Final Verdict on FRS Transmission? Junk.
 

Hey guys I know its been awhile but I feel like I need to iterate this into some sort of post so that maybe someone who is looking at buy this car can form an opinion based on possible issues they could have.

Now you might be saying to yourself.. "This guy is crazy!" "Everyone praises this transmission!" "It is the best!"

Well guys I am sorry but I truly think that the transmission that comes in these cars is cheap junk that is bound to fail. Parts used on these transmissions were not designed to hold up to the stress that might be induced from hard driving. And I am not talking about a race track..

I base this opinion off of my personal experience with my 2013 FRS. I just rolled over 44K miles and I am on transmission number 2. For the record I have never raced this car at an autocross event nor a track. That is what my miata is for. But somehow I managed to find the very obvious weakness in this turd of a transmission. I ended up having my transmission replaced under warranty based on my third gear being a POS at high RPMs and not wanting to shift. Basically the syncro was toast and it was only getting worse. It would be so bad sometimes that I would get completely locked out of gear and it would just sit and grind as I tried to force it into gear.

Now that I have a new transmission I thought that life might be better. But no its still the same clunky POS that I had before except that third gear actually works (for now). I just dont understand how this transmission can receive so much praise when there are so many better transmissions out there? My miata for example.. It is 25 years old and has 147K miles on it. The last 20K miles have been drifting and race miles. It is just now starting to "complain" about me being hard on it. (which i might add is WAY harder than I am on my FRS). And it is not free of its own issues! Ive gone from 2nd to 5th more times than I can count.. But I can solve that issue with stiffer motor mounts and stiffer diff mounts.

Anyways my point is that I think that the FRS transmission is truly not up to par with what we should expect from a well engineered japanese sports car. Everything from the clunky notchy BS to the junk syncros that are basically plastic. I think we deserve something of better quality.

Please feel free to flame if you must. I know a lot of people wont agree with this which I understand. I am not looking for a fight I just want to share my miserable experience. I will be happy to discuss this when I find time. :thumbsup:

My car has 40k miles on it and after a transmission fluid change 3,000 miles ago it shifts buttery smooth and has no grinding in any gear.

apparently it is made of glass

I would be pissed also if I had the same experience. Not as an excuse, but the 2013 is the 1st year model. I would believe that the engineers would review all the real world issues and make improvements with the next gen car.

I've been lucky and have had no issues. Maybe my warm climate is a little easier on the transmissions.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

So let me get this straight:

1. Your transmission went bad, specifically syncro for 3rd gear wore out.
2. Got it replaced under warranty and now it works.
3. You still don't like the clunky feel of it.
4. The transmissions on all GT-86's are officially garbage.

Maybe the reason that most owners and so-called car reviewers like the transmission is because it's actually pretty decent?

Basically I feel that all of these transmissions are the same. As far as I know they havent made any major design changes from 2013 to 2016.

Now that I have a new one that behaves the exact same I am pretty certain that if I drive the car the same way I did that I would eventually kill this new transmission. That is pretty sucky. I have since been driving my car easier to try and extend the life of this transmission (and the new clutch I had put in as well) but I am super annoyed that I need change how I drive my car because it cant hold up to my STREET driving. Maybe I did get a dud syncro.. But from my little bit of research into the issue it seems that they just used really wimpy syncros in this transmission.

Now I guess I cant blanket statement EVERY gt86 in existence but based on old transmission to new transmission it seems that they are the same. Therefore I will have the same experience in any gt86 I drive which bums me out.. I love parts of this car a lot. The steering feel and planted grip for example. But the problems I keep uncovering the longer I own the vehicle are really getting old.

Final note: From what ive seen is that most of the praise comes from initial reviewers that drive the car for maybe an hour? I feel like to understand this transmission you need to live with it for at least a year to form a solid opinion on it. I've had mine for a year and a half and I didnt really notice any of these issues until after the honeymoon lol.

I think it drives great. No issues with mine.

43k miles, one fluid change at 30k, several track days and a season of autocross, no issues. But I could totally see how someone would complain about my transmission, it clunks and is finicky, resistant sometimes, willing in others. IMO two things going on, first, the transmission was designed to be beaten on, it never feels better than when I'm shifting up above 5k rpm with my foot to the floor, and secondly to maintain a lower price point I think QC is lax on parameters that can make a big difference like mechanical tolerances, some report like yours and mine with a lackluster feel, others report consistent butter 10/10 transmission. I sometimes wonder how handpicked the journalist fleet cars were, maybe with pre-intalled camber bolts, performance alignments and top shelf trannies.

Sucks OP, we all wish it were different but it ain't.

:cheers:

Some people have horror stories about these transmissions. Some people are fine with these transmissions. So which is it? Are they good transmissions? Are they bad transmissions?

I don't know much about sampling, projection bias, industrial manufacturing, metallurgy, failure rates, or transmission design, but I reckon I have it all figured out, guys!

Thanks for the additional info...now I think I realize where you are coming from. Sounds like the new transmissions feels the same as the old and so you are expecting it to have the same problems as before.

I sincerely hope that doesn't happen!

I've had my car almost three years now (only 30K on the odometer though) and still love everything about it: steering, suspension and transmission.

Hey D long time no see.
'Fraid I have to pitch in with the "never had an issue" crowd. Pushing 50K miles on the original oil and never had even a slight issue with a shift, ever. Yes I agree it is "notchy" but do believe that is by design and not a flaw. The vast majority of the 100s of vehicles I have ever drove were "notchy" and I actually prefer that feel over the vague, sloppy feel of some modern trannys.
As far as your 3rd gear issue goes I don't recall reading about that one very often at all. Cold second and fifth fairly often but never third.

Please take the following as some insight and not as a slam.
It is possible that as you said "the honeymoon is over" and deep inside you are finding fault to justify changing to something new that get the excitement flowing again. This is not an abnormal human thing and even if you don't realize it at a conscious level it could be a factor in why you dislike some aspects now.

Considering someone I know grenaded his transmission at the track and had to replace it in the pit, I don't think these transmissions are bulletproof by any stretch. He said his syncros had been giving him problems upshifting into 4th at the track, and then he eventually lost all his gears. His car is NA, making 207 whp.

As a counterpoint, I'm at 23k miles now (~2.5k of those being track miles) with no issues. I replaced the tranny fluid at 19k miles with Motul 300. It can be very notchy when cold, but shifts fine when warm. My car is NA, de-tuned to about 180 whp currently.

I think it's luck of the draw with these transmissions honestly.

Bought my FRS brand new, had it at an autocross within 12 hours. 37k miles, many many autocrosses (including several ProSolos) and a couple track days.

Early on I had issues grinding into 4th at high RPM, which I attributed to needing some break in. Went away and zero problems since. It's notchy but I like it that way; I can't stand a transmission with zero feedback ("did I actually put it into gear?").

If notchy isn't your thing, that's fine. Go get another car. But just because one transmission fails doesn't mean all of them suck. OP, check this out when you have a free moment: http://www.nizkor.org/features/falla...alization.html

In fairness there Dark the minute the words "at the track" are stated then reliability issues should not be a consideration.