I think that whine in reverse thing has something to do with it not being a synchroed gear. Believe it or not, i think the Chevy Cobalt SS has a sycnhroed reverse. I thought i read that somewhere.

 

I always thought it was from the forward gears being helical and the reverse being straight cut...but I always wondered how they would work! Why doesn't BOCES teach transmissions?

~the kid

 

I'm not entirely sure, but I thought the 944 has a synchro reverse. In any case, reverse in most cars really isn't meant to be a durable gear, though I have heard of 951 guys getting on the boost in reverse .

 

hmm...thats what straight cut gears sound like? jeez thats loud and annoying....

 

I think you thunk right.
I drive a 95 civic hatch as a daily. CX means crap motor, no ac, ps, sound deadening. but its right under 2100 pounds! The motor in the garage will be making 140 whp soon, so it will move allright. I love double wishbone suspension and no weight, FWD is not as great.
I live at home, so there are a few cars I have access to. My brother has an 00' 2.5 RS, some suspension work. Slow, feels good, handles well, soon to be converted to RWD, and probably a WRX motor. My dad has a camary, i hate camaries, dangerous once sideways (who me?) mom has an 04 I35, what a peice of underengineered crap, getting rid of it soon. Sister has a corrolla, eh, it gets you to the store.
I've driven many cars, from GT3, 996TT etc, tracked modded integras and what not.
One car i want to drive (and own, prolly going to be my first large car purchase ) is an Elise.
Eyal

 

Another Cherokee driver here. Once again...VERY easy to spin the rears, brakes are HORRIBLE, and suspension leaves much to be desired.

Ever wonder why your cherokee's always pull to the left under heavy braking? It's due to the suspension design...the suspension nose dives so much that the length from the steering knuckle to the wheel varies under braking, effectivly turning the front wheels slightly to the left.

Anybody else ever experience the sudder of death while driving at high speeds? Happened to me once at ~30mph, so I was kinda lucky, would hate to have that happen at highway speeds.

 

Strait cut gears are much stronger because there is more tooth engaugement as well as no axial thrust load on the gear sets. Reverse is strait cut because it is not a constant mesh gearset and it is cheaper to make with no need for helical teeth.

(ooh my overpriced education as an engineer makes me sound smart and use big words)



My 951 is my DD with over 181,000 miles and I put 60K on in 1.5 years

If I need to I can drive my Chevelle but that is on a classic car insurance policy so I have to be careful about driving it.

 

Drive my S daily. When the wife and I go somewhere I drive her 05 Sonata.

 

Odd...my wife has a '98 Cherokee and I always feel like I'm going through the windshield with the brakes. You want to talk about bad brakes my '94 Suburban had really sucky brakes. Someone else posted about Cherokee headlights...no matter what I put in, they suck - always sorta dim and seem to break down quickly.

If I'm not driving the 944, I'm either driving my F-150 or carpooling in a 951

 

2001 Ford Explorer Sport....no comparison.

 

Hmm...you don't get the whole 'feel like you're gonna flip over the handlebars' feeling when you hit the brakes hard...combined with easy-to-lock rear tires (due to front weight transfer)?

I think stiffer front springs (~2x stiffer) & better shocks (~50% firmer) all around would do my jeep a huge favor in the handling/braking department, while not detracting from the off-road ability too much. What would be the impact of such a change on the front with no change in the rear? Would I be even more fishtail happy?

 

I'm not sure how to respond...I agree with the "'feel like you're gonna flip over the handlebars' feeling when you hit the brakes hard...combined with easy-to-lock rear tires (due to front weight transfer)?" statement, I thought you meant the brakes were weak/mushy. The rear wheel lock is annoying, but I can threshold them pretty well. My wife, on the other hand... Its really not that bad.

It does need new shocks, though - its started the nose dive thing and has been getting even more bouncy than normal. We still love it, though

 

But you still didn't pass english... what the hell is "engaugement"? j/k

Reverse will always be noisy if it's a straight cut gear. If you were to listen to the in-car footage of some track cars (notably touring cars) you will hear the loud whining throughout - straight-cut gears. Helical gears are great as they make less noise AND last longer due to forces being distributed over a larger surface area. This is why 'raceboxes' have a much shorter rebuild time. The same applies for the synchros vs dog engagement debate. For example, I helped my friend rebuild his '97 Yamaha YZF600's gearbox with only 20,000 km on it (replaced 2nd gear and fork).

I'll use the 924S as my DD after I finish the rebuild... ok, I haven't even started working on it. I'm driving an early production 1990 Integra LS 3-dr 5-sp with very few options except for power-sunroof. Very light, great torque (non-VTEC ) and awesome handling even before the bushing overhaul planned in May '06.

 

A 2003 Suby Forester. It has pretty decent feel through the steering wheel and brakes are decent as well. Comfortable, supportive seats. The 2.5 boxer is no rocket though.

 

You guys with multiple cars....let alone multiple porsches... When I'm not driving mine I'm on my motorcycle. It really sucks in the rain and the winter, but kicks *** in mpg.

Actually, I usually end up borrowing my girlfriend's brother-in-law's '84 944. It's normaly sitting in their garage use to store boxes on. I know, it's a travesty, but they claim the rear wing makes a perfect shelf