bearzbear

Yah... this is not good... because factories are notorious for stuffing in whatever parts they happen to have in stock to meet production numbers!! The chart says that there are some OB and OBW that used the 3.9 ratio... but I think that sticking to the 2.2L cars as a source is more likely to yield the right part. So, the numbers in the tranny chart for the MTs will not help when looking at the actual transmissions?? _-_-bearzbear

Ummm... well the traffic moves at 75mph on the NYS Thruway and the Mass Pike... you figure it out?? I'm not driving in NYC at that speed, ALTHOUGH back in around 1972 in my father's 64 Pontiac with the small block 8, can't recall the model, a two door - the one with the flat tops on the fenders... I had the speedo at 100mph on the Van Wyck Expressway at around 2:30AM in the morning for a short stretch... As far as the cruise control dorking the gas pedal, it's more steady than your average driver, and I don't use it when going up grades - I call down to the engine room and tell them to take it out of WARP DRIVE and drop it to impulse control... but on long drives, like most of the way out to Boston it is reasonably flat and the cruise is great - just press down to pass, and then relax... try it sometime?? So, I am still looking for solid info on swapping in the 3.9 ratio gear... I am guessing that if I use the tranny chart I should be able to look for gear from the appropriate year/model(s) and find the codes?? to confirm the ratio. It would be tough to measure the ratio accurately enough to do an empirical determination if the rear and the tranny/diff assembly were correct. And, did we decide that it is ok to use the tranny/rear from the Impreza series?? That seems like the most likely source to me... they didn't make a lot of the "premium" series OBs. _-_-bear

as I said, "iirc" - they are stock 205-70s... I don't need to hold it in gear longer, I want to run at lower RPM at high speed. Right now I can easily start off in 2nd, or shift 1-3-5 for normal driving... I suppose with a full load the other gears would help. To me it doesn't matter how it is arrived at, just that it is, a lower RPM for high speed travel. 3500 at 75mph is too high, period. Taller gears for me, please! I don't think it is reasonable to expect to drive this car at 85mph - which is easy to have to do if passing on an interstate... or just boogying... Yes I have found the "trannychart" which is why I am asking if anyone has experience getting bits or whole drive trains from other models/years. How about the newer "6 speed"?? any hope there?? _

we're talkin' MT only... stock recommended tires... 15" rims, I think they are 215 x 70? iirc... would have to look. Imo the MT and the auto ought to be at the same RPM at highway speeds... I'm talking about the Impreza MT & diffs fitting the OBW... Seems to me that this MT wants desperately to have the 3.9 ratio, not the 4.11.

Thanks for the input. Ummm, no this is not my first Subaru by any measure. More like my 7th or 8th?? Going back into the 80s. I do not buy the idea that the effective ratios stayed the same - I think that is true for the Automatic Transmission cars. We own a venerable '93 Legacy wagon AT, and it turns about 2700 at 75mph. More like it. I know for sure that the 98 Forester (the "red pig") that just had the bolt on the timing belt tensioner come out ran under 3000rpm at 75mph, automatic transmission. Can't recall exactly what rpm it was, because it did not call attention to itself by revving out of its mind... As far as a "steady foot" - I run cruise control on the high speed interstates, so it's hard to be more steady. 3500 at 75mph is too high, power at that speed isn't required much unless you have to climb very tall grades a lot. While the terrain here in upstate NY isn't dead flat like the midwest, this ain't the Rockies either... This leaves running at 80mph an impractical speed for any length of time... so the car is fine for short hops, not long runs. Bums my space. Swapping in older running gear seems like not a good thing. I read somewhere yesterday that the Impreza uses the same tranny but geared taller... this is the sort of thing I am looking to find. Thinking about doing this swap AFTER I put in the engine, sucks quite frankly. If I had known about this loony gear ratio thing, I'd have looked for another AT car - :-\

Usually the diode stack in them dies... My "old lady's" '93 OBW had the darndest symptom - it would run fine for a while, and then usually on a cool damp day, you could come out and the battery was DEAD. Turned out that when I replaced the alternator it never did it again. I would like to find a higher amperage unit that just bolts in... but there isn't much space like on older US cars. The alternators themselves will likely fit mechanically, but they changed the plug set ups from year to year, maybe a few years they used the same plug set ups... and I think they went from 2 wire to three wire. If you have the FSM or a similar diagram of the alternator & the wiring you might be able to determine if you can clip the leads of the old one and the wiring harness of the new one and make it work. But, barring that, I'd buy the rebuilt - cheapest one I could find... _-_-bearzbear

Ok. I just put a 98 Legacy OBW on the road - after putting in a new used engine - I got it with a siezed engine. Runs nice now. But, ummmm... it turns 3400 rpm @ 75mph - a bit high. After reading I see this is correct and stock! (wtf were they thinking??) Anyhow, I have read that you can swap it for a 3.9:1 set up - BUT you have to also change the rear diff as well?? This confuses me. That means that the change in ratio is actually in the front and rear DIFFERENTiALS not in the transmission gears at all?? If the change was to the size of the 5th gears (there are two) then you could just swap the box with the gears, keep the rest. So, is the change in ratio actually IN the diffs, and not the 5th gear itself?? Also, can I put in a newer MT with the 6th gear (I have only read about them, done no research yet)? How about identifying the ratios on a REAR or the MT box itself?? How to know? What about the rear diff off a 4EAT car??? Do I care if the parts come from the same car chassis?? WHICH model is most likely to have the 3.9:1 ratio parts? What is the newest year I can use?? (I didn't check, but did they stop offering the MT after 2000 for a while??) And, is the lower gearing mostly responsible for the better apparent gas mileage of the newer cars?? Any experts out there?? Thanks in advance!!