Auto to manual...is it worth it

[99Mitsu]

My 99 Eclipse GS-T is an auto I was wondering if converting to stick is worth it and if so how much I would be looking for a trans and everything that goes with it (clutch kit, trans linkages, ect)

 

[-TunedDSM-]

The only person that can answer that is you, is it worth it to you. In the end it would probably cost around a grand give or take if you do the work yourself.

 

[99Mitsu]

The only person that can answer that is you, is it worth it to you. In the end it would probably cost around a grand give or take if you do the work yourself.

i guess what i'm really asking is what do i need to convert besides a new trans and putting another pedal in

 

[dsm-freak]

mount a clutch master cylinder, lines, the shifter mechanism and its cables, the center counsle might be a little different also. its kind of a pain in the a**.

 

[MichaelSuch]

You will also need to add a flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate, plus a TOB, clutch fork, and pivot ball. I'm not sure if starters on 2g's are different between manual and auto's, they are on 1g's, that would be another thing to look into. To me, it probably wouldn't be worth it, since I'd rather spend that time doing other things with the car. Auto's aren't bad either...

 

[BeantownDSM]

It could cost you a lot of time and and money to change it over.But if you can do it yourself you can save most of that money.I would rather have the stick..

 

[deflator]

There are guides on doing it on here, but you will be spending money and time to replace a stout transmission with one much more fragile.

 

[slow gst]

I'm up against the same problem man. The hard part for me is finding the trans. I can do it myself because a buddy of mine did it to his and is willing to help. To me..its worth it.

 

[lacroixdp]

It all depends what you're looking for. If you're looking for dependability and consistency in a straight line drag, not to mention no interruption of boost during shifts, then you're going to want to keep your automatic. If you're looking for more overall control and 'driving fun', then you might want to do the swap. I have my own reasons for preferring a manual - I'm sure you have your reasons for considering it.

 

[BeantownDSM]

It is all up to you,if you feel you want it you should change it up. ( you will love your car more)

 

[99Mitsu]

yeah but dont most racers (legal or otherwise) use stick, i dont know of alot of people who use auto...also dont they have used trans' and stuff like thaton e-bay?

PS. I did looked at a number of manual eclipse's before i bought mine, but everyone beats the hell out of those, the auto was the cleanest out of all of them

 

[lacroixdp]

yeah but dont most racers (legal or otherwise) use stick, i dont know of alot of people who use auto...also dont they have used trans' and stuff like thaton e-bay?

PS. I did looked at a number of manual eclipse's before i bought mine, but everyone beats the hell out of those, the auto was the cleanest out of all of them

Not necessarily - if you're talking about drag racing then auto's produce the best time on DSMs. If you're talking about autocross then manuals are preferred. It really all just depends on what you want. It's all up to what you want out of your car. Are you a spirited driver that likes twisties and autocrossing or are you more of a straight-line racer? Something you should realize though is that the auto on these cars is excellent - they will take more power than the manual and they are more reliable. There are some great upgrade paths on them, as well as some excellent control boxes that let you shift on command, as well as firm-up your shifts. A guy that parks in the same lot as me has a 98 GSX Auto that pulls 12.4's in the 1/4 with a lightly modified turbo. Don't switch because all your friends tell you autos suck - switch because YOU want a manual.

 

[slow gst]

A guy that parks in the same lot as me has a 98 GSX Auto that pulls 12.4's in the 1/4 with a lightly modified turbo.

That's sick

 

[lacroixdp]

That's sick

You're telling me! When his brother told me he ran 12.4 with a lightly modified T25 today my jaw literally dropped! Very impressive! And I'm certain that auto helped him with that time - no loss of boost between shifts, as well as being able to build boost before launch. I think he said his 0-60' was around 1.9 seconds too. Point is, there's absolutely no reason to be ashamed of having an auto DSM - they are very respectable drag racers.

 

[slow gst]

The guy I just bought mine off of beat the living s### out of it he blew the evo3 turbo and the trans mount and engine mounts are shit when I put it into drive it slams into the mount. Now I just keep it in neutral and push it around until I get new mounts.

 

[cory matthews]

You're right, the autos do tend to be cleaner. For me the swap would be worth it 100 times over. For you, it may not be worth it. Don't just go with what most people do, both have their pros and cons. I've only owned one auto, and I didn't even look at it as if it was a real car(although it was a nice car).
The easiest way by far is to buy a wrecked car someone is selling on craigslist or a local dsm forum, or find someone who is parting out a car and buy the entire swap from them. Just look at how the system works and it's easy to see what you need to do.
The locals around here say that its harder to remove/install a 2g fwd tranny than the other models.

 

[gofer]

alright man, this is going to be a long one so sit down and enjoy the ride

to answer the OP's first post...
first off you are correct, id rather buy an A/T DSM thats been driven by a 35 year old that went through his mid life crisis and couldn't afford that Corvette than buy the M/T DSM thats been road raced by every 16 year old in town. The best condition DSM's imo are A/T because of the previous owners age group, they tend to sell for less too.

on to the "is it worth it" question. well lets see, most straight line drag cars run a A/T but these guys are professional. they've got more into their tranny's than we do into our entire cars so if thats what your looking for then stay A/T. personal experience at the track though... you can't build more than 2psi of boost off the line and get more than 3,000 rpm brake boosting the hell out of it which, might i add, is terrible for your transmission because the heat it builds. you do have options though... there are torque converters from IPT that let you wrap the motor up into the higher RPM range and build more boost coming out of the hole but by the time you spend the money on one you could already have gotten a complete M/T setup for your car. Im not knocking the A/T DSM'rs out there because it does have its advantages. "driver error" is never a factor and you can't lose boost between gears. Theres also a A/T forum on here, ask those guys with built tranny's how they fair with M/T DSM's. My A/T remained stock up until the day i crowbar'd the big heavy A$$ things out from the bottom of my engine bay...

I chose the M/T route and i appreciate my car so much more because ive turned it into something completely different than the DSM it was before. Swapping from A/T to M/T and knowing that you did the work is sweet very gratifying and theres a lot of "while your at its here as well." you might get a M/T, pedals, shifter, shifter cables, etc. that you need for the swap for $500 to $1000 depending on the condition but you've got the M/T off so what are you going to do if you want to race it? ACT 2600 clutch? lightened flywheel? etc. etc. etc. what im saying is you can take off your A/T and put up a M/T for around $1000 if you do it yourself but while its off why wouldn't you put on a nicer than stock clutch/flywheel or do the small maintenance stuff that might cause headaches down the road? now your looking at another $1000, so is it worth it?

there are many threads in the drivetrain tech articles forums covering the A/T to M/T swap that are good reads. Don't use just one, get parts list off both and compare them, some mention parts that others don't that you'll need. I found things in my swap that weren't mentioned in any of them so im working on a tech article myself so theres no down time. small stupid stuff that was forgotten about can turn into weeks of downtime if the dealership can't get the part, so plan that for cost as well... because time is money!

PM me if you've got further questions but Id seriously take a stroll over to the drivetrain tech articles and start reading, Im sure you can answer your own questions that you may have about doing it...

i loved my DSM even when it was stock but now that ive busted fingers and bled for that thing to make it what it is today that thing is my baby... hell yea it was worth it.

good luck

 

[rush2252]

Not necessarily - if you're talking about drag racing then auto's produce the best time on DSMs. If you're talking about autocross then manuals are preferred. It really all just depends on what you want. It's all up to what you want out of your car. Are you a spirited driver that likes twisties and autocrossing or are you more of a straight-line racer? Something you should realize though is that the auto on these cars is excellent - they will take more power than the manual and they are more reliable. There are some great upgrade paths on them, as well as some excellent control boxes that let you shift on command, as well as firm-up your shifts. A guy that parks in the same lot as me has a 98 GSX Auto that pulls 12.4's in the 1/4 with a lightly modified turbo. Don't switch because all your friends tell you autos suck - switch because YOU want a manual.

True that. Also your more likely to "hook" w an auto rather than get alot of wheel spin with the 5spd. Its true too that DSMs produce better times in the 1/4 w autos. I posted a long post on this in the "which turbos to use" thread. Darren Thomas from Midwest City OK runs an auto in his 1g awd and was the 2008 IFO points winner. He ran a 10.1 @ 134 mph I believe. Hes now running 9.90s when he switched from the 5spd to auto he took almost a full second of his 1/4 times. Also arent the 5spds the weakest link in the 2gs?

 

[spooln4fun]

Me and theSickness, have done the swap..........worth it=yes we bought all our parts used, dont know a total though.