Does the VB acutally give u any extra benifits?

Yes, the VB does allow u to say shift right before redline but is it worth 800 + labor? I have learn to shift earlier to compenstate for the delay and land right before redline so what is the big deal of the VB? Also, most of the dynos I see cut off around 6500 so is there a pt to go to +6800?

 

Try much better performance out of the tranny . It takes much less time for the tranny to shift from one gear to the next with the VB . Thats why it hits the rev limit in the fist place .

 

but if i shift earlier and land close to redline without hitting the rev limit, isnt it doing to same thing as a VB? I just have to time things just right where the vb is on the dot.

 

You can shift earlier , but your still stuck with a slowwwwwwwww shift . The VB makes it shift so much faster...night and day faster

 

The VB upgrade makes a significant improvement in shift quality. I have Level Ten's and am very pleased with the performance. It shifts very fast without banging into gear. They claim that there are 5ATs with only their VB upgrade that are holding up to about 450 WHP.

The greatest benefit is that the clutches slip less before engaging meaning longer life and lower fluid temperatures.

 

I called Sharif and he stated that not only do they shift quicker but they have some cars holding 500hp with the VB upgrade, this does mean longer life but does not mean lower fliud temps. as one of the side effects of an upgraded VB is actually higher temps thus you would spend a little extra cash and get an upgraded tranny cooler, this combo is the best for handling more power.

 

I am getting more & more confused by the VB upgrade.
I think it's time for us to clarify two things once & for all:

1, "Shift Delay" : This is the time from when you hit the shifter to when the shift actually happens. Thre is a noticble delay in OEM car & this is significantly shortened by Grounding gear. This is what I observe when adding grounding gear. I think this is a software/TCM issue, I don't see how would VB make the delay go away?

1, "Shift Speed" This is measured by how long does it take the transmission (After the delay) from start of the shift to finish of the shift. I.E. The times takes for the rpm Needle start going down to when the needle stoped going down & started to go back up again.

I believe this is what the VB upgrade would do, making the actural shift faster. However, it is impossible for me to tell from the post, as most people mixed the two thing together.

If you upgraded VB, Please, Please tell us your observations on the following separately:

1, Shift Delay: Is the hesitation still there?
2, Shift Speed: Do you see the needle go down faster?

Also, compare 1 & 2, Which one is the most obviously change for you? The Shift delay or the speed of the needle going down?

Finally, if you added Grounding Gear first, and then upgraded VB later?
What's your experence on 1 & 2? Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

A VB upgrade LOWERS fluid temps, it does NOT increase them! Slippage during shifts is reduced and slippage is a major source of heat in an auto tranny.

For further information, or confirmation if you need it, call Level Ten in NJ. They are experts in Nissan trannys and developed a VB upgrade for the Nissan/Infiniti 5AT.

 

I have the grounding kit, the Infiniti TCU reflash and a Level Ten VB upgrade on my 2003 sedan.

Together, the grounding kit and reflash greatly improved shifts both in "D" and in manu-matic. In fact, the grounding kit was one of the few bolt-on mods that made an obvious improvement.

The VB upgrade makes the tranny shift (change gears) fast without banging. It was developed in part to make the tranny shift fast enough in "D" to avoid hitting the rev limiter on FI cars.

With the three in combination on my car, when I move the lever, it shifts RIGHT NOW.

In years past, I had a 327 Chevelle stick that I could shift fast enough that I wouldn't even let up on the gas when throwing the shift. My 5AT now shifts faster than that.

Bottom line - the VB upgrade is a much better mod than something like an exahust, well worth the cost of about $1K installed.

 

With the Grounding gear, my G35x never need to let off gas when shift,
Manual or Auto. Does tha mean it's fast enought? Should I get SC installed & see if it's still fast enought? If it hits the rev limitor, I'l do the VB upgrade,

But if it does not hit teh reve limiter, VB would be easting money. I am adding Tranny Cooler & Tem. gauge for Tranny, so I can keep an eye on it.

 

The problem is that you are running the risk of blowing the tranny if you set up the engine to produce the power level you want from such a big outlay of cash. You are very likely to shorten the service life without a VB upgrade with FI. The fact that it may not go the first month you are running it with Fi doesn't prove anything. The time to failure has been shortened and you don't know how much.

Other threads have addressed this and the limits for the 5AT OEM. It would pay to do some research.

But call one of the experts in transmissions and talk to them. Give Level Ten a call. If you prefer someone else, call them. Just make sure they know what they are talking about, i.e. Do they do their own tranny work or farm it out? Do they specialize in Nissan transmissions? Do they do performance work as opposed to just repairs?

 

Based on history 300zx tt and Q45 both at ~~300 HP tranny life was at least 100k and usually 150k............Frequent [50 tanks or so couple hundred runs]75 HP Nitrous shots usually reduced the AT life to around 30,000 miles.

If 25 supercharged AT cars last thru 70k warranty we might conclude something?

It only costs $4000 to replace tranny with Nissan remanned.

 

According to SGP their VB generates heat. Linky

 

Has anyone seen Gurgen's analysis of VBs? I think he had the stillen one and then switched to the SGP. . .I could be mistaken though. He has some really cool data logs of shift times with the valve body, and a crazy video of his tach while shifting between 1-2-3. I have that vid if anyone wants to see it in action. It shifts HELLA fast. . .very much needed since he has a PE TT. I have a grounding kit, and hate to break it to y'all, but it doesn't REALLY do a whole lot for shifting speed. In my before and after comparison (10wires, ECU etc. . .) the only difference I noticed was that in "manual" mode, I could shift at ~6400 and the shift was "fast" enough to not hit the rev limiter, versus ~6300 or so before the kit. Of course without actually logging data, it could all just be perceived. I noticed no difference with the car in D. Bottom line. . .get valve body if you want to preserve life on your tranny (and a cooler!) with added torque. Just my $.02.

-drew

 

The problem here is that you will be no better off than when you started. You will still have an OEM Nissan tranny, but will be $4K poorer.

On the other hand, you could put the $4K towards a $4800 Level Ten tranny rebuild and end up with something substantially better than OEM.

But hey, I'm not peddling Level Ten's stuff. Call them yourself and ask them about their rebuilds and what level of power they have survived. All I can tell you is that I have done a fair amount iof internet research on this and Level Ten sounds at least as good as any other option and probably better. And for what it's worth, I'll pick an old salt over a new kid on the block anytime!