Barnaby

STi Type UK owners, what's your general thoughts on the gear change?

Anyone having trouble selecting low gears when the car is still cold? Anyone changed the gearbox oil?

ProperCharlie

i haven't noticed any problems engaging gears. it can feel a little 'notchy' when cold, but nothing that i would worry about. the main problem i have had is accidentally selecting 6th instead of 4th when going thru the box. embarrasing, but i have pretty much learned where the gears are now.

Charlie.

Neil Smalley

Its a little stiff going into 1st on mine. Just the newness of the box I think.

Barnaby

Yup, I've done the 6th instead of 4th as well

How many miles have you got on your car Charlie? Mines over 6k now and I had thought the change would loosen up a bit.

KenG

14.5K and the gears just snick into place nicely. When it was new it was a bit stiff to say the least, especially when cold.

Ken

ProperCharlie

I've only got a little over 3k on mine, and i think the change is pretty good, so maybe you should get your dealer to have a look if really seems sticky. it may also depend on what you're used to. before i had the STi i was driving a mondeo with a knackered clutch and a TVR that wouldn't readily engage first or reverse, so I was used to kinda hunting around for gears...

Charlie.

Barnaby

Sounds like I need to put some more miles on it then

Barnaby

Previous cars were an Audi A4 and an Evo6, so perhaps a little spoiled for gear changes

Think I will have the gearbox oil changed just in case that is the problem.

gareth60

No probs, 2000 miles. Selected 3rd instead of 5th on a few occassions though..

Gareth.

Stevie

12000 miles, just notchy when cold IMHO. Plus, there is no way I will have it for 3 years or 60000 so aint too bothered

Stevethevet

Bit difficult to select second for the first two changes when cold. After that it loosens up fine.

Phil Harrison

Like the rest.... first coupla changes a bit stiff, then pretty free...and gets better as the car gets loosened up. Only trouble is....

I managed a first when I meant third Actually it seemed that the clutch took the hit

Am I right in thinking that there is a quickshift for STiUK.... seems slightly sloppy when compared with my quickshifted MY'00?

Phil

mutant_matt

I find 6th to 4th whilst braking hard from high speed setting up for a corner to be a pain at the moment. Looking forward to it loosening up as it's really quite tight still (only done 1500 miles).

I've heard that the STi quickshift is a bit of a waste of time and that it ruins the "feel" of the box.....

Matt

Paul N P

I'm having a few problems with selecting 2nd when cold, also gearbox crunches into 6th gear. Dealer is stripping gearbox down in a few weeks to work out what is wrong. No feedback from IM as to the nature of the problem.

Stevie

M Matt,

I tried the quickshift, nasty.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

I too had the same difficult to get into 2nd when cold problem (especially when changing down from 3rd).

Dealer explained that it's due to the very fine tolerances on the gearboxes, and like the engines they are a bit tight when new, but start to really loosen up after about 7 - 10k miles.

However, as I mine seemed to be a bit tighter than normal, he changed the gearbox oil for a different spec (Subaru UK supplied) which supposedly helps the synchromesh. It made a big difference to the gearbox when cold. Although it didn't cure the problem 100%, it did make it a whole lot easier, and at least now you can select 2nd gear with just a little bit of extra force, rather than having to de-clutch a few times to get it in.

Now with 7k miles, the gearbox is feeling a lot better than it did.

John

russell hayward

Same here as JohnS

Much improved with an oil change.

Still hoping it improves further as the miles go on.

Iain Young

Mine was really difficult to get into reverse when new, (and sometimes 1st). Now I've done almost 10,000 miles I have no problems at all. Seems to have bedded in nicely

Iain

towzer

spooky... I was just about to post the same question, selecting second in the morning is very difficult. My STi UK has about 3K miles on it and I've only just noticed that second is a bit stiff in the mornings. I thought it was my inability to drive properly, but if others are experiencing the same problem then maybe it isn't me!

Phil

MarkOne

My (MY 02) STi type UK also takes about 15 minutes for the change to free up between first & second. Can be difficult dropping back into first unless absolutely stationery (at lights, roundabouts etc).

Once warm, no problems at all. 3000 miles on clock - looking forward to an easier box with more miles.

Incidentally, I found that the in-house designed six speed gear box in a Caterham Seven Superlight R was a total SOB until warmed up. Spot on once warm though.

Perhaps all six speed setups are like this - any one driven a six speed Alpha Romeo. What are bike sequentials like????

towzer

My six speed M3 was fine.

Phil