Just curious if it is true or not whether the 2003 WRX has improvements over the tranny of the 2002.

I'm reading lots of 2002 "blown tranny" threads and stuff and has me wondering about used WRX's. I realize that people race them all the time and such, but I'm wondering if maybe it's also that the WRX has a weaker tranny.

So... is it true? I've tried searching already and can't seem to find anything.

 

The wrx definitely has a weak tranny. I haven't heard anything about them changing the 03' tranny. I have an 04' and it has a weak tranny in it also. The only rumor that I've heard is that the 05' has a stronger tranny, but that has not been confirmed yet.

 

Most of the reports of blown trannies are most likely from people that are dumping the clutch and abuseing the car. I would think that no matter how strong the tranny is, it will blow when you dump the clutch and run the **** out of it a lot. When you dump the clutch on a car with AWD you will put more stress on the transmission since the tires dont spinn like a fwd or rwd car. I have a 02 WRX with 50k on it and the tranny still feels great. I dont baby the car by any means but I also dont dump the clutch very much. If you are looking for a used WRX have it checked out by a good mechanic, make sure you dont buy one from a 16 year old kid and you may also want to avoid one that is heavily modded.

Littleboyblue.
What is it that makes you say your tranny is weak, how do you drive it and what problems have you had with it? Just curious.

 

I feel that its weak because of all the problems that the wrx trannies have. I myself have not had any problems, but I only have 6k on the car. I've talked with people that have taken their car to the track and dumped the clutch once and the tranny shatters first. I have also read all the horror stories from this site and others about the trannies going. Hopefully I don't have any problems with this car. You never hear of an STI tranny break!

 

I have launched my car about 15-20 times with 225/45/17 so3's (very sticky) and everything is still ok (clutch included) at 50k. I wonder about these people that are telling you they shatterd their tranny after 1 launch. As long as you take care of your car you should be ok. Good luck with your 04 and untill you have a problem with with yours, you may not want to talk bad about it. People that dont have problems with their trannies have no a reason to post anything about it so I would think that is why you only hear horror stories about them .

 

a 5k drop probably isn't very good on any car anyways.

I tend to baby my cars, even when trying to run it hide.
I guess if there's no 2003 improvements, are there any ways to tell if a car's been badly beaten (especially the tranny)? Cuz the car might come from a dealer's parking lot and I would not be able to check out who the previous owner was.

On a stock WRX, you could probably still get a proper launch by revving to 4k, and once it grabs, accelerate hard? Would save spinning the wheels and trashing the differentials, eh?

 

Thats true, but it still scares me! Especially since SOA will not cover it!