Bill,

I thought we discussed this last time we spoke, right after you got your VB upgrade.

Q. What all does the Level Ten VB upgrade include?
A. Not precisely sure, but it certainly does not include an override mechanism.

Q. Does their upgrade overcome the closed loop issues?
A. Absolutley NOT

Q. What are the pressures before and during shifts in the Level Ten VB?
A. Not sure what they set them at exactly, the point is that hte pressure is not maintained throughout the shift without the overrides.

Q. What, if anything, does Level Ten do the the solenoid in their upgraded VB?
A. Nothing

Q. How does their VB cause my tranny to shift so much faster than before?
A. By increasing hte line pressure in the initial stages of the shift, mainly faster disengagement of the clutches of the gear you are shifting out of, but it does not keep the line pressure high during hte engagement of the next gear (b/c line pressure returns to normal).

Q. Level Ten told me that they have a number of Nissan trannys out there with ONLY the VB upgrade that are successfully surviving around 450 WHP. Is this not true?
A. First of all, i would not belive anything those liars say. Second, it is entirely possible that that is true, as it does not take that much more improvement to hold 450 hp (or more precisely torque) if the tranny is designed to hold at least 390lb/ft of torque of the QX56 (and belive me, relistically, the car can probably hold another 10-15% minimum, since the oem's build in at least that much more margin for safety). The question is can their trannys hold 500-600 whp consistently.

You see, the line pressure is legitimately higher on the l10/stillen vb during acceleration, but not during shifts. So, during acceleration, you are very well getting increased holding power, but when do you think are the clutched more vulnerable to wear, during wot runs, or during shifts, when things slip and slide ALL THE TIME? Obvioulsy it's the latter, where L10/Stillen offer NO protection (unless you lift off the gas during shifts to keep the power off the clutches, and if you do that, what's the point?)

 

Man, now I really feel mixed up. Your reply makes it sound like I didn't get anything from the VB upgrade.

I really want to see all the pertinent information in one place so I can go back and refer to it and think about it, as others may want to.

But I still don't understand! If you don't know what the Level Ten VB upgrade includes, how do you know that they do nothing to the solenoid and how are you sure that the line pressures aren't maintained through the shift? I mean, you must have some basis for saying that. I'm not arguing, I just want to pin down these elusive details. Can you explain it so even I can understand it? I don't care at all about Stillen, I just want to learn about Level Ten's VB and what I missed.

 

Great points, GurgenPB,

As my HKS SC will only bring peak torque to 300 at wheels & 360 at fly wheel,
deduct 20 consumed by turning S/C itself. I am looking at 340 Flywheel Torque,

Which means I don't really need a VB upgrade, right? Sounds like level10 would be waste of money.

Then, Xman blew his tyranny with Vortex at 266 Wheel torque, I wonder why.

 

Bill, ths is based on my conversation with them (steve?, don't remember the name any more, started with an S). I talked to him at length about this when i was about to become the prototype car for the SGP VB. They are of course very secretive, and didn't want to let anythign slip. But he did say that tey do not build any valves...he said that our tranny goes into limp mode if oyu try to do the same type of VB upgrade as you did for the older cars, like the Lexus IS300, where thye chirp the gears at shifts. He said that our car will go into limp mode. Well, that's obviously not the case, since i ahve been riding this tranny hard at minimum 400 wheel hp for at least 16000 miles now, and it had never gone into any kind of limp mode after chirping gears time and again. Also, I have seen a L10 VB from a friend's car before he installed it, and it certainly didnot have additional valves built intothe existing ones.

Stillen and VB gives you near-identical results, btw.

 

Are you aware that the ECU/TCU cuts back cylinders on shifts to reduce torque load, they also reduces timing.Therefore the shifting strain is dramatically reduced(most manufactures do this).I do not know if tuners are bypassing this safety feature.

 

Nt sure what you mean by 'cuts back cylinders', but if oyu mean it actually cts ignition/fuel to some of them, that's definitely not the case. What it does do is pull tiign advance approximately 4-7 degrees, depending on the severity of the shift. Throttle remains wide open.

 

Yes,drops cylinders and reduces timing

 

If you hooked up a scanner to the ALDL port,(on a stock VB car),you would see the cutting of cylinders and the reduction of timing when it shifts as we did on my car when it was 6 months old.Almost all manufacturers do this today to manage torque and prolong transmission life

 

Here are some information I got from dealer.

They do sell Valve Body by it'self. I got some Vin# off ebay & got the
Vb part numbers & Transmission Part # as follow:

2004 G35 Sedan 5AT
Tranny: Part # 3102M-91X17RE, $4243
Valve Body Part # 31705-90X71, $762

2005 G35 Sedan 5AT
Tranny: Part # N/A. (The guy was running out of time.)
Valve Body Part # 31705-AC70A, $731.60

2005 G35x Sedan (My Car)
Tranny: Part # 31020-AL81A, $3793
Valve Body Part # 31705-AC81A, $885.23

It looks like not only 05 Sedan has a different tranny & VB than 04 Sedan,
The 05 G35x has yet another Transmission & VB, just for the AWD models.

I think this will make core program at L10 less feasible, I don't think they could afford to stock up all these different VB for each model. Also, without knowing what are the tranny differences, generalizing results from one single tranny model to apply cross the board to All G35 5AT may be risky.

 

Another piece of info, Cut & pasted from My350Z.com
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05-10-2006, 10:58 PM #106
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Well I have the TC and the VB upgraded with SGP and I have like 430 whp with a Greddy twin turbo and my tranny are broke right know the clutches don't resist the torque or the power. I think that if anyone do the racing clutches for the 5AT we resolve our problems at all.

__________________________________________________ _________

 

There is a rebuild kit available for the RE5R05A. So at least you shouldn't have to buy an entire new tranny to get back on the road if you do end up blowing it. Check with your local expert transmission mechanic.

 

At the risk of sounding tedious, I am again asking for a reality check!

This thread was started about the Level Ten VB upgrade for the 5AT Nissan tranny and that's what I want to focus on. Varous posters have expressed negative comments about this product but have not provided any specific information documenting that it does not do what it is intended to or is somehow deficient in accomplishing its purpose. In the end, all a tranny has to do is shift the way you want it to and efficiently withstand the power level of your engine. The fact that someone else's VB chirps tires is totally irrelevant and tire chirping may just as easily testify to an improper design as a proper one.

If the Level Ten VB is deficient or poor quality, please provide SPECIFIC details. If it doesn't do what is claimed, please provide documentation. If someone has installed one and their tranny has failed, please post your personal experience.

I have no intention of defending a deficient product (or a VB just because I have one). But, to be honest, I don't think much of vague criticisms (like "my buddy sez...") that could affect someone's business or cause someone to decide not to use a product they might otherwise benefit from.

And rest assurred that if I encounter tranny issues as a result of my Level Ten VB upgrade, you will hear from me!

 

Alto makes an OE rebuild kit for our trans, they just need to make a performance set.

 

http://www.infinitifx.org/phpBB2/vie...asc&highlight=
This is my complete rebuild with racing clutches,the kit is not yet available to the public but will be soon,mine is a custon with additional frictions/steels per pack,pictures is the replacement with hi friction material...works like a dream,and it will need to hold the next motor/blower

All of my mods was done on the VB that came in the car/truck...interesting question...DaveO once told me there were over 100 listed for our trans

 

so the level 10 vb doesnt prevent the tranny from slipping?