seems like all the 5 speeds i have driven have thier issues, as they have all been highmileage units. they grind into second, or they have to be forced into gears... nothing horrible, just something ive noticed on everything from dr 5 speeds, to push buttons, to awd, with center diff lock.

 

what im gettin at is i like my 4 speed. and if i throw alot more hp at it, without powershifting, or anything... is there any reason a 4 speed would be weaker than a xt6 transmission?

eh?

Hmm.... I really am far from an expert on subaru transmissions. I would make the assertion that maybe you've just run into some trannys that were used hard. My d/r 5 speed just turned 175,000 and it doesn't have any issues. I worked on a friend's subaru this summer that is creeping up on 280,000 with the original tranny and still no issues.

 

As far as the durability of the 4 speed, I can't see why it wouldn't hold up with just about any horsepower that could be put out by a subaru motor without insane mods.

well, double the hp, could be considered insane i suppose.

the RX trans i put in my wagon was hard to shift...had OLD AS HELL gear oil in it...my guess is the syncros were glazed over...as i have heard said before.

 

believe it or not, I used Mobil 1 15w50 ENGINE oil in my last trans, an XT turbo FT4WD trans..and after a while it started to shift like new...when i swapped trannys...I drained the RX box and put in this oil...it was still slow to shift...but after treating it like the XT box and just driving, its really starting to shift faster now....I woudl try synth in one of them and see what happens. Usually when something is old and ill mantained...its just like that until you give it some TLC.

Redline in my RX box. Shifts like butter.

my gl tranny, i got it in the car with 94k miles on it, i have changed the fluid, and even tried bg syncoshift(which my 200k mile 4 speed loves) and it still grinds into second. but the xt6 im driving now seems pretty good, but it still doesnt like a fast shift, so much.

my experence with 4-speeds has not been good i went though 3 in six months in was in a stock 84 gl but i did drive it hard but the from the minute i got the car it was hard to get into reverse. my 5-speed has had just as much or more abuse and it still shifts good