FA20 Stock Capacity

[Reaper]

13,000 miles all e85 (no pumpgas at all since the very first tank) and all at 460whp 390+wtq. 3 transmissions and 1 set of brakes destroyed. Stock engine still holding together. Remember subaru put a turbo and a vastly inferior efi on the Fa20dit on the same rods and block and sell it to us with a warranty at 300hp in the wrx.

[Swivel]

That is one of the other things a lot of them were saying... That if it wasn't the motor, the tranny would go. Good to hear about your engine, @Reaper.

Did you build it to 460 over time? Or did you build it that way from the start and haven't changed it? I'm just curious if you remember at what hp your transmissions started getting unreliable.

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Swivel

That is one of the other things a lot of them were saying... That if it wasn't the motor, the tranny would go. Good to hear about your engine, @Reaper.

Did you build it to 460 over time? Or did you build it that way from the start and haven't changed it? I'm just curious if you remember at what hp your transmissions started getting unreliable.

Before you think it's hp that kills transmissions; it's the torque.


The manual transmission is fragile for anything under 300wtq. After that it gets sketchy, and around the 390-400wtq makes it a ticking time bomb. The auto trans hasnt broken yet and there's upgrades for those as well. The transmission swaps from a 6spd to another 6spd so far are rediculously pricey, yet sequential trans swaps make those look cheap.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

Before you think it's hp that kills transmissions; it's the torque.


The manual transmission is fragile for anything under 300wtq. After that it gets sketchy, and around the 390-400wtq makes it a ticking time bomb. The auto trans hasnt broken yet and there's upgrades for those as well. The transmission swaps from a 6spd to another 6spd so far are rediculously pricey, yet sequential trans swaps make those look cheap.

V160-8 to 10k $ tremec-5 to 6k $ hollinger/quaife/drenth/hks 17,500 to 22k $ I'm on my 3rd stock transmission at 500$

[Swivel]

Any worthy gear upgrades?

And, are they really $500 brand new?? If so, might make more sense monetarily to simply keep a couple new stock trannies in the garage after I hit 300+wtq. Hahah.

[slicktop]

Originally Posted by Reaper

V160-8 to 10k $ tremec-5 to 6k $ hollinger/quaife/drenth/hks 17,500 to 22k $ I'm on my 3rd stock transmission at 500$

Just to harp on this, that V160 price is out-the-door and installed with labor. Brand new V160 is about $6k or so.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Swivel

Any worthy gear upgrades?

And, are they really $500 brand new?? If so, might make more sense monetarily to simply keep a couple new stock trannies in the garage after I hit 300+wtq. Hahah.

They Are 2600 new. I bought a few used ones for 500-800$ and keep spares. I'm on my 3rd so far in under 13,000 miles. Getting old real quick.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by slicktop

Just to harp on this, that V160 price is out-the-door and installed with labor. Brand new V160 is about $6k or so.

6k for the transmission, 2.2k for the clutch/flywheel/slave cylinder. Then add in the driveshaft, shifter and bellhousing, cross member...ended up being over 8 k for me to do all the labor not including shipping.

[hmong337]

Originally Posted by Reaper

They Are 2600 new. I bought a few used ones for 500-800$ and keep spares. I'm on my 3rd so far in under 13,000 miles. Getting old real quick.

You're overdue for a v160 fullblown conversion...

It's a shame this gearbox can't handle much power. Whereas my e153 from 1993 era can take 800+whp. I feel jipped...

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by hmong337

You're overdue for a v160 fullblown conversion...

It's a shame this gearbox can't handle much power. Whereas my e153 from 1993 era can take 800+whp. I feel jipped...

See the above post. 8.2k$ before shipping.

[Reaper]

The car is fun and I enjoy it but once my stash of cheap oem transmissions are all broken I'm done with the frs.

[hmong337]

Originally Posted by Reaper

See the above post. 8.2k$ before shipping.

Yea... saw that. But it really is the only formidible solution to holding power

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by Reaper

The car is fun and I enjoy it but once my stash of cheap oem transmissions are all broken I'm done with the frs.

Why not just lower the boost?

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by raven1231

Why not just lower the boost?

To what? I just replaced a transmission in a car with 350whp last week and 3 of my local buddies just did ones in their stock frs' this summer. Stock power is breaking them too. I just don't like my options right now of either 20k $ for a sequential or 8+k $ for a transmission that isn't even made anymore.