I've been subscribed to the Transmission forum since almost day one of my membership here. In the past 7 or 8 months, every time I read from that forum it just depresses me. SO MANY transmission issue. Even the more positive posts end up being depressing threads.

Transmissions are one of the most expensive parts on a car. In actuallity, it might be the most expensive because a transmission does not seem to just lose or break a particular part. But when transmissions go, unlike an engine, it seems to be almost always catastrophic in nature. And if its not catastrophic yet, before most people notice there's a real problem it becomes catastrophic. It just sucks. I'm irritated with SOA. I live in fear all the time of my transmission going out without notice (this happened on another car with 7 years of HARD pounding... but hey, that's 7 years).

My only hope in this sitaution is my Mechanical Breakdown insurance from Geico. I hope it actually pays out if I need it No hope in the manufacturer though... this might be the reason why this might be my first and last Subaru

jason

 

i hear ya... to be honest that's probably the #1 reason i got a 4eat over a 5mt. I really did my HW before buying a new car this time around. All i hear is 'clutch this' , '1st gear that" and 'SOA said this'. I don't even go into that forum anymore.

Im not saying the 4eat is anything to brag about but after adding a hayden 403 cooler, redline atf and a custom tranny cooler sprayer i haven't had one issue yet [knock on wood]...once the warranty is up im going to get a better TC then look out!


eric

 

What are your 60fts like at the drag strip, if you've done that?

jason

 

i feel you on that...

edgar,

 

eeew

 

maybe that's everyone's problem.

Also, i've never dragged my car and don't plan on it until i get a better TC. Im sure my 0-60ft is pretty low right now compared to a 5mt with the same mods.

 

Hate to sound like a *****... OK, maybe not...

But did you just complain about the tranny in your Subaru and then ask about 60 ft. times?

When you were buying your car, did you ask the dealer for a car that would stand up to quarter mile starts? I've got over 60,000 miles on my car and no tranny problems yet aside from the ubiquitous clutch shudder.

This isn't a Honda (don't get me wrong, I love Hondas, especially their trannys!) it's an all wheel drive car, when the 4 wheels don't give way under pressure, what do you think is next? Something has to give way to the pressure, and it's gonna be your tranny or diffs.

If you want to drag the car and either slip the clutch at 4,000 RPMS or simply dump it, then be prepared for what's going to happen. Good luck.

 

Sigh. Another expert who never drives hard. Xero, maybe you should peruse the transmission forum some more. And maybe not beetch at me until I actually make some claims about Subaru transmissions. Did I at all? Well, no.

2 points in response to your comments:

- There are many people who (claim) to have never abused their WRX transmissions and have widely varying issues

- There are many people who have admittedly abused their WRX transmissions and have no issues. (I know a good deal of these folks in real life).

I am (considering myself fortunate) a middle of the road person in this situation. My gears are notchy. My synchros can be cranky about first gear now and then. I have clutch shudder. And all this started long before my two trips to the drag strip. And, I really haven't notice that my total of 8 runs down the strip have exaserbated the problems. I have never street raced from a dead stop/with a launch in my WRX. And I rarely street race at all. And to boot, I almost always try to wait for my synchros to do their job before getting into gear.

Also, I had a Saturn for 8 years. I beat the living hell out of it. In the end it had about 40 more wheel horsepower than what I started with. The only thing that went wrong was I generated enough chasis torque to crack 3 radiators, and then I put in not so stiff engine mounts and all was fine again. After 7 of those 8 years the transmission literally exploded. 7 years of all sorta of crazy driving, launching all over the streets and many trips to the track as well as hard driving and shifting. 7 years on a transmission designed for getting groceries. So what it its a FWD car. I had much wider tires on it than stock and a much stiffer and more solid drive train transfering more power than other saturns. And this grocery getting transmission stood up unbelievably. There was never a problem until the day it went kaboom. This is not to mention there's a crazy chick in the midwest running 13s every weekend in her Saturn. Stock transmission.

AWD or not. There are undeniable weaknesses in the 02 WRX transmission. Did I complain about it in my first post on this thread? No. Did I lament over the depressing nature of the transmission forum? Yes.

I hope I ranted enough that this tangent ends

jason

 

have a beer

 

<- glad I have an 03

 

Well sheeeeyit, if that aint complaining about the transmission then I don't know what IS! I took things you wrote in your post, and referred to them. You called me another expert who never drives hard.

There are probably about two people on this board who know me well enough to know how hard I drive. I'd say it's somewhere between 'middle of the road' and 'IN-FOCKING-SANE!' I never claimed to not drive hard. I asked you if you specifically requested a tranny from Subaru that would stand up to 1/4 miling. They thought they were just providing you with a car to go from point a to point b, a bit faster than most people do it.

My point? I'll make it bold so it's easier for you to read:

If the **** breaks, it's because you drove it too hard, KNOWING that it was prone to breaking when driven like that. Understand that you should sack up and pay for it if it breaks.

Another point. I don't think you grasp the difference between a FWD and an AWD car. When you launched your lovely Saturn, all that torque steer you got off the line was because one of your wheels if not both of your wheels were spinning like nuts. AWD wheels don't spin until you're pushing a lot of power and then you have a hole new set of potential issues. So if the wheels aren't spinning, then where is all that energy going? It has to go somewhere, so it goes into stressing the crap out of your gears and all sorts of other components in your tranny.

Hmmm. Maybe you should peruse the forum a bit more :banana:

One final point, an internet rant will never be enough to silence me. Only my own boredom can keep me quiet. Sit back, calm down, don't take this all so seriously and come back with a better argument if you'd like to.

 

it IS depressing...precisely the reason why i don't visit that forum anymore

 

what's different about the 03s?

 

Now I think that you're missing the point. Our trannys break without being driven hard. I've seen and heard it too many times to count. And on the other side of the coin, Subaru sells this as a car that's built to be driven hard. Look at their commercials, read their ads. Hell, they even give us free memberships to the Sports Car Club of America.

 

I don't know who, and don't care who Xero is but every time he opens his mouth (or types) he's a raging *****!!!
He's insulted me on my driving too and has never met me or seen my driving. What an ****.

He must drive like an old woman. stop whinning like a b*tch. and pick up bingo for a hobby.