I was asked by another member to post this up here to give the specs on my recent VB / TC upgrade.

Transgo Performance (edit: removed p/n as Transgo is not in prod yet) VB/Shift Kit - 250 line pressure (oem 205) maintains line pressure thru the shift with a valve within a valve to overide the op pressure so the solenoid can't override the higher PSI.

Clutch pack has Nissan Titan pistons (smaller) to accommodate +2 clutch plates on gears 1 & 2, +1 on gears 3 & 4. Not sure if they did anything with the bands, but I am sure they cleaned them up.

Edge Racing Torque Converter - Street Edge series with a 2800 stall, flash brazed

Parts are individually purchased and then installed by a local shop. Total on parts is about ~$5k.

Installation is around $400-600, depending on the shop. I had mine done at GT Motorsports, but they also installed a 11" B&M Tranny cooler.. so the total install was about $1100.

 

OK, those are the specs, but how does it work? Was it worth the $$? Does it feel any different? Can you burn rubber when it snaps into third?...

 

Was it worth the $$ ? It doesn't take a dyno to KNOW that there is more power getting to the wheels. Shifts are solid, strong and to the point. No lag between gears, as the VB is ready to shift when you are ... bam bam bam. In my opinion, these mods are the natural progression for any build on an AT equipped car where you are investing in the long term, and not just a 2-3 year project. All of my previous domestics have had shift kits, and I've wanted to do this since I got the car. I am extremely happy with it. I'll be taking it to Irwindale's TNT drags this thursday. Hopefully I'll be able to beat my 1/8m best of 9.006. although I am still running 19's.


Does it feel any different? It takes a little getting used to, as the 1-2 shift is very... strong , especially when cold. It's barely noticeable around town (after warm up). However, you tend to forget and when you stomp on it getting on the freeway it might take a little step to the side and slam you back in the seat.


Can you burn rubber when it snaps into third?
At the Chino Hills Meet last Thursday I drove Clint (THX723) from the meet to Red Robin's for dinner. I fully opened her up (which I rarely, if ever, do on the street) after the turn out of the lot onto the main street we enjoyed a solid strong squawk (aka harsh scream) into 2nd and more than noticeable step to the left for third, accompanied by a nice chirp. I believe Clint said something like "DAMN!"

 

That's what I'm talking about! Great info. I have the Stillen kit, but don't have anything good to say about it. I have soooo much torque on the shift to third that if I don't hold it in MM until 3-4K RPM, it will take about a second to shift into third. I really feels like it is just spinning freely while it waits for the clutches to fully engage. That's why I got a VB upgrade in the first place - I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. It was better before the upgrade.

So, how would one get a Transgo VB and how much would it cost?

 

They are not into prod yet. I called the other day and he said it would be about 30 days.

I would recommend calling constantly to get them into production faster. If you can't wait, ask about a custom job.

Back when they were R&Ding it, I didn't really like how Stillen was building their VBs....not a real shift kit, so i waited for this. All the real props go to Gurgen for spending so much time building, rebuilding, testing and testing and testing. I think he has something like 17 pulls on this thing to finally getting to the tolerances its at today...and then had the clutch packs and pistons replaced. There's probably $4k-$5k into it total....including the TC. I don't have a breakdown cost.

 

P.S. The reason you get hang time with the Stillen is that they cannot hold the line pressure above ~205 at the time of the actual shift. With the "valve within a valve" solution, you hold the line pressure for the next shift.

And remember, mine was a full build, not just the VB... so a VB by itself would not be as $$$. I'd have to defer to Transgo for pricing.