yes, i searched and did not find what i needed to know...



looking to rebuild a GSR trans for street and HPDE use.

looking to use carbon synchros, and some sort of LSD (undecided) in the rebuild.


my question - what brand and why?

Synchrotech?
Gearspeed?
Some other brand?

looking for longevity and smooth shifts. give me some input.

 

Gearspeed period, because James is the man. He has the best prices and his Customer service is second to none.

 

Gearspeed! Great product,great service, experienced, and great support of their products. I was very happy with Gearspeed!

 

I've dealt with James at Gear-Speed for several years and I have never had a bad experience with either his customer service or his products. I have used his carbon synchros without any issue in my drag car, in fact, I haven't changed them since I got them years ago. Granted I don't race my car alot, but I would say they have at least 100+ passes on them with a horsepower range from 150 to 660. It will probably be time to freshen them up soon, and I will be using their synchros without a doubt.

Honestly, both you probably can't go wrong with either company.

 

Gear speed FTW, nothing but great service with them. I deal with james for over 5 years now.

 

I'm going with Synchrotech, hands down the best people to work with. David has done all the work in research with testing of several differenet ideas and is constantly looking for ways to improve his already great work. I have always used synchrotech in all my cars and all my customer cars. But you shouldnt chose due to a guy being "the man" as stated above. Gearspeed synchros have failed me very fast in the past. Now granted I'm very hard on them, but still, never lasted as long as synchrotech's stuff. I'm telling you out of lots of experience.

Now you mentioned you're looking for a street runner as well as weekend worrior. Thats right up my ally man. I have a GSR transmission in my daily driven 700+whp car. (granted its only 550whp on pump gas daily due to Q16 fuel being $16 a gallon, lol) but yes, I have over 25k miles on this now, always ran synchrotech carbon synchros, and they last longer than anything else I've tried. So run their 1-5 set and make sure your sleeve and hubs look good, and you will have a great shifting transmission. As far as the diff, I know synchrotech offers the mfactory which has shown to be a great lsd at a great price, I personally run a quaife. Just call up there and speak with them and you will be sure to make the right choice, just my opinion. ......Remember, its easy to copy someones work, and charge less, but you get what you pay for.

Hope this helps your choice

 

Dave at Syncrotech \

Although, immitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

 

Gearspeed all the way! They have been around for years and have invested lots of time in our industry. They are the ones that started selling the carbon synchros for racing. James has put together 2 transmissions for my all motor car and has recently helped me assemble my K-Series trans. I never had one single problem with their synchros or work and have put my trans to work at the track running 10s all day. They always shifted like butter. I have nothing but good things to say about them, their service, their work, their ethics are all legit. They are OG's in performance trans industry and there is a reason they are still around! When you say don't buy something based "the man" well why not? James has always helped me in my transmission work and at the track. That is dedication to me. Shows that he is someone who cares about his customers and someone we can rely on for help which is hard to find these days. Just knowing all that is why I keep coming back and send all my fellow racers to them.

 

so, split decision it seems...

but, aside from brand loyalty/good customer service - WHY chose one over the other? one review says synchrotech hold up longer - that's what i want to know...

maybe the guys from Synchrotech and Gearspeed can chime in...

 

It would be unprofessional of me to say that one is better than the other and this/that blah blah blah. That you will not hear out of me. All that I can say is that we have a long track record of satisfied customers that extends back years and years beyond this forum and many others. What you will get out of me is my personal experience. As some of you guys know...I am a die hard when it comes to Honda/Acura automobiles. So I have owned quite a few(11 and counting plus wifeys new civic! lol) of them from daily driven, tracked, and both(b-series, k-series, d-series, turboed, NA, nitrous..you name it!). I still am in this web that we all find ourselves in to this day. We love these cars.

What I am trying to get across is this...just about every Honda/Acura car I have had has had one of our transmissions in it. Whether I built it or my good friend Jason (former builder) put it together...heck even back in the day when Dave built them..they all have had various versions of carbon synchros in them. I am confident in what we sell because I run them in my own cars. Its the first hand knowledge..I have beat my transmissions to death..I wanted them to fail. They never cost me dime since I work here..its what we do. So if I trashed one, I would get another. Never had a synchro issue. Yeah I have killed sleeve/gear combos(driver error :p ) but, never a synchro issue. Took them out and reused them! Some of my former cars are still putting around and have a ton of miles on them..never a complaint about the transmission. That is about all you will get out of me. No bashing etc. Bottom line..you will need to make your own decision

As for the failures...I was unaware of integ2000lsv issue with failures of our synchros? Nothing was ever addressed to me about them so its news to me? Your more than welcome to PM any info about them and glad to discuss the issue and avoid any mud slinging in this thread and it end up getting locked.

extralargenog...not sure what your "imitation" statement is pointed towards? care to elaborate for some of us folks?

I appreciate everyone for chiming in and the positive feedback! I don't know about being "the man" LOL but, I do and always go out of my way to help our community out because I am personally a part of it. I have always been honest and legit with everything we do. Spent many a late night getting builds ready for a race or show, meeting up after hours/on weekends since we all cant get stuff done while we work our jobs, or just chopping it up with trans/build talk. Thank you all! It has been a blessing to help all you guys out!!!!

 

I am happy to supply some information to you about our products. Here is a link showing the history of our carbon synchros: http://www.synchrotech-transmissions..._Synchros.html

Our carbon lined synchros were in the last 2 year Honda Challenge champion cars: 2009 H2 champion with Renan Bayer and 2010 H2 Champion with Jonathon Meris driving. http://cms.skunk2.com/id/659/Getting...s-Motorsports/

We were also featured in Import Tuner magazine: http://www.importtuner.com/tech/impp...ild/index.html

I am Happy to accept the Pepsi challenge and put our carbon synchros up against anything else on the market.

Please feel free to call me or PM me with any questions.

 

Synchrotech

 

GearSpeed Hands down. I recently had my k-series transmission rebuilt by them, they installed a set of their carbon syncros along with finding a few problems with my trans that we never knew of. They corrected everything and the trans is butter. We were so impressed that we now use their products in all of our customer cars and reccomend their parts and service to our friends and fellow racers too. Also, James is the freakin man, you will never meet a better person to deal with.

 

thanks James and David for your input.

no, i'm not trying to start a war between you either - was just looking for some insight from you on why your product may be better than the competition...

 

Sychnrotech

 

I will agree on the point of great customer service in choosing a company. Although I will also ask, Have you dealt with Synchrotech? Because if you have, then I'm 100% sure that you have nothing negetive to say about them. I'm sure the guys at GS are great as well, I'm just saying, base your decisions on the product. Thats what we are here for anyways.


Not trying to mud sling James. But failures are expected in this department. Ultimately, synchros are a wear item of course. So there is no need to really through a fit when they wear, I just except it due to the nature and power of our car. I only posted that for the OP to hear different opinions and experiences. I have done a lot of testing with synchrotech over the years, and I am constantly impressed, so forgive me if I seam bias to them, its just my opinion from what I've seen.


This is a very important point to consider OP.


This would be fun, If you need a car, just let me know lol.

 

To not believe everything you hear and that was UNprofessional.

Quit stirring the pot

 

I've dealt with James from gearspeed and I have to say that they have excellent customer service.. Very knowledgeable and helpful .. After seeing a few friends with transmissions built by gearspeed takin abuse on the daily driver I knew they have good products that's why I chose them..

 

Props to both for being excellent representatives of the industry.
I don't see how you could go wrong with either.

 

lol...

i just priced out the same items on both sites - carbon synchro/bearing kit, 3-4 sleeve, and an LSD - all for a GSR trans...

pricing from both companies came out EQUAL at $1193.00....

so, i'm really relying on feedback from actual users...

thanks!

 

I'm glad this was brought up. I am going to rebuild my 2000 SI trans soon and didn't know where to get great parts. I've been out of the Honda scene for many years. I have a 2-3 grind, 4-5 grind and I think I need a 3rd gear because it pops out once in awhile. This was an existing condition when I bought the car a few months back. I will probably pick up a complete rebuild kit with carbon synchros and purchase a 3rd gear. I was pretty hard on my 2 SI's I've had in the past.

 

i like both of them. Both are helpful and have the best customer service. I wish the other dealer in our sport would run there business like these guys. I am buying from gearspeed at the moment because they have the syncros on sale for a short time.

 

Not stirring the pot. I am not believing anything that I don't know about here. I've been involved with this topic for several years. Stay on topic, or pm your pissing contest please.

 

I have been dealing with David from Synchrotech for quite some time now and i'll continue to give him my business and support. He has top notch customer service and the synchros I have received have been very successful in customers transmissions.

As far as Gearspeed goes I have nothing bad to say, I did get a few synchro sets a number of years ago, but I honestly had better luck with stock brass in comparison to those coated ones.

 

you can call dave and he helps you until your problems/questions are figured out.

have bought sliders, syncros, Mfactory diff. all nice parts.

syncrotech.

duh, winning.