Pontiac G8 2008-2010 - G8 GT Rear End Swap

A couple of friends and I installed a 2010 Camaro 3:27 differential over the weekend in my G8.

The swap is worth the effort for performance and reliability.

I selected the 3:27 gears because I'll be installing a blower in the future and from what I've researched, a 3:45 or more gear blows the tires off.

The car certainly feels lighter and I'm pretty sure will improve my 60' times.

The swap took us about 4 hrs. and I already had the bushings installed in the differential.

Any questions you have about swap, just ask away.

Cool. How much did the whole project set you back?
Was the unit from a Camaro SS and does it matter what year 5th gen you get?

I had about $ 575.00 in the gear and $ 70.00 for the BMR bushing kit.
The gears need to come from a 2010-2011 V8 Camaro / Automatics (make sure it is factory tagged as LSD 3:27 differential)
I believe only 3:45 gears only come in the models with a stick shift.

nice swap i'm on the fence about my gear selection since it will def be awhile before i can get a blower. everything helps though lol i d alot of hwy driving also. glad everything went like its supposed to let us know if 60s drop any

is a tune required?

is a tune required?

Yes, you will need to retune the transmission.

Yes, you will need to retune the transmission.
Thanks....something I'll look at in the future.

I agree with the OP even if you put on wider tires the car can't handle it with a blower.

At what point will your car be faster if you put in a higher gear due to less traction loss?
At what point will be become slower again as you don't have enough mechanical advantage?

These heavy bitches need gears or a stall or both to cut any decent 60' times. My best so far on 275 Nitto street tires is 2.04 with no wheel spin.

I've got 618 to the wheels with a blower and 3.70. Launches real well with 10.5 slicks.

I've got 618 to the wheels with a blower and 3.70. Launches real well with 10.5 slicks.

Agree, people launch blown cars with 1,000hp with no problems on the correct tire. Actually I've seen them go down the track on a 275 radial...

A couple of friends and I installed a 2010 Camaro 3:27 differential over the weekend in my G8.

The swap is worth the effort for performance and reliability.

I selected the 3:27 gears because I'll be installing a blower in the future and from what I've researched, a 3:45 or more gear blows the tires off.

The car certainly feels lighter and I'm pretty sure will improve my 60' times.

The swap took us about 4 hrs. and I already had the bushings installed in the differential.

Any questions you have about swap, just ask away.

Nice, I've done the Camaro rear swap into the G8 about 5 times now and have it down to about an hour and a half. I've also done the Driveshaft Shop 9" conversion which the ultimate upgrade. The Camaro rear is a decent upgrade and you notice the size of the Camaro rear next to the OEM G8 diff. I would always go with the 3.45's but even the 3.27's, just put a real tire under the car and you wont have any traction problems.


I agree with the OP even if you put on wider tires the car can't handle it with a blower.

At what point will your car be faster if you put in a higher gear due to less traction loss?
At what point will be become slower again as you don't have enough mechanical advantage?

Sounds like whoever has issues needs real tires and suspension upgrades! There are numerous people launching 600+hp cars with 3.70+ gears with no problems. The toe, trailing, and control arms need to be upgraded to take the movement out when launching. You can see the tire move back with the stock arms/bushings, if you cant keep the drivetrain straight then of course your going to have traction problems.

I had about $ 575.00 in the gear and $ 70.00 for the BMR bushing kit.
The gears need to come from a 2010-2011 V8 Camaro / Automatics (make sure it is factory tagged as LSD 3:27 differential)
I believe only 3:45 gears only come in the models with a stick shift.

575$ Just for the gears or the center section also?
Did you install the gears in the center section if so?

I wonder if i wanted the 3.45s could i use the gears from a manual camaro in my automatic G8...

I wonder if i wanted the 3.45s could i use the gears from a manual camaro in my automatic G8...

Yes you can. It bolts in the same way. You'll just need
a TCM tune.

Gordon,

The entire differential was $ 575.00 plus the price of the BMR bushings.
Of course you will need a tune too.
My tuner had it completed in about 5 minutes and it's spot on.

Thanks,
Ron

I've had the 3.45 Camaro Diff Swap in my G8 for about 4 months now. It's a great mod!

As for putting just 3.45 gears into a G8 Diff, that won't work. You need the whole Carrier/Pumpkin/Differential from a Camaro, whatever you wanna call it.

Sounds like whoever has issues needs real tires and suspension upgrades! There are numerous people launching 600+hp cars with 3.70+ gears with no problems. The toe, trailing, and control arms need to be upgraded to take the movement out when launching. You can see the tire move back with the stock arms/bushings, if you cant keep the drivetrain straight then of course your going to have traction problems.

Some day, some day. Just at the moment I have other interests.

Is there a noticeable difference in acceleration? Any videos of the car running after the swap. Would be interesting to see a nice sticky note made from detailed information about the swap

Is there a noticeable difference in acceleration? Any videos of the car running after the swap. Would be interesting to see a nice sticky note made from detailed information about the swap

Very noticable difference in my opinion.

Go to youtube and search rawyzf. You'll see my videos of me testing the TCM files, and notice if you think there is a difference. I also have a few vids from the 1/4 a few weekends ago.

Were any modifications required? Did the stock drive shaft and axles mount up? What all did this entail other than just dropping the old diff out, installing the new diff and tuning the transmission? The more information you can give the better. I hate to ask stupid questions but I always like to err on the safe side before attempting a mod/swap. Thanks.

I had the 3.45's in my g8 and I didn't really like them with the blower. I would have rather had the 3.27's and should have waited to find them instead of the 3.45's. Its correct that it blows the tires off immediately. I had an unfortunate mishap at the track with my camaro rear. On my second pass with that setup it hooked really hard and broke the rear mount off the rear end cover. Had to be towed off the track, I put the 2.92's g8 rear back in and still like it better then the 3.45's. So, don't know if the mount was damaged when it got shipped or if it happened when the car wheel hopped for the first time ever on the first pass. I'm guessing number 2.

Were any modifications required? Did the stock drive shaft and axles mount up? What all did this entail other than just dropping the old diff out, installing the new diff and tuning the transmission? The more information you can give the better. I hate to ask stupid questions but I always like to err on the safe side before attempting a mod/swap. Thanks.

No additional mods required, it's really as simple as a swap and then tune. You could get 2 axel seals to be safe incase you damage the others on the swap, but that's it.

As said earlier; no additional parts are needed but......it's an excellent time to change the cradle bushings while you have it torn apart.

After market bushings are much better than factory quality and help reduce wheel hop.

How bad of a hit does your mileage take?

How bad of a hit does your mileage take?

Around 1mpg.

Rawyzf, how about the PITA to tune in the new gears??? :-)

OP HERE,

I've seen a lot of comments, on several forums that tuning new gears is difficult.

I mentioned that to my tuner and he looked at me like I had three heads!!!!

Using HPTuner, he completed the tune is less than 5 minutes and it was spot on.

I checked miles per hour with my GPS and it was perfect.

He had to enter the tire size, and new gear numbers. Computer automatically made 103 changes to my setup.

As usual it comes down to the knowledge of the tuner.

Good Luck!!!

I've had the 3.45 Camaro Diff Swap in my G8 for about 4 months now. It's a great mod!

As for putting just 3.45 gears into a G8 Diff, that won't work. You need the whole Carrier/Pumpkin/Differential from a Camaro, whatever you wanna call it.

Just curious. I have a 2009 G8 GXP, just wondering if the 3.45 gears from the Camaro will work with my differencial or if I need to have the whole Carrier/Pumpkin/Differencial?

Just curious. I have a 2009 G8 GXP, just wondering if the 3.45 gears from the Camaro will work with my differencial or if I need to have the whole Carrier/Pumpkin/Differencial?

Humm, I am not 100% sure on that. But I think you need the whole carrier.

Do you have the 3.70 or 3.27 gears in the GXP?

Humm, I am not 100% sure on that. But I think you need the whole carrier.

Do you have the 3.70 or 3.27 gears in the GXP?

I have the 3.27 gears in my GXP as it is an Auto.

I started off with 2.90 of course, upgraded to 3.27 then upgraded again to 3.70 with a Harrup Truetrac. The 3.27 were great for the street but once I went to slicks I felt the 3.70s were a necessary change. Trans tune for new gears is simple, you just have to change the ratio and shift points. A decent tuner can do it real quickly.

Just curious. I have a 2009 G8 GXP, just wondering if the 3.45 gears from the Camaro will work with my differencial or if I need to have the whole Carrier/Pumpkin/Differencial?

no it will not fit.. your best bet is sell your diff and buy a camaro 3.45.. cheaper too

why not just copy the shift tables from a 2010 camaro? (if you get the 3.27 gears)

Where did you get the camaro diff?

I have the 3.27 gears in my GXP as it is an Auto.

3.27 to 3.45 isnt much of a jump. But, if you decide to change internal gears within the pumpkin your options are a ton better with the 3.45 carrier. I don't know of anyone making gears for the G8 Diff, but there are a ton for the Camaro.

no it will not fit.. your best bet is sell your diff and buy a camaro 3.45.. cheaper too

So what you are saying is the 3.45 gear set out of a Camaro will not fit in my G8 Pumpkin, but the whole Pumpkin from the Camaro will bolt up onto my G8?

Correct

Pumpkin swap is a helluva lot easier too, probably not much more money.

I know this topis is for Gear Swaps, but just wondering if you guys had any input as to which would be a better intake? Vararam Ram Air Intake or K&N Cold Air Intake?

Vararam for sure.

They are all about the same as far as CAI. I saw Pat G's post on g8board about testing the vararam and it wasnt all that great. It made power, but was a tuning nightmare. Id go with a rotofab cai myself but my car came with the k&n already

Swapping the diff is easy enough, if you have any questions just ask.

Ramjet and VCM are by far the best intakes for the G8... makes the Vararam look like some crap someone made in their garage.

I got a 3.45 camaro rear i'm doing the posi mod then putting it in asap :)

I got the RotoFab CAI.

I have the 3.27 gears and very nice mod for my car. 0 to scare the s--t out of you for sure.

I have been told that when doing the camaro to g8 diff swap, you have to replace the axle also. Due to the mounts and splines.

I have been told that when doing the camaro to g8 diff swap, you have to replace the axle also. Due to the mounts and splines.

That is 100% false.

No axel swap needed.

Hey guys i have 2009 G8 GT im new to the forum, i also have a 3.27 camaro rear and i love it. ALOT faster off the line and gained alot of midrange power which is exactly what i was shooting for since i only use it for street use.

So conversely, will a G8 center section bolt up right into a 2010 Camaro SS?

I'm looking for a whole center section so I can do 3.91's (maybe).

So conversely, will a G8 center section bolt up right into a 2010 Camaro SS?

I'm looking for a whole center section so I can do 3.91's (maybe).

It would bolt up, but you would be going to a smaller housing and ring gear... Why not just get a 1LE diff? Probably cheaper by the time you buy the gears, rebuild kit, etc..

So the G8 setup might be less sturdy?

A full 1LE diff is interesting but new they might be $1500?