Can a non turbo S4 tranny support 500 hp?
for a turbo car
Old [Sch|F]ool
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 12,870
Likes: 574
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
No.
They last to about 250ft-lb in Miatas and the Miata has a stronger gearset.
For some value of "last", anyway. I used to get transmission issues with stock port 12As, but I change them while the bearings are merely loud instead of allowing the gears to lose mesh. The center bearing on the mainshaft seems to be the main culprit. First clue if it's not outright noisy is when the shifter rocks back and forth on and off power, or if the car develops a vibration under load in 5th that magically goes away in 4th gear. That's the transmisson's 2 week notice. With more torque, it turns into a five minute warning, or sometimes it works just fine and then spits out the gear teeth on 3rd or 5th gear with no warning.
You won't bolt a nonturbo trans into a turbo car without a bit of other work, anyway. Unless you already have the correct N/A flywheel and clutch for your engine, and the proper driveshaft, there's really no point to putting a nonturbo trans in.
People swap turbo transmissions into N/A cars despite the PITA factor. This should be a clue...
They last to about 250ft-lb in Miatas and the Miata has a stronger gearset.
For some value of "last", anyway. I used to get transmission issues with stock port 12As, but I change them while the bearings are merely loud instead of allowing the gears to lose mesh. The center bearing on the mainshaft seems to be the main culprit. First clue if it's not outright noisy is when the shifter rocks back and forth on and off power, or if the car develops a vibration under load in 5th that magically goes away in 4th gear. That's the transmisson's 2 week notice. With more torque, it turns into a five minute warning, or sometimes it works just fine and then spits out the gear teeth on 3rd or 5th gear with no warning.
You won't bolt a nonturbo trans into a turbo car without a bit of other work, anyway. Unless you already have the correct N/A flywheel and clutch for your engine, and the proper driveshaft, there's really no point to putting a nonturbo trans in.
People swap turbo transmissions into N/A cars despite the PITA factor. This should be a clue...
