Ive blow up two one took a little cause the car was more stock then another was on a more modded cammed evo 9 blew it up in 2 days after owning it took one hard launch. Would recommend a 5 speed for all people out there that already dont have one

Shifting as fast as you can. Usually produces a bang or thump in the car.

Street driving on a hot day, won't yield temps over 200 degrees.

On the track, after a HARD HARD 20 minute session at Road America on a warm day, I can see temps spike over 300.

All temps in F.

From what I heard, anything over 250ish can be trouble... which is why I won't put a rebuilt tranny in again w/o a tranny cooler.

That thump in the car that you are referring to, is that the rear diff "clunk?"

Yes, there is, and it's well-documented by both major trans builders (Shep and TRE). IT's not just "a bit less strong." Gears 1-3 are actually very beefy and stronger in the 6spd, but 4-6 are tiny gears with tiny teeth. They can get ripped off even without launching or shifting hard. My 4th gear teeth ripped off with 300whp/320wtq while pulling hard in 4th gear on the road course. It wasn't a shift nor a launch...just pulling steadily in 4th down the back straight.

On the flipside, I did at least 250 drag runs without a hint of damage to the 6spd - not a single grind or notchy feeling in any gear. It was a much more enjoyable trans than my current 5spd, but due to all of my racing, I felt the need to swap.

I've seen your posts on the matter before, but once again, would you (or anyone watching this thread) recommend any preventative measures on the 6sp, such as a trans cooler? Or is it better to accept the inevitable and save my money for a new 5sp when it does give in?

Well, since the gears one through three in the 6 speed are beefier than the 5 speed, if you blew one up on launch a 5 speed may not have done you any good either...

Since it only took two days for it to go blow'd up, perhaps your launching was the reason? {pcfreak}

BTW, I have 92,000 miles on my 6 speed.

I love mine and the 6th gear really helps on the interstate

20,0000 miles and my 4th gear is starting to grind!!!

I drag race with my 6spd. i currently have 50k on it and am the only owner
Everything is still fine for my daily driving, but when im racing and shifting harder my 4th gear is getting a little weak and some grinding into all the gears. even reverse is a little tough to get into. I have launched my car prob 50 times atleast, along with plenty of rolls.

I do want to switch over to the 5spd. I am hitting my revlimiter in 4th gear right at the line of a 1/4 mile @ 122.

So you could say I dyno'd at 440/400 on dynapak and its holding fairly strong still with 50k

When would you hear the grinding noise? When you put it in 4th gear? While pulling in 4th gear?

while putting it in gear

my 2nd gear started to grind before anything else...everything works fine if im easier on it.

i guess i should rephrase that when im on the track driving hard 4th gear is the only gear giving me problems. but like mentioned by others, only when its hot, when the night gets cooler out my gears run fine.

- 45K miles
~300whp/300Tq
- 140-150 launches at the strip
- Probably 20 autox events (4 or 5 launches each event)
- Stock fluid every 10-12K miles.
- Exedy Twin SD since 40K miles (stocker was still good, though).

Not a problem, yet. No grinds or unusual noises. It shifts about the same as it was new.

I'm still not very confident running it on a road course, from what I've seen on this forum, though (not until I get a trailer to drag it back).

For drag racing and Autox, however, I think it is a very capable gear box. Launching/driving hard in the lower 3 gears don't hurt this tranny, it's the heat and torque in higher gears that seem to be it's kryptonite (gathered from others).

I'm scared to punch it in 4th gear.