Short Gears + 4.55 or 4.23??

[NetViper]

First off, I am talking about a 5-spd just so there is no confusion.

From what I understand, the 4.55 has some gear whine, and the 4.23 is OEM quiet. The OEM quality and sound levels are very attractive to me. The car I am looking at already has the 4.55 in it, so I would have to replace it with the 4.23.

Anyway, which would you chose and why?

Thanks.

 

[SoCalDude]

No gear whine on mine. Not sure if this is an exception though.

 

[the nsxnut]

Net Viper, search the track talk forum. There was an outstanding post on this subject from 1BADNSX recently. The bottom line is that the difference is really meaningful only on the race track, in terms of acceleration.

The rumor of 'gear noise' from the 4.55 is a fallacy, I've got one. Besides, any gear noise from the tranny is insignificant compared to the gear noise of a CTSC...

 

[NetViper]

Thanks for the quick replys so far.

I am more concerned if I was just driving on the highway @ 65 MPH. Would there be any noise there?

And as Mark mentioned, this car will have a CTSC.

 

[nsxtasy]

My understanding is that the early 4.55 gears were noisier than the newer ones.

I wouldn't bother spending the big money (primarily labor) to change the gearing. If it comes with the 4.55, just live with it, and see how you like it. Unless it's driving you crazy, which it probably won't, leave it alone.

 

[John Anderson]

I had short gears and the 4.23 in my 93 and now have the 6 spd with the Comptech 4.55 in the 99. Both set-ups are great and neither suffered from any whine, other than normal gear noises. At highway speeds with the windows up it sounds like a regular Honda to me...