The ONLY ONE like it in North America. functions just like a standard EJ 5MT with a viscous center LSD etc. but, it also has a 1.196:1 lo-range reduction on the input shaft selected by a cable. it's like being able to switch from a 3.90 axle ratio to a 4.65 on the fly. great for short-track racing (RallyX, AutoX...), lo range for track gears, hi range for highway gears coming home. came out of a '92 Liberty GX in Australia. A guy out in washington state imported it for his project, but it took about a year before he actually got it, at which point, he had scrapped the project. he offered it up for sale early last spring, so I bought it. It has not been installed in a car since it's been imported. mileage is about 150k. I paid $1400. willing to sell it for 1200 locally.
Only one? I find that hard to believe...unless Subaru does make more dual range trannies that fit in the Impreza/Forester chassis then this type. Rare? Very much so. At one time, I wanted to step to one of these...then my idea of a jacked up, off-road Forester turned into a lowered, racing Forester. Trade-offs, trade-offs. Good use of the gearbox: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/792800 I had aspirations to build my Forester like it before racing corrupted me.
Chux, just wondering how hard do you think it would be to get parts for this? I have a project that I am still in the design phases for but something like this might be an interesting addition to.
what kind of parts? really, the only thing that's unique to the foreign market is the case. the drive/driven shafts are the same as an RX D/R trans (I have one of those, if you'd like some spare parts :biggrin: ). just with a 3.9 pinion through it, and a VLSD on the back (the RX uses a 3.7 and locking center). also, if this is the project that martin has told me about......:yumyum:
Yes it would be that one but that also means the trans need to stand up to 300-400 HP and all of it going out the back. Would not be using the front diff at all. If the 5mt portion is the same then aftermarket gears are available that can support that but what about the reduction?
the gears are the same as an RX trans. the reduction gears are on the input shaft, which means the input shaft (and therefore 1st and 2nd) are unique to the dual-range trannies, which means, no, there are no aftermarket options. here's an RX trans open. this one would look the same, but with a different pinion shaft: you could get an aftermarket 3-4-5. center diff eliminator, and enforced transfer gears. but I think second gear would still be the weak link.
