i doesnt directly apply so i didnt intend to mention it but once 94 said he didn't care for the 4.11 i figured i would add that my 4.0 feels great just to show its still an opinion...

still taking it easy on the car as i rebuilt everything all at once... had a few kinks to work out... but soon i will be able to lend better feedback on how it performs in more demanding situations...

if it doesn't blow up first...

 

Josephq143
Thanks for the experienced feedback

Many seem to not read the question: reiterating what we all know that final drive changes all gear-spacings equally therefore 5th will be equally big gap after 4th, missing the JDM 5th gear.

So I reinstate.
It's basically Ultimate Gear Ratios with 4.11 gearbox, that all renowned transmission shops endorse, Shep, Jack, TRE, and across the pond in UK Arnside, Ross Performance
To name a few

I hope some with Ultimate Ratios transmissions can pitch in experience

 

I have an evo 4. it comes with the so called ultimate ratio from the factory. find one off ebay. then order the 4.11 from jacks. hes the only one who does jack the price. its a factory part. 900 from shep, 650 from jacks last I checked.

Without knowing the definition of long track its hard to make a good recommendation. do you assume everybody has been to the tracks you mention? cause most on here have no clue. thats why i asked for better idea of the cars use. like how much time it spends in each gear. otherwise your just soiling yourself in the wind with looking for advice.

 

You really think most of us are just making stuff up? I've had everything from stock to 650whp on stock final drive and 560whp pump/750whp e98 on the 4.11/ultimate ratio.

Driving my friends car back to back with mine - also over 700whp on stock final drive - you can definitely tell the difference. It is huge.

For my pump tune (560whp), the 4.11 isn't worth it. The sacrifice in acceleration isn't exceeded by the benefit of having longer gears. On the e98 tune the power makes it worth the sacrifice in acceleration for longer gears (less shifting).

I would not move to a 4.11 final drive on anything making under 600whp. Period.

The ultimate ratio set up on a stock final drive would be good for road courses unless you are going for unlimited class power

 

I have been building fast turbo cars for 35 years. building transmissions for 25. your not teaching me anything.

 

do you know anyone with an evo 9 5spd? ask them to let you play in 5th and see how it feels... its a middle ground without spending 2k for nothing...

 

Well you had it wrong so you may have had a senior moment! Hahaha. No big deal. What fast Turbo Car did you have in 1978?

 

Thank you for the feedback

I have two Evos, a TME RS2 with the GSR ratios 94AWDCoupe talks about, and the Evo 8 standard US ratios.
For sure the TME gear ratios are superb. That is my backroad car.
But my Eight is meant to be DD, Track, and longer-drives car.
Longer 5th is wonderful on freeway for sure.

Frankly, big jump between 4th and 5th is not a huge issue on tracks (Thunderhill, Buttonwillow, Laguna Seca, Infineon Raceway, specifically close to me), but the story started by me wanting 6 speed, knowing its weak, and finding out Shep does not offer the upgraded gears any more. Than I thought, well, lets get the 5 speed reconfigured.

But I hear you: for 600whp car, 4.11 starts making sense, but for 350-400whp car, maybe not so much.

Well, lets hear more.
I do have an extra gearbox, all near inside, that can be reconfigured to JDM 5th, and 4.11.
But will not do that unless we are all convinced its the right decision: would not do it against better advice from those that have experienced and know.

Thanks all

 

Long and short are different than close and wide spaced gears. You can have a tall close ratio Trans and a wide ratio short gear Trans.

 

If it see's highway miles I wouldn't worry about the 5th gear issue. You will not gain much time on track and trips will become really annoying. If it is mostly a track car, the IX 5th gear (or ultimate ratio) will make the car a lot more fun on high speed courses.

My new track toy is ultimate ratio on stock final drive. Unfortunately it won't be together til the start of next season (way too many vendors pushing back release dates *cough*aimsports*cough*) so I can't give you real world experience. But if you are still deciding when its done I'll let you know haha.


Not sure what you are getting at here. Is this just a general knowledge statement? We don't really have a plethora of options on evos.

Your choices for 5 speeds are stock gearing, or add evo IX 1st or 5th or both. Then you have final drive options 3.88/4.0/4.11/stock. Anything past that gets really spendy.

Of course you can always go drop $20k on a sequential and gear it however you please. . .

 

like i said.. try the 9... its longer then the jdm so no need for the 4.11 and shorter then the 8 so you get a middle ground... it was pretty annoying to me when i would cruise the highway at 3k+ doing the speedlimit and my buddies all rode at 2500... which is why i went 4.0... try it and you'll meet in the middle... decent daily and decent track... but not dedicated to either... and much much cheaper/easier upgrade.

 

Interesting, did not think you'd notice the Evo 9 5th gear that much, but I should try that, as a small reasonable step.
I don't that unless I upgrade to stroker and large turbo I'll be going 4.11.

 

The idea taller gears are better on a turbo car is a complete joke. You have enough load to get full boost in 2nd gear. Any additional load doesn't do anything for you on the engine side. A taller gear however will give up mechanical advantage and reduce torque transmitted to the wheels. Long gear ratios suck on the street too. By the time you get into the peak HP area of the car, you are already past the speed limit in 2nd gear.

The only benefit you would get with the taller final drive (reducing cruise RPM), you would be eliminating with the shorter 5th gear. Otherwise, the taller FD has simply reduced wheel torque in each gear and will slow the car down. As mentioned, the only reason guys go to the 4.11 for drag racing is to avoid shifting to 5th. Ultimately, you have to figure out what compromise is more acceptable to you. Crappy acceleration in 5th or crappy cruise engine speed. The EVO 9 5th gear is a pretty reasonable compromise as it makes the 4-5 shift drop to 5800 RPM shifting at 7800 RPM where the VIII gear drops you to 5400. The JDM gear keeps you at 6200 RPM. @80mph, you’d be at 3400 on the VIII, 3600 on the IX and 3900 on the JDM. Top speed is 180 on the VIII, 170 on the IX, and 160 on the JDM.

 

EVO 9 5th sounds like an awesome compromise solution.

Thanks