Originally Posted by
Family Wagon
When i had my VF-34 setup i was making 321awhp with meth. At that time i had my stock tranny but every time i made a pull i just prayed that the tranny was not going to let go.
With a 18G you can expect any where between 320-360awhp. Most of all the setups i have seen have put around 340ish. I can promise you if you make that kind of power with the 02 gears you ARE going to eat through your transmission. The real concern i have with the RA type gears is that they still cost thousands and they can and will break as well. There are some lucky people out there that swear by them but for every person that has had no problems with them, there is just as many people that have broken them as well.
If you are really serious about keeping your car for the long run i would recommend the PPG straight cut gears. YOU CAN NOT BREAK THEM. The only downside of these gearsets is that they are very very loud and annoying, but you will never have to worry about it. I can give you a ride in my car if you want to see what they sound like.
Overall it really depends on how much of a investment you want to put into your car. Car modding is really a disease that once you start you cant stop.....and then when you have done everything possible to your car...........you pick another project car and start all over agian.
Good luck.
Oh, and just FYI... the gears are not the real issue. It's the transmission case. It's in two parts, and flexes under high power, which allows the mesh to change, which lets the gears break. You don't have that problem with the STi gearbox because that transmission is one piece.
At least, that was the way it was back when I was into Subarus. Things may be different now...