5.84 Final Drive Review

[Midnight]

5.84 MFactory Final Drive.

Had today to spend driving the car with the new final drive.

What I will say is that we have also gone with the Area Motorsport UK spec 4-5th gear ratio.

1st: Not as extreme as people would have you believe. It does indeed go through the gear quick BUT still very usable.

2nd: flys through 2nd gear and starts to pick up speed.

3rd: again, picks up speed while going through the rpm.

4th: firmly in the power now and full use of the rpm range.

5th: similar to 4th.

6th: we kept the JDM 6th and at a guess I'd now say top speed is around 130mph.


Motorway driving: Rather tedious in truth. Easiest way to explain is that 3rd feels like 2nd. 4th feels like 3rd etc.

B-road driving: The final drive really comes into its own. Always feels like you have power on demand, and in power through and out the corner. Already I can tell on track it will be hugely beneficial.

Overal: Not as extreme as we thought, obviously it sacrifices a bit refinement (If you can call DC5 gearing refined) but makes driving much more fun and no need to drop gears to be in the power. Our VTEC is set at 4800rpm.

For us will be perfect, for someone who uses the car daily it could be just a little too extreme but for a weekend warrior/track car it's great.

 

[carl hammond]

Another great review mate, would be lovely to see the car in the flesh one day.

Thanks again forcthe review as this will help others myself included with fd decisions going forward

 

[spooke]

Good insight into the higher final drive, look forward hear what you think of it on track. Would you say for daily 5.1 or 5.3? I plan to have either fitted when I eventually have some gearbox work done.

 

[Midnight]

I think the 5.3/5.4 with the DC5 gearing would be brutal on the road yet still offer great day to day driving. I think this option would be the best compromise.

The 5.1 I think would be a bit tame. Still be better than OEM as in theory you only sacrifice top end which isn't usable on the road or track.

I'd have liked to of tried 5.8 with the OEM gearing. That would of been ballistic but very unusable in many circumstances.

 

[Fez]

I have a 5.3FD and i use it daily, its not so bad. I did have an EP3 6th gear fitted but went back to stock 6th as i changed job and moved house so I wouldnt be on the motorway as often.
But even though the car 'feels' alot more lively with the FD, is it actually any quicker? Personally I dont think so.

What ratios are the Area 4th/5th? Are they longer or shorter than stock?

 

[Midnight]

That's a good point actually. It certainly 'feels' quicker lower down as you're ALWAYS in the power no matter what gear you're in.

The whole 30% extra torque I think is more of a paper figure but for sure it's quicker lower down the gears.

 

[p1tse]

From memory I think the speed and rev needle match positions on oem setup

So I think with the 5.1 I have I‘m up about 300rpm from memory to where I would have been when in 6th gear
Ie at 60mph it would have been 3k revs but I‘m about 3.3k revs

 

[Crazylegs]

Do they sound different with the more aggressive final drive? Love the noise of straight cut boxes.

 

[Midnight]

Yes.

Has a whine when normal driving and really aggressive lower down because revs shoot up sooooo quick!

 

[p1tse]

What revs does your show when at 60mph in 6th gear?

 

[Midnight]

Will let you know tomorrow Patch.

 

[mike.williams]

I have a 5.3 now and its good for road and track. I am however going to get an ep 6th fitted to drop the cruising revs.

The only track i hit 6th gear on was rockingham but I realised it was better to hang on in 5th also i felt the 4.7 would have suited the in field section better but for my local tracks my gearing is spot on.

I could do an accord 6th but i dont want a huge rev drop between 5th and 6th

For pure track the 5.84 must be epic.

 

[Midnight]

What revs does your show when at 60mph in 6th gear?

60 in 6th gear @ 3700rpm
70 in 6th gear @ 4300rpm
80 in 6th gear @ 4900rpm
90 in 6th gear @ 5400rpm


👍🏼

 

[p1tse]

Interesting info.

For interest my 5.1

60 in 6th is 3250-3300rpm
70 in 6th is about 3700 rpm

 

[dave7368]

Do they sound different with the more aggressive final drive? Love the noise of straight cut boxes.

Excuse my friends very dodgy camera skills but here's a couple of clips of how mine sounds..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f80YlN1pBXQ&feature=youtu.be

 

[Midnight]

Excuse my friends very dodgy camera skills but here's a couple of clips of how mine sounds..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f80YlN1pBXQ&feature=youtu.be

That's surely not a 5.84 final drive???

 

[p1tse]

Do they sound different with the more aggressive final drive? Love the noise of straight cut boxes.

I don‘t get why the sound would be different with a FD

 

[Crazylegs]

Excuse my friends very dodgy camera skills but here's a couple of clips of how mine sounds..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f80YlN1pBXQ&feature=youtu.be

Awesome mate!

That's surely not a 5.84 final drive???

It's a full straight cut M factory gearbox he has I believe, Dave will answer it properly for you.

I don‘t get why the sound would be different with a FD

Isn't it because they're straight cut gears rather than helical cut?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Midnight]

Crazylegs. That's correct.

The angle they are cut at are straighter creating the whine.

 

[Liam]

Crazylegs. That's correct.

The angle they are cut at are straighter creating the whine.

As above, the M factory final drives are semi-helical so you do get a slight whine from them, more so with the 5.84 apparently but the noise from my 5.46 is barely noticeable.

Interesting topic this and I'll throw in my 2p in case it is useful to anyone considering a different final drive.

I've fitted shorter final drives to other cars in the past and fully believed it was one of the best things you can do, but I have very mixed feelings about my 5.46. The car feels like it accelerates quicker, but with more gear changes needed to reach the same speed as before; it feels like it cancels out any advantage. In my experience, there doesn't seem to be any difference in straight line pace with the 5.46 versus the original final drive. A rolling start from 60-65ish is now in a really awkward spot as there's not enough of third gear left to use and fourth feels a bit flat, whereas the original final drive is good to go in third gear.

That said, when I took the car back to Cadwell Park with the 5.46 fitted it was fantastic. The engine was always on the boil and I could make the most of every gear on the straights - this is less of an issue at Caddy, but at other tracks I've found myself needing to change into fifth on straights for all of a couple of seconds before getting on the brakes. Now I get much more use out of fifth on the straights. The same can't be said for my local track of Croft though as it really didn't suit the 5.46 - I found I needed to short shift at hawthorn to avoid running out of revs at the chicane.

I also went for the EP3 sixth gear and don't regret that decision - 70mph cruise is around 3750-3800 RPM now so I tend to bumble along at 65mph now which is a more comfortable 3500 RPM. I've never needed sixth gear on any of the tracks I frequent, probably just as well as if you max fifth and change into sixth, it definitely feels like an odd gear out in the cluster compared to the JDM sixth. I personally doubt you would need sixth gear with a 5.46 in an N/A DC5 on UK tracks other than airfield days, so I would definitely recommend the EP3 sixth if you drive on the road or travel long distances to/ from tracks. Just be aware that the pre-face and facelift EP3 sixth gears are different - you need a pre-facelift EP3 sixth to fit a DC5 box.

In terms of ratio, I feel a less severe 5.1 would be the best all rounder for an N/A DC5 that is predominantly used on the road with the odd track day here and there - you'll get a slight benefit in acceleration but without taking too much out of the speeds that are attainable in each gear (to the point it feels like you're constantly changing gear). It would also negate the need for a longer sixth.

In summary, I find it a hard modification to recommend and I do wonder if it's because I went for such a severe ratio; although I know others will disagree with me and say they're perfectly happy with the even more extreme 5.84. But if I had my money again would I do a shorter final drive? No, I'd probably have put it towards drop in cams instead.