Huffer

My 98 Leg GT has a similar issue - 4EAT - in P or N the car is fine. In D the car idles a little rough, but nothing major. It does sound kind of "puttery" but I attribute that to the restrictive (and well used) exhaust system (165,000 miles on this engine). I get vibration through the cabin of the car (feels like driveline) on acceleration from 1500 - 2500rpm until the gearing switches up and the car cruises. Higher rpms are no problem at all. From reading the posts above, I am leaning towards the torque convertor, but on a car with this many miles I am planning to replace the engine mounts and transmission mounts (with STi components if available).

Waitasec, what's the actual diagnosis on the state of the engine? Fluid levels, etc? Are there any leaks anywhere? Maybe there's an internal problem that would be easily fixed without getting a whole new engine.

Out of interest, do you fellas know if it's the same issue on a 98 GT Legacy? My speedo intermittently fails to start when I'm rolling out the driveway - usually in colder weather. Once I'm a little ways down the road (doing 40mph - I can tell by the tach and 4EAT shifts) the speedometer needle jumps back up and is fine again. Usually only happens once a week, and I've only had 2 CELs from it (over a 6month period). Can I get to the speedo cable base peice without removing the transmission?

Sounds like an electrical hesitation issue... or maybe even a misfire on cylinders. I would check your electricals like plugs, wires... You might want to try a tune up - oil change, fuel filter etc. If your electrical grounding points are all corroded, clean those up.

I have the same issue on my 98 GT. At around 2000rpm moving off from a stop the shift from 1st to 2nd is very noticeable - all other gears are fine. I think it has more to do with the type of synchros Subaru used in their boxes...my tranny has done 165,000miles and is ok, just a little rough off 1st gear. Moderate-heavy load helps the tranny shift smoother, if you back off at 2,500rpm you'll get hit with the changeup... As an aside, do any of you suffer from drivetrain & engine vibration at 2 - 3000rpm, under load?

www.linaracing.com is the outfit that did the swap. I emailed the driver of the car a few times mid-2004 and asked about it - he said the torque was crazy for the lighter chassis - spun tires in the dirt in 4th gear. Note that he is using the car purely for rally...