5th, not 2nd.

 

I wish I had the evo8 third and fourth gear sets ib my evo9. With a little more than stock hp you easily run out of fourth .

 

Get a six speed to compensate.

 

Stock Evo 5-spd has a single syncro for 5th gear. I broke two of them before upgrading to the Shep Ultimate Ratio. I'm also running a Shep prototype syncro design for 5th that has worked very well for me. I haven't had any issues since the new trans.

I spend a good amount of time in 5th gear at Thunderbolt, Lightning, and Summit Main.

Lightning I'm in 5th before the bridge, and again as soon as my car straightens up entering onto the front straight. In both places I'm running my car to 7800-8200 rpms in 4th before shifting.

Thunderbolt I'm only in 5th before the bridge through the front straight.

Summit I'm in 5th through the shoot (turn 4), under the bridge from turn 9, take turn 10 in 4th near the limiter and back to 5th on the front straight.

I don't understand how anybody could road race an Evo without hitting 5th gear? Our gears are so short, even with the taller 4th gear and a built head I have to shift into 5th.

 

Aaron, does Shep's prototype include doing double synchros for 5th?

 

At the Glen and LRP all I use are 4th and 5th. I ditched the 6 speed (which I really liked and never had a problem with) for a Shep ultimate ratio 5speed. The jump from Evo 8 4th to Evo 9 5th is pretty small. I contemplated the JDM 5th, but without 4:11 felt it would not have been tall enough.
Shep said the closer the jump the easier on the 4-5 syncros.

Thing is rock solid.

Shoe

 

^ same here. Only use third at the toe at glen. 4th and 5th every where else.

At pocono long, I'm in 5th for nearly 20 seconds, and nearly hitting rev limit in 5th at 154 mph.
havent heard any one breaking 5th gear road racing, only syncro go bad.

 

Shifting to 5th is both necessary and not an issue on road courses. The 5th gear synchro does seem to give out quicker than the others. But outside of us road racers, how many people do dozens (hundreds) of redline 4-5 shifts in their Evo? The single synchro 5th takes a beating.

Very interested in the 'prototype' synchro from Shep mentioned above.

 

From what I understand it's still a single syncro, but it uses a carbon clutch style design that reduces wear/damage. I've run 8 track days with it this season and so far it seems awesome. I don't know when John is planning to offer it to the public, but I've been really happy with the prototype design.

I don't know if I was supposed to say anything about it heh, but I would give John a call and see if he is offering them yet.