Manual Swap

[rj7630]

I have a 95 AWD that I did a 4.44 conversion to and I'm not too happy with it. A little too high (lo?) of gear for me. Also, I think the used front diff. I used has a lot of miles on it and not sounding too good. So thinking of pulling all this out and going manual.
I've read the stuff on the forum and most of it makes sense and within my capabilities.
The question I have is what to use for a tranny? I'm not a racer type and the occassional on ramp burst is pretty much it. I'm afraid to buy an old Legacy tranny as they are all going to a ton of miles on them. So a newer tranny seems to make sense (Outback, Forester, WRX?) Any of these easier than other to transplant? Also, can I just swap the ring gear in the rear diff as with the 4.44 conversion or do I need the diff from the donor car?
Thanks

[Conn SVX]

Mine was swapped with the WRX . I have no problem.I am afraid you may have opened the per verbal can of worms. My thoughts ( know I am going to get flamed here) any Subaru tranny that you mention.( WRX, Forester, Outback) possibly in that order best to worse, will work. Again only my thoughts. If you drive it as you say you do, shift at 3,000 RPM and under, nice and gentle with it, any low miles tranny good condition tranny will work. We have people even say the Impressa will work. No mater what you do go with ,and you will get a lot of feed back, make sure you use the strongest best clutch you can afford. Ok ! I said it now I am sure I am gona get lambasted for what I said . All my opinion not to be taken as fact.

[Sean486]

Originally Posted by Conn SVX

Mine was swapped with the WRX . I have no problem.I am afraid you may have opened the per verbal can of worms. My thoughts ( know I am going to get flamed here) any Subaru tranny that you mention.( WRX, Forester, Outback) possibly in that order best to worse, will work. Again only my thoughts. If you drive it as you say you do, shift at 3,000 RPM and under, nice and gentle with it, any low miles tranny good condition tranny will work. We have people even say the Impressa will work. No mater what you do go with ,and you will get a lot of feed back, make sure you use the strongest best clutch you can afford. Ok ! I said it now I am sure I am gona get lambasted for what I said . All my opinion not to be taken as fact.

I agree, and I think you summed it up well.

[1986nate]

Any transmission post 96 will work just fine, be it cable or hydraulic. 91-94 Turbo legacy transmissions will also work great.

If you get a trans from an N/A car, get a stage 2 clutch, if you use one from a turbo car, you can be fine with an OEM or stage 1 strength clutch kit.

[rj7630]

thanks for the input. I am going to start shoppping.

[svxfiles]

Originally Posted by rj7630

thanks for the input. I am going to start shoppping.

Just be aware that some manual transmissions will spin your engine ALOT higher than the 4.44 automatic.

[rj7630]

This is where I need some help. Is there any source to find transmission and diff gear ratios. I found a 2008 Legacy transmission and rear diff. but not sure what its final ratio will be. No sense going to the expense and work to get lower final gear ratio yet.

[Conn SVX]

Mine does rev higher at high way speed. BUT it will not hunt for gears and stays in 5 th. I get 28 MPG highway miles and almost 17 in real city traffic, ( heavy stop and go)

[LetItSnow]

My (former) Pearly had a 2000 2.5RS trans with 4.111 gears, giving it (with a heavy foot, naturally) 17/25 mpg, ~3400RPM@75mph.

[icingdeath88]

If you want lower highway RPMs, then a WRX 5-speed is a good bet. They have a 3.45 rear and 3.9 front final drive, and a very high 5th gear. The '05 and late '04 ones are much more reliable than the '02-early '04 ones.

When you find a trans you are considering, find out the serial number on the trans up by the starter and post it. That way we can check what the gear ratios and final drive are.

But at the same time, the WRX trans tend to be more expensive than the non-turbo cars. So it really depends on your budget.

[rj7630]

The 2008 Legacy transmission I am looking at has a SN: TY758VWAAA-GD. Any idea on what this is?

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by rj7630

The 2008 Legacy transmission I am looking at has a SN: TY758VWAAA-GD. Any idea on what this is?

I haven't paid attention to gear ratios and individual gears in the newer transmissions, but if it's from a normal legacy, and not a GT, it is likely a 3.90 final drive with probably a .780 5th if they've continued with their ratios they've been using in years past. There's a chance it could be a 4.11, but with the 5 spds, you will want to keep an eye on the 5th gear as opposed to the final drive. For example,
96-99 Outback 5 spd is a 4.11 final drive with a .871 5th gear which will scream on the highway.
Or similarily, a Forester 5 spd is a 4.11 final drive but uses the .780 5th and will be very different from the Outback 5 spd.

One thing of note, no matter what 5 spd trans you get, you can always swap in a 5th gearset from a WRX. (new from Subaru is about $100) This will give you a .738 5th gear (lowest found in any subaru). You may have to wind it up a little more in 4th to match gears properly, but if you know it's there, you will quickly get used to it.

[Conn SVX]

So what it sounds like you are saying , no matter what 5 speed he gets it should be higher than the 4:44 he has ( less rev at 70MPH}
I remember a mention of the Britton {sp} The least expensive Wagon, having a real high gearing .What was that?

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by Conn SVX

So what it sounds like you are saying , no matter what 5 speed he gets it should be higher than the 4:44 he has ( less rev at 70MPH}
I remember a mention of the Britton {sp} The least expensive Wagon, having a real high gearing .What was that?

The Legacy brightons had a higher 5th gear, though I've never seen the specifics as to the 5th gear ratio. I'm not sure if the same is true for the impreza brightons.

And an Outback (96-99) 5 spd will rev just as high as a 4.44 auto on the highway.

[rj7630]

Thanks for the information. This will be a big help.
Also, how does the rear diff. work out? Can I just bolt the Leacy diff. in place? How about the LSD? Also, I remember reading that the axles for the SVX are different. If I can use the Legacy diff., will the axles be an issue?