which trans is better? and why? which one is more reliable with less problems and better for mods?

 

Well, I had an 03 and the tranny never felt that great. Loved the stock throw (so never added a short shifter), but always had a little grind the Mits service folks couldn't ever "feel", so I was stuck. I had done all the bushings and swapped tranny fluid, no luck. I now have a MR, and shifting is much better with no mods to it yet. I think I had a bum 03 tranny though...

 

Depends on what you want. The 6 is prob more of a drivers pick, but the 5 is going to be faster. (Less shifting = more time on the throttle!)

 

The 5 speed is also stronger than the 6 speed. Ive heard of problems with the 6 speed already.

 

so what your saying is that a stock 8 should beat a stock MR?

 

whats the problem that you heard with the 6 speed?

 

A lot of grinding. My friend has one and already had problems. John from TRE also told me they had some mr's with problems

 

I've owned both, I prefer the 6-speed. People keep saying that the 6-speed is weaker but no one can back it up with a first hand report. The mighty FQ-400 uses the six speed as do all jdm and UK VIIIs except for a few RSes.


The 5-speed is faster where?

 

03 ownz MR

 

Car and Driver ran the 5-speed based on Mitsubishi's recommendation for the 25 hours of Thunderhill enduro. However, if you're not planning on driving flat out for 25 straight hours, I doubt there's a significant difference in reliability between the two. The 6 speed has a smoother shifting action and slightly taller top gearing. At highway speeds it's around 100 rpm difference between the 6 and the 5 from 03-05. The Evo IX has different gearing on the five speed so it's a significant difference top gear to top gear.

If you care to read it, here's a link to the C&D article where they reference the 5 speed swap:
http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1

 

I chose the 5 speed based on the fact that it has been around for a very long time and is fairly bulletproof as far as transmissions go.

 

5 sp is tougher in my opinion. i have an 03 RR and no problems whatsoever with tranny/cluth/ anything (knock on wood). It seems like either the 03s were bulletproof, of total **** (dying under 10k)\. A neighbor of mine who had my indentical car recently traded it for a 05 MR in RR. neverthe less he HATES the 6sp (but loves the handling and torque). He said it is very notchy and sloppy. ive seen him grind it was do misshifts multipletimes after not a single in his 03. i think it comes down to the driver, the shifting (ex: double clutchin etc), and IMO the build quality/reliability. 5sps haver been around FOREVER, especially with the evos powerplant. mitsu has had many ytears to perfect and build up the 5sp tranny, i think the 6 is too new.

 

This is very interesting for me to keep up with. I would agree that my 03 5speed was a bit "tighter", but I did have the bushings (underhood and in car) as well as syncroshift in it. I also had a nasty grind going into 3rd, but it was there from day one, never got better...never got worse. The 05 isn't "sloppy" to me, but it's not as precise as the 5speed (again, had a couple things done that did improve feel). I don't grind gears, the shifting is smooth...overall I'd say I like my 6 speed more, but totally see why many wouldn't agree.

 

in the 1/4 mile, yes, one less shift....the 8 is actually .3 faster supposedly in the 1/4 mile.

**i have no sources to proove that, i think i saw it in some magazine comparison, so im not sure as far as validity.

 

Obviously the six is better. It comes standard in every Evo in the world (minus the US) that isn't an RS or other verison that is meant to be stripped for racing to have a dog box installed. The only problem Mitsu ever had with the new 6spd was a faulty cotter pin in the shift linkage, not even tranny related.