got a ? about the transmissions on the WRX
01-05-2004, 06:47 PM
#16
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The car is AWD. There will be virtually no wheel slip to prevent all of the energy from the engine going into the trans/clutch.
The vast majority of the trans complaints you will read come from people who either abuse it or don't know how to drive.
Form the vocabulary and the grammar, it would appear that most fall in the 19 year old vicinity.
There is nothing wrong with the trans.
There is nothing wrong with SOA.
Consider the source.
The vast majority of the trans complaints you will read come from people who either abuse it or don't know how to drive.
Form the vocabulary and the grammar, it would appear that most fall in the 19 year old vicinity.
There is nothing wrong with the trans.
There is nothing wrong with SOA.
Consider the source.
01-05-2004, 09:18 PM
#17
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I bought the car in Reno and noticed that it was a LOT slower off the line than my Intrepid 3.3L (160 HP) at altitude. Once the turbo kicks in, it flies, but until then, it bogs. I thought it would get better, and it did... but not nearly enough.
It wasn't until I took a drive down to the SF Bay area that I discovered the problem was air -- it's a totally different car at sea level than at 5k feet. Before I started modding the car, I was nervous pulling out into any kind of traffic because I had to wait for the RPMs to hit 3000 before it would go.
Since I intend to stay at altitude (hopefully move back to Colorado), I decided I might as well take the risk and mod the car. I bought it to enjoy driving it, and I just wasn't having fun except when taking twisty mountain roads.
It wasn't until I took a drive down to the SF Bay area that I discovered the problem was air -- it's a totally different car at sea level than at 5k feet. Before I started modding the car, I was nervous pulling out into any kind of traffic because I had to wait for the RPMs to hit 3000 before it would go.
Since I intend to stay at altitude (hopefully move back to Colorado), I decided I might as well take the risk and mod the car. I bought it to enjoy driving it, and I just wasn't having fun except when taking twisty mountain roads.
01-06-2004, 07:24 AM
#19
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: 12.9 / 105+
Posts: 488
Car Info: black my03 5mt wrx s/w
don't rush the shifter, and don't move your left foot too fast, and as long as you don't have huge torque (+300 ftlbs) it should last a good long while.
jm2c
ken
(16k tranny trouble free-miles)
jm2c
ken
(16k tranny trouble free-miles)
01-06-2004, 06:54 PM
#20
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Posts: n/a
i had no i dea joe cool...
i didnt realize it was that bad on the automatics at the altitude your at. There is a little hesitation if i mash the pedal on my car but i f i feed the turbo the car defidently goes and look out when it lets loose. Well i am glad that the mods help. I am planning on doing a up pipe to help witht he lag and another thing i read is a torque converter change. Also i want to do a cobb reflash but not till my warranty i s up. Ill do some minor mods and body enhancements for now since i am real close to sea level.
chris
chris
01-07-2004, 11:05 AM
#21
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: So. Ca., CA USA
Posts: 261
Car Info: 03 WRX / 08 Forester
Re: got a ? about the transmissions on the WRX
Originally posted by noah76
hi i have been lurking this site for about a year now and have been reading up on the WRX. i really like this car but one thing keeps coming up its transmission . i have read a lot on all the transmissions problems and as a maybe buyer of this car it doesn't sit to well with me. then i read that SOA is tring to pass the buck on to the owner as ( driver abuse) .
now i dont plan on racing or really modding the car. i want a nice fun daily driver.but i dont want to have the car for lets say a year and have this problem. then have the dealer say i broke it and i have to pay. i call B.S. on that.
SOA knows about this problem why are not recalling/fixing this problem ?
whats your thoughts on this? any help would be nice.
hi i have been lurking this site for about a year now and have been reading up on the WRX. i really like this car but one thing keeps coming up its transmission . i have read a lot on all the transmissions problems and as a maybe buyer of this car it doesn't sit to well with me. then i read that SOA is tring to pass the buck on to the owner as ( driver abuse) .
now i dont plan on racing or really modding the car. i want a nice fun daily driver.but i dont want to have the car for lets say a year and have this problem. then have the dealer say i broke it and i have to pay. i call B.S. on that.
SOA knows about this problem why are not recalling/fixing this problem ?
whats your thoughts on this? any help would be nice.
.......from personal experience, I haven't had any failures for the 23,000 miles I've owned my WRX. I drive spiritedly on most occasions but I do not "abuse" the transmission. Hard launches, clutch dumps, speed shifting, etc will most certainly cause a premature failure at some point. There's no guarantee that you will never have a catastrophic failure with a 5MT, but at least look at the big picture before making your decision to buy.
- Kean
01-07-2004, 11:37 AM
#22
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Nor Cal
Posts: 570
Car Info: 2010 370z Roadster, 2008 Frontier CrewCab
Re: Re: got a ? about the transmissions on the WRX
Originally posted by Kean
...There's no guarantee that you will never have a catastrophic failure with a 5MT...
...There's no guarantee that you will never have a catastrophic failure with a 5MT...
01-07-2004, 12:04 PM
#23
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: So. Ca., CA USA
Posts: 261
Car Info: 03 WRX / 08 Forester
Originally posted by Kean
...There's no guarantee that you will never have a catastrophic failure with a 5MT...
...There's no guarantee that you will never have a catastrophic failure with a 5MT...
Originally posted by GR8-WRX
I think this is a very good point. I don't abuse my car at all. Never a hard launch @6000, etc. Am I still concerned? Yes. If anything ever happens to my transmission, I'm sure the first thing the dealer tech will suspect is "abuse". It would be an uphill battle from there...
I think this is a very good point. I don't abuse my car at all. Never a hard launch @6000, etc. Am I still concerned? Yes. If anything ever happens to my transmission, I'm sure the first thing the dealer tech will suspect is "abuse". It would be an uphill battle from there...
01-07-2004, 03:02 PM
#24
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Posts: n/a
Kean i saw that you have cought a few people . and yes i think they are in the wrong for tring to say SOA denied my repair. when you mod the car and then drop it at 6000rpm you dont have a leg to stand on.
but i have also saw that people that dont abuse the car (or so they say) are having problems also. when a car only has 10,000 miles on it and there is no (driver abuse) the transmission should be fine. but thats not the case with the subaru . is the transmission weak YES.should it be fixed YES .
they (Subaru) should just put in the car a Muncie M-22 . but thats for rwd
but i have also saw that people that dont abuse the car (or so they say) are having problems also. when a car only has 10,000 miles on it and there is no (driver abuse) the transmission should be fine. but thats not the case with the subaru . is the transmission weak YES.should it be fixed YES .
they (Subaru) should just put in the car a Muncie M-22 . but thats for rwd
01-07-2004, 03:51 PM
#25
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: So. Ca., CA USA
Posts: 261
Car Info: 03 WRX / 08 Forester
Originally posted by noah76
but i have also saw that people that dont abuse the car (or so they say) are having problems also. when a car only has 10,000 miles on it and there is no (driver abuse) the transmission should be fine. but thats not the case with the subaru . is the transmission weak YES.should it be fixed YES .
but i have also saw that people that dont abuse the car (or so they say) are having problems also. when a car only has 10,000 miles on it and there is no (driver abuse) the transmission should be fine. but thats not the case with the subaru . is the transmission weak YES.should it be fixed YES .
I'm not disputing the fact that some individuals may have legitimate claims regarding their 5MT's (you can see that's true when you read my posts). I personally have no doubt that Subaru could have made the 5MT stronger than it currently is. However, I'm not going to make a general statement that all (or even the majority) of Subaru 5MT's in the WRX are "weak", "glass", "defective", etc. There's simply no proof to support this. I mentioned the research I did on some of those folks for a reason. It was to show that you should take into consideration that not everyone is entirely forthcoming with all of the facts when telling their stories on these forums. Also, you shouldn't rely entirely on these boards to make your final decision. Remember, these boards are a small sampling of the entire Subaru owner community. I've been on these forums long before the NASIOC/I-club split. I run across many posts regarding quick-shifting techniques, launching, drag racing, etc. There's been a lot of replies that make me cringe when I hear how some of these people (notice I didn't say kids
) treat their cars. I purchased my '03 WRX back in Oct '02 after thoroughly researching message boards, consumer magazines/websites, government websites (safety, recalls, etc), auto publications, etc. If data ever becomes available that can substantiate the claims that some people make about the reliability of the Subaru 5MT, I would be more than happy to join the fight. Until then, I will remain as objective as possible.
Originally posted by noah76
they (Subaru) should just put in the car a Muncie M-22 . but thats for rwd
they (Subaru) should just put in the car a Muncie M-22 . but thats for rwd
- Kean
01-08-2004, 07:19 AM
#28
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Join Date: Feb 2003
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Car Info: black my03 5mt wrx s/w
c'mon, man... all nostalgia aside, the muncie is WAAAY outdated. you can do much better!
it's a 4 speed--great for torquey big blocks, not so good for stirring up the revs on a turbo 4.
4th is only 1:1. our stock 4th is even taller than that!
i'd pick a t-56 before an m-22, but that's me. you still have a 1:1 4th gear, but at least you've got two more overdrives after that!
nope, gotta stick to my guns and say the best alternative i've ever seen is the STi 6sp, w/DCCD. solid, AWD, and a trick DCCD to play with!
imo, ymmv, jm2c, etc.
ken
it's a 4 speed--great for torquey big blocks, not so good for stirring up the revs on a turbo 4.
4th is only 1:1. our stock 4th is even taller than that!
i'd pick a t-56 before an m-22, but that's me. you still have a 1:1 4th gear, but at least you've got two more overdrives after that!
nope, gotta stick to my guns and say the best alternative i've ever seen is the STi 6sp, w/DCCD. solid, AWD, and a trick DCCD to play with!
imo, ymmv, jm2c, etc.
ken
