Manual transmissions: MR2 vs Solara vs Camry - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

BenG · 08-25-2003, 11:02 PM

I've been reading around on the manual transmissions that you can use to do an auto to manual swap on a 5sfe engine for a gen3 camry. Basically, it seems to boil down to a choice of three transmissions. The MR2 tranny which has shorter gearing but has an LSD, the Solara transmission which is geared towards a V6 engine, and the original Camry manual transmission. I think I will do a swap next year in the spring or summer, but I want to plan this out thoroughly, so if anyone here would like to give their opinion, it would be greatly appreciated.

If I source the MR2 tranny with LSD, is the gearing on it shorter than the stock Camry manual gear ratios? If so, how does it affect top speed? I drive a lot on the highway, and I'd rather have a more well rounded ratios that let me cruise at 140kph at low RPM than 0-60 oriented ratios.

If I source the Solara tranny, the newer tranny design means easier shifts due to double cone syncros, but because it comes from a V6 engine, will the gearing be too tall for the 5sfe engine? I know I said that I am not too concerned with 0-60 times, but I don't want to be a turtle off the blocks. Also, I'm assuming that the Solara tranny bolts up to the 5sfe block even tho it's from a V6 because if the MR2 tranny is an option to the solara tranny, I'm thinking that the tranny mounting points on the V6 and the 5SFE are the same.

It would seem that the stock Camry tranny would be my best choice. Besides not being able to handle more than 200HP, what are the draw backs of this transmission?

Besides SpectraBlueCam's conversion, it seems that most of the auto-manual swaps are being done by 1mz or 3vz camry guys. If you've got a 5SFE that you've converted, please let me know how it went, what tranny you chose, and where did you buy your transmission from. I know that Ratko got his from the junkyard, but I don't have his mechanical prowess to troubleshoot and fix it up, so I will probablly have to get a rebuilt one.

Anyhow, long post, I know...but never hurts to ask. And before you say to hit the search button, I've been doing that for the past two days reading up on EVERYTHING about doing a swap on TN. Thanks

alltrac165 · 08-26-2003, 11:19 AM

Don't be afraid of a junkyard tranny. Trannies don't fail that often. You are far more likely to get a good one than not. Get a new clutch and away you go. There are some fitment issues with the pressure plate and clutch between the 1MZ tranny vs the 5SFE. I helped do a V6 swap into a Celica that had the 5S. We tried to use the original 5S trans but the clutch wouldn't disengage enough to shift gears. Different throw ratio on the clutch arm or something. Couldn't put enough adjustment in it to work. We dinked around with it for a while then went and got the V6 tranny. Worked great. I would imagine going the other way would also produce problems. Dunno about the MR2 tranny, but I'm told it would work with no problems. Safest bet with minimal mods would probably be the 5S tranny.

***Phi*** · 08-26-2003, 12:45 PM

Hit the search button! :p

Seriously, I don't know much about this topic, but a great discussion was had in this thread...just incase you missed it in your searches;
http://www.toyotanation.com/showthre...highlight=l8tr

BenG · 08-26-2003, 01:44 PM

Yup...saw that post. That's where the the Solara tranny was first brought up, I think. But I think I'm just gonna get a stock Gen3 tranny and have it rebuilt a little stronger than stock. I'm not planning on putting crazy HP thru it, so it should be fine for me.

The question now is do I use a stock clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel? Or do I get aftermarket parts?

2drcam · 08-26-2003, 01:50 PM

I'm confused...

will the E153 tranny (v6 solara/camry) bolt directly on the 5S-FE motor??

BenG · 08-26-2003, 02:49 PM

I cannot say 100% for sure, but deductive reasoning says that it will bolt up (but might not clutch) properly. My reasoning for it to bolt up correctly goes like this. MR2 tranny comes from a 4 cylinder engine. Solara tranny from a 6 cylinder engine. If a V6 Camry can have a 4 cylinder tranny bolt up to it, then the reverse must also be true (4cyl engine have a v6 sourced tranny bolted on).

Is this logic correct? Of course, I havn't actually gone and counted and measured the bolt holes, but there are enough people here (alltrac165 for example) who have actually gone and actually tried it out or at least done a visual inspection that if it were completely impossible to do so, would probably have soken up by now re: this matter

alltrac165 · 08-26-2003, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BenG
I cannot say 100% for sure, but deductive reasoning says that it will bolt up (but might not clutch) properly. My reasoning for it to bolt up correctly goes like this. MR2 tranny comes from a 4 cylinder engine. Solara tranny from a 6 cylinder engine. If a V6 Camry can have a 4 cylinder tranny bolt up to it, then the reverse must also be true (4cyl engine have a v6 sourced tranny bolted on).

Is this logic correct? Of course, I havn't actually gone and counted and measured the bolt holes, but there are enough people here (alltrac165 for example) who have actually gone and actually tried it out or at least done a visual inspection that if it were completely impossible to do so, would probably have soken up by now re: this matter

It's not an exact match. We put a 1MZ-FE onto a 5SFE manual tranny. 3 holes line up and we had to tap the 4th hole in the block. Not sure how you would handle the mismatched bolt going the other way. Not that big a deal, but not having a functional clutch makes shifting a fat bummer. Supposedly the pressure plate of the V6 sits further away from the tranny than the 5S and that's why the clutch wouldn't disengage, but it looked alot more like the throw is longer on the V6 tranny. Might have been fixable by using the clutch lever out of the V6 tranny, but we just swapped the whole tranny to the V6 version. Never did have time to figure out exactly why it didn't work. I hear that the clutch issue does not come up with the 3SGTE, but I can't confirm that.
At least have the pressure plate surfaced if it's used and throw a new clutch in, stock or aftermarket. Better now than after you get it all back together. You could upgrade to an ACT clutch or something if you want, but if you're keeping it mostly stock, I'd go with the less expensive option.

***zoni*** · 09-02-2003, 04:13 AM

a few problems here guys...

the LSD was only available on a few years of mr2 as a stock item.
if you do use that mr2 tranny, you will have to use some hybrid axle shafts...im not even sure what the matchups would be. i dont think anyone knows for sure.

if you use the v6 camry tranny, it will bolt right up but you will have a couple extra holes, its ok though... for that you need a 5sfe flywheel and clutch pressure plate and the rest of the clutch has to be camry v6... SAME WITH MR2 tranny by the way... with this tranny, you will have to use the v6 axle shafts, and v6 wheel hubs. and maybe brakes and stuff with that...

using the stock 5sfe manual tranny is the EASIEST way to go, and the BEST if you arent going to turbo the engine or nitrous... it will easily handle a stock engine and give you some extra HP to the ground that you lose from your auto. and the axle shafts should be the same with that so you wont have to worry about anything except the tranny, tranny mounts, ecu, shifter cables, shifter, clutch and brake pedals, (and the sensor/switch on the clutch pedal... i think), clutch master cyl and hydrolic line. the 5sfe flywheel and a new clutch...

anymore questions besides that... POST ON THE CAMRY FORUM... we will know about camry fitments there...