I am ready to go to stage two but hear horror stories of people breaking the 03 transmission very easily. I am currently at stage 1 and have no problems and the guy I bought my accessport said he didn't have any problems with stage 2 on his 03 wagon, but I don't know if maybe he just said that to make the sale, he has traded the car in since for a truck. My transmission sometimes does not want to go into reverse and requires me to run through several gears before tryiing to. What causes is? I bought the car at 60,000 miles from a dealership in Columbus and am not sure if it has had the service on it. But I was wondering who on here has an 02-03 at stage 2 and what kind of problems you have had if any. Also I do not launch the car, I use the clutch kick method in first or second gear when I need to make it "move", and I downshift often to slow down to save brakes. Should I wait for a stronger tranny or go ahead with stage 2?
Its fine. I have been running it since Feb. of this year. I have done several autox's and even taken it on rally stages to pull Ped out of the sand. Don't clutch kick the car to get it to move in gears. You should clutch slip. Let the clutch disc take the grunt of the work, rather than shocking your driveline with a kick. The only people that do clutch kicks are drifters. The main problem with stage 2, the clutch can't hold the power well and will go fairly quick. It only took me a week, but that was because I was in some deep sand. I switched the ACT street clutch and it has been working great since. I have also taken it to the doublex and launched it over 12 times. I am also at about 60k miles. To get the car in reverse if it doesn't go the first time. Release the clutch pedal and completely depress it again to get it in. Often, if it doesn't go for me, I take my foot off the clutch and put the stick back in neutral, push down on the clutch again and try it again. It normally works on the second time, and sometimes a third try is needed. Slowing your car down the with the tranny is great if you are racing or running a huge V8. Your engine isn't large enough to put a large amount of resistance on the driveline. Subaru blessed us with larger front rotors.
I wouldn't imagine the power from a stage 2 setup being a problem for the tranny. You just have to treat it right. I don't know if I would clutch kick a subaru. It's not really good for the clutch or the tranny. My car is relatively new and it doesn't like going into reverse either, I'll usually roll it an inch in first then it slides right in to reverse afterwards. And as far as downshifting to slow down: Are you just putting it in gear then slowly letting out the clutch to slow it down, OR: are you rev matching to the lower gear (heel-toe) during braking to slow down. I'd recommend the latter as to not put unnecessary wear on the clutch, and it's great technique in the mountains.
i think I need to get together with some of you guys and practice these driving techniques. I've been driving an automatic for the last 3 years and occasionally a friends 5 speed. I've had my car for about 3 months now.
The heel toe takes practice, but any dummy can clutch slip. It just means rev the engine up like you are going normally, but let the clutch out slower. Don't do it all the time, because it causes a lot of extra wear on the clutch disc. I normally only use it if I come up to a light and can't shift into first because I am still moving, but I need to go and I am in second. I rev it higher than normal in second and then just let the clutch out slower. I have seen videos on the internet of great examples of heel toeing. They set up cameras right near the pedals and you can watch the pro's do it. I would just search youtube for heel toe or something.
These are words of wisdom. And yeah, I think almost all wrxs have the reverse problem (and I believe it's somewhat common with manual cars in genera)l. Like he said, put the car in neutral, let the clutch out, push it back in, and you should be in business.
the reverse problem is due to the fact that our reverse gear is unsynchronized which makes it pretty much impossible to engage it with any motion
Heel toe downshifting for me is purely to maintain overall car balance when entering a corner. It keeps the cars composure and weight distribution more even and allows me to be in the correct gear to exit the corner. It's not very useful during street braking, but it's good practice. Rev matching in general is good as well, even if you're not braking. For instance when downshifting to a lower gear to get some more pep to pass someone. Just rev match (push in the clutch pedal like a normal shift but blip the gas with your right foot to where the engine speed needs to be for the lower gear i.e. 3rd to 2nd, and then release the clutch like normal and it should slide right in with no change of vehicle speed). You're basically doing the work of the synchros to some extent. It takes practice but it puts much less stress on the clutch and tranny 'cause the tranny has to do less work to sync up the speed of the engine to the speed of the tranny/car speed.
its all in how you drive man. hell you can break the tranny when you are stock. I ran a vf22 with a FM for over a year with no problems at all. I was at the so-called stage 2 at 10K miles and continued to modify more and more until 45K (when I sold her) with no problems. at stage 2 you will be fine if you are driving the way you say you are. cool rex is still on the stock tranny and he is way more modified than I was but he has an 04.
yep just be careful...don't go around killin' it all the time. And when you do drive it hard, do it with respect. you could always double clutch!!!!
The cobb install is easy. Just follow the directions, plug a few things in, hit a button, and there you go.
I can do that part. I mean the turbo back and uppipe install. I don't have a garage nor the right tools
I sheared several teeth off 2nd at redline just before I went with meth. I do not know the driving style of the previous owner so there could have been abuse.
Sorry to hear that. Did you just have the stage 2 mods (tbe, AP) or were you on a larger turbo? I'm just sticking with stage 2 until I graduate and can afford to upgrade the turbo and of course tranny
I am not too familiar with the different stages...I just keep on modding.LOL I currently have: VF39, Hyperflow TM, Pink injectors, Helix UP, HKS Ti Carbon TBE, SMC meth, Prodrive EBCS, RA gearset, and COBB AP V2 I had all of the above less the meth, cobb, and gearset when I lost my teeth.
i second that the unsynched reverse gear problem can be fixed my just letting the car roll forward a bit and testing the reverse gear until it engages easy.
the BEST way to put the car in reverse is to put your car in 3rd gear and roll forward (you dont even have to step on the gas; just release the clutch and let your car roll forward just a little bit..rpm slows a lot), and then while rolling forward a little bit, slip it into reverse. and BTW, on my 03 bugeye i have sti up, helix DP, sti axle-back so i`m running stage 2 on my AP at almost 100K miles and i have NO problems. our tranny might do something funny from time to time, but i think it's pretty durable. and i dont know about the clutch, but i DEFINITELY need new brakes b/c of stage 2 LOL. o, and i wish you g'luck with the uppipe install..!
all you ahve to do is get the tranny to move a little bit somehow what ever gear you wanna use, so that the reverse gear will line up properly due to it's lack of synchros. you can simply roll forward or backward in neutral with the clutch pedal up and it will slip into reverse after that.
The specific gears don't matter to get it into reverse. If you car is parked on a hill, you could just release the brake and the same thing would happen. You are basically just trying to get the two sets of gear teeth to mesh, and if the one is blocking the other, you can spin it to an open tooth. As far as the dp uppipe install, the dp is quite easy with some basic hand tools and a jackstand. The uppipe is tricky, and will require some help. You don't need to replace your uppipe to go to stage 2 as far as I know. The turboback is really whats important, because that places all the restriction on the turbo. Of course if you have a catless uppipe, or a high flow, the spool up will be faster, but you will still have stage two without the up. Check out the DIY threads here. Moose has written an uppipe install and there are plenty of dp installs floating around. p.s. if you don't have the necessary tools, but them. They can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars by DIY'ing.
Cobb doesn't say you do need up but Scott and everyone else recommended it highly before going to stage 2. Apparently, the heat can melt the Catalytic materials which can ruin your turbo. Having said that, I ran stage 2 with stock wrx uppipe with no problem for 3 months
Haha, no, seriously, the easiest way to get in reverse is just to let the clutch out and put it back in. The great thing about this technique is that you don't have to be on a hill...and it's quicker.
over time and with excessive heat, the cat on the up pipe of 02-05 wrx's can begin to break apart. if a piece that breaks off get's pushed into the hot side of the turbo and you can imagine the repercussions. so switch it out.
Whats the EGT change for the extra ~1psi? Just because the power is increased, doesn't always mean the EGT jumps up high, since it is mainly based on A/F ratios. I am not a tuner though, so I don't have EGT data for the changes.
Ding Ding Ding! Teh Winnar!!! I also would've excepted "Ridiculously" or "Retardedly" (unfortunately I lied about the prize )
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT. I'm talking LEGACY Spec B gearing.... And even if the gearing is considered 'too short' I'd rather have a 6spd of any gearing any day over a 5spd. Why? I am ABUSIVE. I like to do 7k rpm clutch drops.
Haha, and I still like having my axles intact But true, legacy gearing is a little better than STi gearing, or so I hear.
Haha, pretty much off-topic. Sorry for helping jack the thread :sad: I think WJM is saying he should get a 6spd and then not have to worry about it. Then it kind of went from there...
I'd love to do that but I am a broke college student! I plan on getting to stage 2 until I graduate next summer and get a real job and THEN going all out with my car! Thanks for your help guys. I guess nobody's really had a problem with stage 2 on a 03 wrx tranny then? unless they are keeping hush hush about it
I think the problem with stage 2 is that most people don't stay on stage 2 too long. Stage2->Turbo upgrade -> mods->more shit etc->broken tranny
Correct. Nobody is keeping hush about it. Its not that big of a deal. 5sp with straight cut NA gears FTW! More shifting takes more time, and who wants to waste time when racing for time...