So its was the same but in forth gear for me, or staying in third and still be a bit over 2k rpms which is still way below any kind of usable power.

[Joesurf79]

Originally Posted by jcw99

i can't get on their site, something about a server as an explanation

Great... They've had my diff (and$$) for 3 months, waiting on a 4.56 install. No response to emails for a while. I'm almost out of patience with them, and now I can't get ahold of them.

[Mim]

First and best mod I did to the car's drive line was the Cusco 4.556 FD and a lighter drive shaft because hey the diff is already out so why not upgrade that too?

Car became much more fun. Second gear in the AT is pretty phenomenal and, for the city driving I do, it was amazing. There is no gear whine either due to the helical cut of the Cusco gears.

As for fuel economy, mine actually improved as I was able to shift to higher gears at the same local speed limits. I track all the mods in my fuelly profile below so people can see how my economy improved over the life of the car if interested.

Great review OP!