There are many reasons to want to know the gear ratios in a specific transmission. Maybe you've purchased a secondhand transmission and want to know if its compatible with your original rear differential. Or maybe you want to run some numbers to see whether your gear ratios are suitable for a certain track or what rpm you will be spinning at a specific speed. Whatever the reason we've got you covered. After 15 years we have finally updated the Subaru gear chart that so many have relied upon over the years. You can download the updated file here:
Manual Transmission ID Chart 2025 (PDF)
The transmission ID can be found on a label attached to the transmission. The location varies somewhat but an example of a newer STI 6-speed is shown to the right. The identification code in this case is "TY856UW6AB". The number on the smaller label ("248057" in this case) is the production serial number which in some cases can be useful for selecting parts where a production change occurred within the same transmission ID especially if you don't know the specific production date of the vehicle.
Generally speaking, the first two letters in the ID indicate the type of transmission: "TY" = AWD Manual Transmission, "TM" = FWD Manual Transmission, "TL" = RWD Manual Transmission. The following 2 numbers on a manual trans ID indicates the distance between gear shafts in mm (85 = 85mm centerline between input and output gear shafts). The remainder of the code helps identify more specific details of the transmission. Our chart lists the region and application the transmission is used for to the best of our knowledge. The regions are abbreviated: JP=Japan, UK=United Kingdom, EU = European Union, SA = South America, US = United States, CA = Canada, IR = Ireland.
Gear ratios for each individual gear, transfer gear, and final drive represent the ratio of output gear tooth count divided by the input gear tooth count. If you need to confirm what you have then counting the gear teeth and calculating the ratio will allow you to do so.
Transfer gears, also referred to as drop gears, are the output gears from the center differential that send power to the rear differential. The rear final drive ratio is equal to the transfer gear ratio x rear differential gear ratio. For example 1.1 x 3.54 = 3.90 rear final drive. In all wheel drive applications, the front final drive ratio must match the rear ratio otherwise damage to the center diff will occur. For this reason, the transfer gear ratio is critical for knowing the correct rear diff ratio to use with a specific transmission. Finally, Subaru produced a dual range transmission which utilized a selectable high/low range gear in a 5-speed full time AWD application. This high-low gear set provides an additional final drive multiplication affecting both front and rear final drive ratios. High gear is always 1.0 but the low gear varies, and we have used the 6th gear ratio column to indicate the low range ratio on these applications.
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