The tranny in the 1g isnt all that bad the 2g tranny is better but there is a fix now to get the 1g tranny to shift like the 2g. Probably alot of the stories you have heard are of cars producing alot of power and launching them real hard. If you have 400 Hp and a tranny designed for 200 hp that is old and you rev it to hard and launch something gotta give. There are alot of guys here with 1gs making good power with stock tranny and going strong. Its all in the way you drive it.