Help me i am in a bit of a pickle!

Is it true that the auto box is stronger than a manual. how lomg do the auto boxs last? do the manuals break alot?

Kris

...what's the pickle you're in - having to make a choice?

How long is a piece of string??

 

it depends on what your going to try and get out of the car.

Both boxes are good. Higher horespower a manual will hold more before needing a rebuild i think. Auto boxes very expensive to upgrade to top whack.

Yep, agree with Warren here (must feel ill today ! )

 

Both boxes are good but you should probably think more about what you want from a sports car.

 

The manual is a sound box, but clutches can be a problem with tuned engines and there is always the ever present threat of graunching upper gears that some cars seem to suffer from.

 

The auto box is good once upgraded and can easily handle over 400bhp. The problem is if it packs up then it costs a small fortune to repair and no matter what state it's in I would recommend getting a decent oil cooler fitted ASAP. Further upgrades, such as torque converters are also expensive.

 

The choice is really whether you want to drive a manual or an auto, but your choice will frequently be influenced by what's available when you're buying.

yes got a bit of a choice, just been told about a few nightmares about manuals giving up all the time! mind you reading some nightmares that people have had with the autos a manual may not be too bad (would prefer manual)has anybody had trouble with manual boxs?

Have owned mine for a year and a half and had no problems with the manual gearbox, then again i havent really had any major problems at all [touching wood].

If it's any help, my 1990 TT is still on it's original autobox (68000 miles). It's only now starting to go so I'm getting it rebuilt and an oil cooler fitted v. soon (£1100 all-in).

 

JC

68K and needs a rebuild??? Shit the bed!!! Manuals seem the way to go for reliability but the clutches are the main concern... Saying that it won't cost you £1100 for a new clutch

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

Hehe no, but if you went through two or three clutches in 70k, you'd be getting there....

 

FYI quite a few people in the states seem to have problems with the synchros on 3rd and 4th gear grinding - so check this if you test drive one.. If it's a light grind it can often be fixed by using a better gearbox oil anyway, major rebuilds seem to be *fairly* rarely needed..

 

Then again, on TTnet, auto rebuilds seem to be fairly rarely needed..

 

I wonder if thats something to do with how we drive our cars over here compared to over there? Odd.. been bugging me for a while has that

 

Ooh forgot to say - the stock clutch is more than up to holding stock power, it's when you get to Stage 3 (as the Americans would call it) that the stock clutch will let go reasonably quickly, then you're looking at aftermarket clutches..

 

[This message has been edited by aaronjb (edited 04-01-2002).]

90 TT Auto, 103,000 miles, no problems still on original box!

 

Quick wheres some wood too touch!!

 

Roy

My manual now has 145,000 miles on it with no problems.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasnt there problems with Auto boxes with the oil sump not holding enough oil?

no probs with my manual box. It is problem free.

To be honest once youve got the correct clutch its up to you how you look after it. I have had my car 2 years and only changed clutch when i got it (as it was slipping) To duel centreforce, That lasted all of 10000 miles (although im not sure it was up to the power to start with) Now have baught Mcloud twin plate racing clutch £405 squid all in landed from the states. And that is guarenteed to take 550 foot pounds of torque. And i would assume that is the end of me buying clutches for a long time.

Gearbox still working like a dream.

Not sure what the exact changes were, but it was down to insufficient cooling (from the ATF) on early gearboxes, I believe causing oil starvation of the rear planetaries..

 

Basically, on an early car (any of our auto's really) it's a very good idea to fit an aftermarket oil cooler.. Something I'm in the process of doing - just fabricating some mounting brackets, using a standard Mocal oil cooler (19 row x 235mm - actually I should have got a 13 or 16 row really) with 3/8BSP fittings..

I agree with Aaron.

 

I've been told that the auto box is generally very strong but has bad lubrication problems. The only oil feed to the back of the box is thru the oil cooler. This easily gets blocked up with clutch plate debris and then bang . . . the bearings in the rear planetaries melt down.

 

Everyone with an imported auto - get a bigger Mocal cooler, and keep a close eye on your tranny oil !!!

 

When I was buying a 300zx auto I saw loads with ropey boxes.

 

Z-Head