Toyota W55 / W58

Toyota's rear-drive five-speed manual — behind the Celica, Supra, Lexus SC and the first Lexus IS.

The numbers are torque ratings rather than generations, which is the useful part: the W55 is the light one, the W58 the strong one behind the Supra's six, and the case looks the same. A car described as having a W-series gearbox may have either, and the ratios and the internals differ.

They are among the more durable manuals of their era, and their faults are the faults of age: second and third synchros, crunching on a fast cold change, and the shift lever's own bushings, which produce a vague change that reads as far worse than it is.

The one thing worth knowing about the W58 specifically is what people do with it. It is a popular swap and a popular thing to put behind far more power than Toyota fitted; a W58 that grinds into third under load is at the end of its rating rather than badly maintained — the same story as the Tremec T-5.

A whine present in neutral with the clutch out, which stops when the pedal is pressed, is the input shaft bearing — the same tell as on every manual in this catalogue.