I just got back in town yesterday from a business trip to Pittsburgh and picked my car up from Mastro. I had a Kaaz gearset, and Exedy clutch and flywheel installed. While they were in there I also had my tranny and motor mounts installed, oil changed and a few other tidbits.

After talking with Alan and others it seems like RalliSpec was right on the ball. The Kaaz gearset is a direct drop in replacement. They said to treat it like an OEM set during installation and that is how it worked out. Alan also seemed very happy with the way it shifted and it's attitude on the street.

Ride home: need to feed in a little more gas when getting started with the new flywheel, no big deal. First gear sounds almost exactly like reverse. The shift to second is nice and crisp, whine from the gears goes up an octive. Into third gear it's the same as before. Ok, here comes 4th, my trouble spot before, ahhhh..nice clean engagment and the whine starts to taper off. By the time I get into fifth the gear noise can barely be heard and at normal cruising is not noticable at all.

I actually should clear one thing up from above...when I said I finally made it into 5th, that was a bit misleading. These gears are a good bit shorter then the OEM set. First is longer, but after that be prepared to row through them pretty quick. As far as highway drivability, you can experience that now....just cruise down the highway in 4th and that is about where I am at now. Once I get the clutch broken in with a few miles on it I'll report back.

 

Kaaz Synchromesh Close Ratio Gearset
High strength gearset for extreme street and competition Subarus with the 5-speed manual transmission. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears are straight-cut gear profiles (as shown in picture) which eliminates thrust forces and provides maximum gear strength on the gears that are particularly prone to failure. 4th and 5th gears use a bevel design for minimal gear whine in the "cruising" gears. Kaaz uses a high strength steel alloy which undergoes special heat treatment and stress relieving processes. The end result is a gearset capable of reliably handling power outputs in excess of 500hp. Synchromesh engagement (like stock) ensures easy driveability in street driven vehicles. The gearset includes all components required to install in the appropriate gearbox including speedo gear (please specify final drive ratio if not standard). For MY99 and newer boxes this will include all synchro components, reverse gear, locknuts, gaskets, etc. Can be adapted to fit most Impreza, Legacy, and Forester gearboxes. Please call for applications not shown.
Kaaz ratios: 3.167 (1st), 2.267 (2nd), 1.667 (3rd), 1.250 (4th), 0.964 (5th)

 

Stock [list=1] [*]3.454[*]1.947 [*]1.366 [*]0.972 [*]0.738 [/list=1]

Kazz[list=1][*]3.167 [*]2.267 [*]1.667 [*]1.250 [*]0.964 [/list=1]

 

Nope, 1st through 3rd are straight cut, but the entire tranny is syncro'd.

 

Nice setup. but thats quite a drop in OD in 5th.