92GreyGT

I had my T5 in my car for six years and beat on it hard. I twisted the splines on the main drive, ovaled the 1-2 reverse slider, and cracked third speed gear but did not tear up the cluster. I was on a tight budget and learned how to make them last. Driver is about 80% of it. I powershift and leave the line at 5000 rpm on ET streets. Third goes out because it is the thinest speed gear and the furthest from a bearing. If you have ever rebuilt one you know about shimming the clearances on the cluster and output shaft. This is critical in the survival of it. I'm not saying it will last under 500 rwhp but I was running low 12.40s at 109 mph with no major problems. I still have the transmission in my shop.

vristang

third it the most common gear to have fail because 2-3 is the toughest shift we have.
It won't take many missed shifts at 5-6k rpm to destroy things.

By the way, I have missed my share of 2-3 shifts [:@]


I have over 220k miles on my original T5. I modified the 302 with an intake at around 110k, and swapped over to the 351w at about 180k. The 408w went in around the 200k mark.

Better than 40k miles on a 351w or larger motor.


Also, a friend of mine ran a 4cyl t5 on his built 302. For a good 10k miles he TRIED to kill it. Power shifting, and clutch dumpin' as often as he could.
A couple years back I needed a transmission for a class project and traded some new LX tail lights for his T5. When I pulled that thing apart it looked new. No major signs of wear anywhere.

I have been in cars with many folks who thought that because they could spin their tires, they knew how to drive a manual. There is an art to that most people don't understand.

I am not as good a driver as I would like to be, but I do fairly well.
The above mentioned friend is much better with a manual than I am, even when he is abusing the t5.



I know many will disagree, but that is my opinion/experience on the matter.



jason

86 5.0L

20 years, close to 200k miles, T-5 in perfect condition, even the original clutch had life in it