thanks

I think his point was it doesn't matter how hard you drive your car as long as you do proper maintenance.

Even if you abuse the SST on the daily, it will live if you change the fluid regularly.


Glad to hear that the OP problem was fixed!

^Exactly!
Also, driving too soft has several reported downsides, most notably badly slipping clutches. I've talked with 2 MR owners (so it's not just RA's) while at RRE, who reported the exact same driving habits:
Completely stock and only use the car as a DD to and from work (sitting in traffic both ways).
They never took their cars out for spirited driving, only used them to commute, and when they finally decided to get a tune, their clutches were slipping so bad they couldn't even hold STOCK torque to get a base-line. Obviously Mike had to tell them he couldn't tune their cars (be carefully buying used MR's from South Coast FYI).
This combined with my own experiences, and the several dozen other reported cases, led me to my "Ruminations" that seems to be so controversial lately :P

Good to know though ,,,, I like the recomendation for the fluid and filter change at 15k.
Thanks for the info

+1, i did my research on getrag dcts and i completely agree with your controversial theory

If mine ever goes out, a 5-speed is going in, period. No, it's not as difficult as one may think, just more difficult than say, an E30.

Has anyone successfully done the swap yet?

I have not seen any, but there is no reason why it cannot. There is a 5-speed for the 4b11t. You may have to rig a mount, and nab other bits, but all can be sourced from a wrecked car. It is doable, just have not researched exactly all that is needed.

In most cars, 'bit's means maybe changeing out brake components from the source car if the pedal units come linked or anything. plugging up trany cooler lines and so forth. The body/frame is the same accross the board. Just everything else mounted to it varies depending on wallet size.

i think you'd need to swap the ecu/tcu as well to have it properly married to the awd
and the whole ignition column and dash cluster too? (possibly requiring the fastkey from the donor vehicle)

I wouldn't think you would need to replace the ignition. I'm guessing you are thinking of the kill switch when the clutch is not engaged, allowing the car to start. Most of these are just simple voltage/wiring tweaks that can be rigged.

I've never really looked hard at what would need to happen though, but would be interested to find out.

I think he was refering to the paddle shifters that will no longer be needed, and that they will look silly if you have a stick.

How much did the dealer charge you for fluid + filter?

wantagh mitsu charges 130 per 4L of diaqueen sstf1, and 156 for the filter. which they have to order bc they don't keep on hand.

also, sst ecu displays the gear# in the gauge cluster. makes me think that the gsr gauge cluster is different. and it must be communicating with the rest of the car, so it would be important to have the awd+ecu in communication with it. seems almost easier to use a gsr ecu or something than rewire to make it work on the RA. however, i also don't know much about how the RA is wired. and I've also always secretly hoped my sst gives out after warranty so I could try attempt the swap

I live on the east coast, bought my 2010 sportback w/3200 miles in 2011..around 10k I noticed the trans filter was leaking, as well as small kicks when shifting..and almost like a clap when stoping and engaging into 1st..now I'm around 13.5k and the shifts have gotton harder. Im going back to my dealer soon for a flush and 15-20k maintenance..I have paperwork to the last dealership vist (my 10k vist..my tech does my oil changes.) Stating nothing wrong with transmission issues..so I've got that on my side, if the SST fails.