What's Normal, What's Not?

[ZNetracer]

Just got my new 08 tC and loving it.
Question: The transmission whines noticeably in 1st & 2nd on acceleration. It increases in pitch until the sound pretty much becomes inaudible. I haven't found anything in this forum but in another they say that they think it's normal.

What's the general take on this? Also, are there any other "normal" quirks that a Scion noobie should know about other than what's already been posted?

[Speedstar]

Hmm.... The only time I hear a "whine" is when I down shift, and I dont take my foot off the clutch. I know that is normal...just things trying to get caught up and getting ready to go into gear.

Are you flooring it, or driving like a normal person...and how many miles do you have on it?

[Speedstar]

I just found this...


1. when i accelerate, i hear a whistle noise coming from the tC engine. is this normal?
yes, this is completely normal. this is the sound of air as it makes its way through the air intake/throttle body in your engine as you accelerate. it makes more of a whistle/high pitched sound than most cars because of how the stock intack/throttle body was designed. it's speculated that scion designed them like this on purpose to try and replicate the sound of what a cai (cold air intake) makes when accelerating.

I got it from here...

the scion tC faq site

[ZNetracer]

I have about 780 miles on the OD. I've been pretty much babying it. Most of my shifts have been fairly leisurely at around 3K RPM. At least until I hit 1K miles. I didn't really notice the noise until I ahem turned down the stereo.

[H.Series tC]

I have my 06 since it had about 250 miles on it and it has always made that noise. I think it has to do with the way the gearing ratios are setup. The RPM's seem high for the gears, almost like there should be a 6th.

[travis1041]

my 08 makes the same noise i was going to ask the dealer but i guess it is normal

[navylife59]

Gear ratios and the way the gears are cut.

Manual Trans Gearset.bmp

Helical cut gears have tight tolerances but rather noisy compared to straight cut gears.