Turtle vs. The W-58
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:53 am
Special thanks goes out to Max for helping out when I got stuck.
Special thanks goes out to Assassin10000 for all of the information. Whenever I had a question or a frustration, he was always happy to oblige.
Special thanks to LordHelmet for also answering some of the many questions I had.
Turtle vs. the W-58
Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle’s automotive life was about to take an unexpected turn.
Turtle was driving Lola in a parking lot one day, and the transmission in 1st gear popped out!
He tried to jam it back into gear, but then the transmission, designated by Toyota as the T-50, made an ugly grinding sound. From then on, if he were in a parking lot, being too easy on the stick would pop it out of gear, but being too hard on the stick would grind on something. Uncool, man!
What’s worse, one day when he was minding his own business, he noticed some spotting under Lola. Great, it looks like the freakin' rear transmission seal is busted.
After one quick transmission seal replacement, off he went.
But unfortunately, this didn’t seem to fix the problem. The downward spiral doesn't end here.
To add to this fustercluck of a situation, it looked like the front seal busted too, even worse than the rear seal. Hella lame!
At this point, Turtle threw up his arms and said “THAT’S IT”, and declared this stupid transmission as FUBAR. He parked Lola in a secluded spot in The Yay and then began to angrily ponder what his next move should be.
He pondered and thought. Then he pondered and thought some more. He debated ad nauseam because he didn’t want to pick up another T-50 just to have it break on him again sometime down the line (this T-50 lasted only 2 years). He researched to see what T-50s were up for sale in the local classifieds. He wondered whether this next T-50 would be any good since the only true way to check the functionality of one is if it’s in an actual car. Outside of the car and it’s just a freakin’ crap shoot.
He woke up from his angry slumber, hoping that this transmission issue was just a dream. But no, he just fell asleep in front of his computer again.
But what’s this? Something on the screen caught his blood-shot eye.
It was suddenly so clear to him now! Instead of getting another T-50, which are becoming more rare by the moment (and in North America only available in corollas between 1980 and 1987), he would adapt a stronger and by far more abundant W-58! With renewed confidence, he started to research this undertaking.
Turtle found that W-58s transmissions are found in Celicas, Supras and even some Lexus models from 1982 until the mid 00s! They boast a larger, stronger gear box, and are even unofficially considered a “close-ratio transmission”, meaning that the gears are closer between 1, 2, 3, and 4. 5th is even taller, which means better gas mileage!
Here’s a quick comparison:
T-50 gear ratios:
• First Gear: 3.587:1
• Second Gear: 2.022:1
• Third Gear: 1.384:1
• Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
• Fifth Gear: 0.861:1
W-58 gear ratios:
• First Gear: 3.285:1
• Second Gear: 1.894:1
• Third Gear: 1.275:1
• Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
• Fifth Gear: 0.783:1
• Reverse: -3.768:1
After most of the research was done and one of the required parts (a specially made bell housing) was purchased online, Turtle began to gear up. He the grabbed his trusty tool and
TURTLE the LOLA FIXER has COME BACK to LIFE!
To be continued.
R
Special thanks goes out to Assassin10000 for all of the information. Whenever I had a question or a frustration, he was always happy to oblige.
Special thanks to LordHelmet for also answering some of the many questions I had.
Turtle vs. the W-58
Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle’s automotive life was about to take an unexpected turn.
Turtle was driving Lola in a parking lot one day, and the transmission in 1st gear popped out!
He tried to jam it back into gear, but then the transmission, designated by Toyota as the T-50, made an ugly grinding sound. From then on, if he were in a parking lot, being too easy on the stick would pop it out of gear, but being too hard on the stick would grind on something. Uncool, man!
What’s worse, one day when he was minding his own business, he noticed some spotting under Lola. Great, it looks like the freakin' rear transmission seal is busted.
After one quick transmission seal replacement, off he went.
But unfortunately, this didn’t seem to fix the problem. The downward spiral doesn't end here.
To add to this fustercluck of a situation, it looked like the front seal busted too, even worse than the rear seal. Hella lame!
At this point, Turtle threw up his arms and said “THAT’S IT”, and declared this stupid transmission as FUBAR. He parked Lola in a secluded spot in The Yay and then began to angrily ponder what his next move should be.
He pondered and thought. Then he pondered and thought some more. He debated ad nauseam because he didn’t want to pick up another T-50 just to have it break on him again sometime down the line (this T-50 lasted only 2 years). He researched to see what T-50s were up for sale in the local classifieds. He wondered whether this next T-50 would be any good since the only true way to check the functionality of one is if it’s in an actual car. Outside of the car and it’s just a freakin’ crap shoot.
He woke up from his angry slumber, hoping that this transmission issue was just a dream. But no, he just fell asleep in front of his computer again.
But what’s this? Something on the screen caught his blood-shot eye.
It was suddenly so clear to him now! Instead of getting another T-50, which are becoming more rare by the moment (and in North America only available in corollas between 1980 and 1987), he would adapt a stronger and by far more abundant W-58! With renewed confidence, he started to research this undertaking.
Turtle found that W-58s transmissions are found in Celicas, Supras and even some Lexus models from 1982 until the mid 00s! They boast a larger, stronger gear box, and are even unofficially considered a “close-ratio transmission”, meaning that the gears are closer between 1, 2, 3, and 4. 5th is even taller, which means better gas mileage!
Here’s a quick comparison:
T-50 gear ratios:
• First Gear: 3.587:1
• Second Gear: 2.022:1
• Third Gear: 1.384:1
• Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
• Fifth Gear: 0.861:1
W-58 gear ratios:
• First Gear: 3.285:1
• Second Gear: 1.894:1
• Third Gear: 1.275:1
• Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
• Fifth Gear: 0.783:1
• Reverse: -3.768:1
After most of the research was done and one of the required parts (a specially made bell housing) was purchased online, Turtle began to gear up. He the grabbed his trusty tool and
TURTLE the LOLA FIXER has COME BACK to LIFE!
To be continued.
R