That's what I have been hearing too, they just pop from roll on's a lot. This is known amongst anyone that is making moderate power on up. People saying "well, of course it will break, you are making more power. To make power costs money, blah blah"- BS. This transmission is garbage, no way around it. There is no other car I have owned (not that they don't exist" that takes a ~$5000 trans swap just to handle 12 second power reliably. Then you get the guys saying "get a dog box"- yeah for a daily driven 12 second car.... Agreed, the DSM's are 15 years old now and still had a better trans. Yes they had synchro problems- boo hoo, but worn synchros has absolutely nothing to do with trans strength. I know John Shepard from Shep racing (8 second DSM) is kicking around the idea of building WRX transmissions, but pretty much so far the general concensus is it is not worth it- they are junk and that's that. Only way to make them decent is to mix this case with that gear set and so on just to make it what it should have been from the get go and you still have a mediocre trans.. The STI 6 speed is decent, but I have a feeling the only thing making that trans hold up so well (aside from beefier parts anyway) is the close gear ratio- never gonna blow it if there is no load on it . But then the STI trans sucks for drag racing (if that is your thing)- too many shifts for the traps they run.

The ones holding up longer with launches are only because a launch with either spinnig tires or a clutch slip isn't *really* all that hard on the trans and by the time you hit second, the RPM's are already up. The 2nd gear roll on puts a huge amount of stress on the trans and it just can't handle it. I have done a lot of research on various ideas for the car, but don't even think I am going to waste my time or money on the car. I have a nice collection of parts for it that I am probably just going to sell off, keep the car stock and look for a better car to play with. Hell, I could get another DSM for less than a WRX trans .

 

100% correct. Even worse (not to make this yeat another DSM VS WRX thing- there are plenty)- you can get a full built race trans for a DSM that has been proven to run 8's time and again for less than people pay for just the gear set for the WRX. Funny thing though, they think it is the car being something special and better than everything else that raises the cost up- it is their stupidity and thinking it is worth that much that raises the price that high!!!

As for the dumping the clutch and not breaking, like I mentioned though that isn't nearly as hard on the trans (input side) if you consider the 1st gear ratio and tire spin as a 2nd gear roll on from a car making just slightly above "weak" (stock WRX) horsepower. I have all the parts in my attic to make this car go low 11's (on race fuel of course, not that watered down pump crap ), just a shame that it would be more reliable to throw them on a Hyundai. The WRX is a great car for what it is, but once you get outside of that it is pretty weak. I am probably just leaving my exhaust on, selling my turbo (know anyone that want's a new in box FP green?) and everything else off and using the car as just a nice daily driver- very well built and nice car in that regards. Email me at kwiktsi@nycap.rr.com or PM me if you want to BS more. Take it easy.
Joe

 

Hmm, DSM's break transmissions... Is this your personal experience or just what a friend of a friend tells you? Yes, they break- BUT they will hold WELL into the 11's reliably with a good driver. Hell, they are running 8's on the same trans with just center diff mods for strength. Once you make over say 700whp you start to break output shafts on the T-case. That is more than 4 times stock WHP though. Lets see a WRX trans do that.

It is best to know what you are talking about before speaking.. Typical message board bull**** .. I have owned over 30 DSM's and can speak from experience- my daily driver was 487 WHP and had the same trans for 3+ years in it and that trans was from an 80k mile car when it went in. Tell the guys who break with mild DSM's that they need to learn how to drive... Lol, case breaking. How the hell are they driving the thing? Not saying it hasn't happened, but I have yet to see one case failure outside of ONE trans that the dip**** ran low on oil and spun a bearing race inside the case. Far from a case breakage though...

I agree, reverse being difficult is nothing, pretty much any standard car has that issue.

Actually, the only real problems I have seen with DSM's is the passenger side floorboard rivets like to pop if too much nos is used and the manifold lets loose.

Joe

 

Then that is flat out abuse, not failure. I ran an ACT 2600 4 puck solid hub clutch in my car with the 2 step set to 6500 and would launch the snot out of it with no issues. It is a "technique", not just beat the snot out of it . The WRX trans just flat out breaks under hard acceleration once you get to a certain power level (not much above stock either). The DSM trans holds up very well for what it is. Like I said, they are running 8's on that trans- not many cars can make that kind of power through a stock (stock gears and such) trans. Even Supras are usually running powerglides by that point. Hell, the fast guys are launching at 7000+ rpm's, 25-30 psi AND a 100-150 shot on that trans...

Actually re-reading your post0 it wasn't a case failure, they blew the front diff and that is what broke the case. BIG difference from saying that the case broke. Was it a FWD car or AWD? Not many people break the front diff on AWD cars unless they are really beating the snot out of it. Now, you want to talk about case issues- this was posted in a serious tuners forum about the WRX trans- "WRX transmissions are crap. The gears are weak as **** and the cases flex like a Cheerleader doing the splits over a 10" *****." lol- that pretty much sums it up. There are also much more technical posts pretty much saying the same thing, but I prefer that description .
Joe

 

Well, I figured since so many message board posts are based on fiction and hearsay, that was my contribution . Glad someone got a laugh out of it. Others are probably are telling their friends to be careful of the floor board rivets as we speak .
Joe

 

yea, sounds like he ws just senslessly abusing it and they blew the diff and that is what broke the case. The gears are very close to the case inside and if you get any busted parts between the gears and case, it will destroy the case also.

The suby is a combo of weak gears and case flex- and also some people thing the insanely long input shaft doesn't help either. The reason dog box gears hold up better in stock cases is they are deeper cut and wider for more contact area on the gears, even with some flex it is still plenty of contact area. The stock gears are crap and if the case flexes, you lose contact area even more and they strip. Bottom line and you just said it yourself- the WRX requires a dogbox or other ridiculous gear box just for 5-600 hp. That is childs play to many and the DSM's are putting close to 1000 whp through the oem gears. Big difference .
Joe

 

I know .
Joe

 

Synchros won't give any warning to what??? Synchros grinding and transmissions nuking are two totally different things. A grind is no indication of a weak or about to blow trans. Evo transmissions are holding up very well with very little failure well past the 600 whp mark. I don't know where you get your info from, but it is incorrect. The clutches are the weak link, the trans is damn near bullet proof.
Joe

PS-Oh yeah, I don't know how I missed this before- but EVO VIII compared this to a Kia- hahah, a friend of mine actually "raced" a Kia. He did a ton of bolt on's and sprayed it (like a 98 Sephia). Did it for the hell of it since it was such a cheap car. It took A TON of hard launches, rev limiter clutch dumps in 2nd while going 30 in reverse, and almost 60k miles for his trans to break . I think that even beats the WRX trans sadly enough lol.