When my gears blow up

[eggeegg]

Just want to have something in mind for when my gears go bad. Being bored at work, I spent most of the day reading about how many 06 WRX owners blew their 2nd or 3rd gears. I consider myself a good driver but sometime have the need to drive like a nut, launching and maybe shifting hard between gears.

I might be ok for a while but if i'm not, i'd like to get a little bit stronger gears than OEM. PPG seems popular and highest quality but i can't stand their whine ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDi_ajnbjb8 ). i'm assuming these are straight cut. RA is another choice but too lazy to search what they sound like. And then there's a JDM gearbox that's supposed to be stronger than stock.

i read through some of the older threads here about replacing the tranny but they just suddenly ended. maybe there was more and i didn't search right. one guy was contemplating between buying an STI or installing a 6sp on their WRX. and another was wondering cost and where to install JDM tranny. anyways, just looking for ideas when my tranny breaks.

I'm not looking for elaborate suggestions. Going to research more when i feel like it. just direction on where to start looking.

[sperry]

I wish my tranny sounded like that! PPG gear whine FTW!

But seriously, if you blow up the tranny in your car. Sell it and buy a new car. Seriously... I've swapped in a 6MT, it's *not* worth it. For the same price, you can trade in your car an buy an STi and get so much more car for the money.

[ryan4601]

id have to second scotts motion to buy an sti if your tranny does give out. Unless you can find a pristine RA gearset, PPG gearset, KAZZ gearset, etc...already installed in a case and all that(which would be extremely rare if not impossible) The cost to get a new tranny installed is pretty high. I have an RA gearset and i love it, but they are becoming hard to come by these days and they arent super cheap either. swaping to an sti 6 speed as scott will tell you is not easy, and sourcing all the parts to do the swap is pretty hard. So easiest thing as he said is to start with that tranny in the first place. Just my 2cents.
ryan

[WRX06TR]

There are a few fully built trannies at the bottom of this page

http://www.gruppe-s.com/Subaru/subtrn.htm

the price doesnt seem that unreasonable, nothing like the $4300 full PPG will cost. I have no idea what the swap and install will total up to. Sounds like Scott or Ryan will know.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by WRX06TR

There are a few fully built trannies at the bottom of this page

http://www.gruppe-s.com/Subaru/subtrn.htm

the price doesnt seem that unreasonable, nothing like the $4300 full PPG will cost. I have no idea what the swap and install will total up to. Sounds like Scott or Ryan will know.

You realize that "fully built tranny" listed at $1500 is just the *conversion kit* to get a 6MT to work in a WRX, right? So that's $7000 for the tranny, plus $1500 for the conversion kit, plus about $2000 in labor (minimum)... figure $10k-$12k to put a new 6MT in a WRX.

It cost me about $10k for mine, and I started w/ a used 6MT w/ all the axles, rear-diff, etc.

Like I said... buy an STi. Hell, if you even think you *might* break your 5MT, trade in the car now *before* it breaks and get an STi.

[cody]

I agree with Scott 100%. Modding a WRX to the point that the tranny can't dependably hold the power is a waste of money...

PPG also makes Helical cut gears which I don't think are any louder than stock. You can get them with either dog engagement or synchro too. They're the strongest helical gears as far as I know. I think most people just replace 1-4 and leave 5th stock. You can even mix and match. Some people will do 1-2 straight cut and 3-4 helical.

I've heard excellent reviews of Andrewtech, but depending on the power levels you'll be reaching, STi RA gears may be enough for you and they're half the price I believe.

[ryan4601]

Scott is right on with the pricing and explanation about replacing everything. Although a used 6speed may be had for 5500 sometimes, you will need everything else that goes with it to get it fitted into the wrx. I have a Version 6 RA gearset(not special edition) that is cryo treated. I had it installed in my car for 2400$(new clutch not included in that price), but this was a special deal back a few years ago when i swapped cores with the GB motorsports. So they installed a fully built RA set into my car but i had to give them my tranny so they could build the next one. But the RA set will swap directly into the wrx with no issues with the diff, clutch, axles etc. If you are looking for an upgrade then i would suggest this, it is rated to handle 350 wheel TQ. I have a 2.5 block/GT30 with 340whp/300wtq and it will handle this just fine. The only problem with the RA sets these days is that it involves the shop(gruppe-s for example) to uninstall your tranny, have a transmission specialist install the new gears into your case and then reinstall your tranny and new gears back into your car. This leads to quite a bit of down time for your car and since we dont live 10 mins away its pretty hard. Im sure you could get a quote but i would assume that RA gears installed these days would cost close to 3000$. But in terms of an upgrade the RA gears are great. I would rate them as the best mod ive done to my car by far....the stoptechs being a distant second(yes i rate the tranny higher than the motor and turbo!). The better drivability and better gearing was well worth it for me. Tyson will vouch for the difference between the two trannys. If you are looking to 'feel' the difference, hit me up and you can drive my car to experience the difference. I guess in the end it will ultimately come down to how much you are willing to spend. the RA set is relatively strong, but not 6speed strong, but then again it costs quite a bit less. also it depends on how much power you are planning on having.

my 4 cents this time.
ryan

[sperry]

+1 for what Ryan said. If you *have* to do something to a WRX tranny, do the RA's. They're the gears the car should have come with, and are the only "affordable" way to do it... though they're still not cheap by any means.

[eggeegg]

originally, i wanted to put a vf39 and such to get around 300whp . if i want more power, i agree it would make more sense to just trade for an STI and mod that. I'm at Stage 2 now and from what i've read at nasioc, a few people who've broken their 3rd on 06 wrxs were at least Stage 2 and/or have done some drags. I'd like to keep my WRX as long as i can but obviously i'm going to have to drive the way i think WRX's are NOT meant to be driven. And i'm definitely not going to add any more power mods. since adding my current mods, i'm just too attached to my car now to trade it for an STI. it's seems RA's would be my best choice. right now i feel like it's inevitable my gears are going to go with my current setup no matter how careful i am. if all is good in a year, RAs for piece of mind.

[ryan4601]

Definitly. That sounds like a good plan that you have. Believe me the piece of mind of 1. not having to worry and 2. not holding back is definitly worth it.
ryan

[8URSTI]

PPG 1-2 stright/3-4 helical /5 -stock, would be the best bang for buck set-up. Its still not cheap though. It all depends on how you drive up to a point and THEN power becomes an issue. Shock load kills gears 90% of the time....not power. If your not making 400+ to the wheels and drive "carefully".... you might get away with the stock gears. I would say for what your doing just keep the stock tranny for now. If it breaks then deal with it when it does. Just pray this doesnt happen to you


BTW, The whine on the PPG Dogbox SC tranny is music to my ears every morning to work....