just bought a 97 lsi w 27k miles..couple of questions
 

i used to have a 94 l model fwd. I went through a tranny at 35k. i now acquired a 96 with 27k miles. i was wondering if the later cars still have tranny probs? should i instal a tranny cooler and use synthetic tranny oil (if so which one?). i would rather pay some up front to prolong the tranny if it helps.... any advice to a sort of 2nd time newbie would be appreciated.

Good Luck, it looks like you've made a nice purchase.:cool: If you do a search, there are many threads of information available on upkeep of your SVX!

Personally, I would recommend a transmission cooler install and high performance fluid like Royal Purple.

I frequent Long Island, and would love to see the car sometime. :cool:

Welcome to the forum!

anytime. thanks for the reply. i will assume that the later cars are not better than the earlier cars tranny wise. the car is making its way to me from tennessee next week or so. need to change the ugly aftermarket wheels. unsure weather to put the orig wheels or aftermarket. i kinda like the stock look as usually aftermarket wheels are poser like to me. I am getting rid of my 03 m3 next week and purchasing a wacky and useless car (thats what i like about it) in it;s place (called a noble m12). the subie will be my daily driver. The m3 rwally gets annoying as a daily driver.

Ah.

Daily driver Eh? There are probably only a handful of those cars left in such nice shape with such low mileage. Cherish it.

Id love to have a garage queen with that kind of mileage on it, just for special occasions.


However, if your weekend car is a Noble, that puts things into a better perspective I suppose. :o

Please do all of us a favor and install the OEM wheels :-P. Hehe.

A few of us were looking at the auction and agreed that they would be changed if we ended up with the car.

Edit: (If we were lucky enough to end up with that car!)

actually, i just really enjoyed the 94 l that i had. it was really comfortable and a great touring car. it is unique and you dont see many. i paid 11 grand for it. where would i get anything even close to it for double that amount. but, i guess you know this already. If they made a new one i would have bought it....This was the closest thing. Now that I rid myself of the m3 payment...the noble was in reach as a replacement payment.

i agree it is a shame to drive the premium out of it...but, i am losing far less over time than i would with ANY newer car. That is as long as i dont kill too many trannies.

At least this is the way i rationalized it all.

You're my hero.:eek:

The Noble completely rocks! Excellent choice if you can afford it.

I would love to own one of those machines! Faster than many Ferraris and less pretentious. Maybe someday... but for right now I'll settle for my WRX and SVX.

Hope you enjoy both cars!

Ira

any other opinions on the wheels? I have some others wheels (like the oz superleggera's) on the wheel thread on this site that i liked. However, the orig's just look right to me. Maybe that will change in time, but I certainly hate the wheels on it now. I just can;t wait have an svx again. thanks for all the replies. This site has already made me feel welcome.

And yes, the noble is going to be a trip. I am not a ferrari type guy. I am also too cheap to pay that kind of repair/maint bills.

Noble m12? Noice!As for the svx, it looks like you picked up a winner. With 27k miles on it, good care will get you another 200k.You'll LOVE the trim package upgrade...I also used to drive a fwd L, and now drive a *Lower than previous car* mileage 96. It's jus a better drive all around, everything from the sunroof and leather to the speed sensitve variable rate powr steering. Believe me you'll love it!
The later years (94 and up) actually DID have transmission improvments, but it seems even the later years are prone to failure. Installing a transmission cooler and full synthetic fluid is a good start. I'd also change the internal transmission filter to help keep things moving smoothly. There's many tips on doing so on this site

thanks for the info on the LSI compared to the L. It is nice to hear from someone that has had both to compare. It also sounds like the topic of tranny appears all over other threads so i will do some research here rather than make you all repeat. I will also do the upgrades suggested here. Insurance is my primary business, therefore, I will purchae some with the updates suggested.

regards

Welcome to the site. That is a very nice SVX. I would suggest like others here to put on a cooler and filter to prolong the life of the tranny. The later years have the upgrades on the tranny and have not had the problems the 92s and 93s had. Good luck and have fun with her. :)

The SVX is very high geared and fourth speed is in fact an overdrive. Treat it as such and use third for city and traffic driving. Otherwise the transmission is constantly hunting up and down 3 - 4 - 3 for no good purpose, other than cause extra wear and tear. :eek:

Consider
 

You could of course consider a PWR radiator to get more tranny cooling capacity. Provided of course that they corrected their few minor problems in design.

Lee

Very nice car. I would defidently go with the tranny cooler, if for nothing else than extending the life of the tranny. I'm about to put one into my 94 LSi AWD with 125k miles.

Brad, instead of a tranny cooler I had Tom install a PWR radiator for me. I like the Subaru STi wheels with Toyo Proxie 4 tires. Do you have stock wheels? There is a place in Wantagh that can refinish your wheels like new for 135 or so each. Congrats on a great car. I have a 94 with 38K.