This past Saturday, I had these two items installed. I'm extremely satisfied with this upgrade and would recommend to anyone who asks about it*.

I decided on the 4.785 instead of 4.9/5.1 FD because I'm a wimp (basically the same reason why I still have power steering). That and the fact that it is easier on the wallet. Also ended up with the Toda flywheel* because of availability (in stock and ready to ship) and my misconception on "daily" driving with an extremely light flywheel (aluminium based units). This isn't true since the Toda unit is still very "stock" like and I could've gone with a lighter unit. The test vehicle I tried with the Toda flywheel had a crappy (IMHO) clutch.

The car pulls real nice from low RPMs. I believe I'll get better gas mileage with this combo after I get over the novelty of being able to rev towards redline faster than before. It just feels like I don't have to go down a gear to get the car moving. Rev matching/heel toe-ing is so damned easy now that it isn't even funny. I'm truly in love with the car all over again thanks to these mods.

Many thanks to Willard and his assistant WhosITR for the tranny surgery. Thanks again to BlueR (Mr Murphys Law) for everything else.

* Honestly, I love the Toda flywheel because of their design and construction but a good aluminum flywheel would've been fine too. Go with whichever flywheel that floats your boat. The same goes for the FD. Can't go wrong since they're both great upgrades. It's just a matter of which parts you want to buy and install on your car.

Edit - Will have an updated review after Watkins Glen this month.

 

Can you putt around town in 3rd gear now at all times (instead of using 2nd gear so much)?

 

I have the exact same setup.... Toda and JDM FD.... probably one of the best mods I have done....

 

glad you like it.

 

You would think even higher of it if you had ATS + Toda Flywheel.

Marc ---> who also had we-todd assistance with that install

 

Im happy with my ATS 4.9 and Toda flywheel. Passing other cars on 5th gear is effortless.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cosworth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Can you putt around town in 3rd gear now at all times (instead of using 2nd gear so much)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep.

Heck, I notice that I actually go into 4th now since the car feels more zippy.

 

is one of the best mods , i done 4.789 but wish i would of gone with the 4.9

 

Good to hear and nice review Kyle

The FD and FW are some of the best mods IMHO without doing cams or messing with the motor any.

 

Nice review.

I'm in love with my 4.9 + Fidanza setup. Fast revvs and I can practically cruise around in 5th all day. I still average around 29mpg also!

 

Nice review indeed. I can't wait to get my 4.9 installed. I wonder if willard will be up in pa anytime soon?

Mike- who really would like some experience during the FD install.

 

I wonder if your new found joy can attributed mostly to the JDM FD. I'm really curious what kind of improvement the Toda FW can do by itself.

I'm going to be putting in a JDM FD soon but I still have the "go as light as you can" mentality so I'm going to pair the FD up with a Comptech flywheel.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CPR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wonder if your new found joy can attributed mostly to the JDM FD. I'm really curious what kind of improvement the Toda FW can do by itself.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not sure. Since it's more cost effective to do both at the same time, it's hard to find another ITR owner with just the FD or FW upgrade.

 

I test drove the car after the install........The car now has very nice pick up from low rpm, and very smooth "climb" on all rpm range compare to my stock tranny.

 

two (possibly stupid) questions:

1) does lighter flywheel and higher FD gear actually affect acceleration or just how it feels? Are 1/4 mile times (just as a reference) decreased?

2) and a really dumb question... I've noticed even with different intake setups (stock/short-ram/cold-air) that 5th gear highway driving at 80mph, which is at about 4300-4500rpm, makes a pretty loud intake howl in the R. If I accelerate to 90mph, which is about 5000rpm, the howl is gone and the car is quite silent. Since the new FD changes rpm at different speeds, what is your impression of highway driving in the 70-80mph range?

 

same exact setup w/me as well..4.7 + Toda FW.. nothing but good times

 

4.785FD and JUN Flywheel in my Jun3 B16A2 for me. Just installed it last Thursday. Great combo. Couldn't justify the extra cost for 4.929FD.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by uncleben &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">two (possibly stupid) questions:

1) does lighter flywheel and higher FD gear actually affect acceleration or just how it feels? Are 1/4 mile times (just as a reference) decreased?

2) and a really dumb question... I've noticed even with different intake setups (stock/short-ram/cold-air) that 5th gear highway driving at 80mph, which is at about 4300-4500rpm, makes a pretty loud intake howl in the R. If I accelerate to 90mph, which is about 5000rpm, the howl is gone and the car is quite silent. Since the new FD changes rpm at different speeds, what is your impression of highway driving in the 70-80mph range?</TD></TR></TABLE>

1) Reduction in rotating mass (GRM had a diagram on the effects of a lightweight flywheel in quarter mile times on their Project 5.0 car) and the additional umph provided by the FD (multiplier increased by 0.385) will affect acceleration. I can't comment on quarter mile times since I haven't had a chance to go since the car was stock (and a lot more mods have been added since then).

2) Interesting. I guess I'm not the only one who noticed that. The "quiet" spot was approximately 80 mph (with my I/H/E setup). IIRC, it's still the same. It seems louder now in the 65-75 range but about the same after the car hits 80.

 

kyle, just don't call me next week to tell me you are hearing noises from the tranny

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RealTypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Marc ---&gt; who also had we-todd assistance with that install </TD></TR></TABLE>

assistance? you need to check your vocabulary..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

2) Interesting. I guess I'm not the only one who noticed that. The "quiet" spot was approximately 80 mph (with my I/H/E setup). IIRC, it's still the same. It seems louder now in the 65-75 range but about the same after the car hits 80.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's just a resonance effect. I bet if you changed out your intake with a stock one, then the noise would occur at a different speed/rpm range.

 

i get that quite spot at 90mph also... too bad the speed limit is 55-65

and ill be installing a finanza fw either this weekend or next, with no other mods except jdm 4-1 and obd1 p28 w/ hondata. i'll try to post about the differences from just a fw.

 

H-Ter of the Year goes to Willard! Here is your prize... ::

 

i like my setup.

 

newbie question here.

does increase FD = closer gear ratio = lose top speed ?