I've got money to burn kids. Give me a few months on this though. I need to recover from going massively over budget on the motor build.

Or for rookie to hook me up with those sponsorships-- daaaymn

 

a track beast? no real track cars are manual. if you really wanted to turn it into a track beast, get a th400 tranny with a trans brake and go from there.

goin 6mt is a step backwards on the track

 

Why would you make it a track car? That's like making it a weekend driver and with the amount of money you put in you would never get to enjoy it so much.

But as you said you have money to burn so you can probably buy another G and keep it stock

 

I know this- That's why I said bust on 10.99

I'm talking about doing twisties every so often.

And a BBK

 

Road racing the 5AT is just not practical IMO due to the excess heat produced, so going to a 6MT conversion is a reasonable option there. On the other hand, I think FI on a built 5AT street car is awesome as it is also for the drag strip. A 6MT will go slower at the same power level unless you really abuse the transmission. And I've seen one broken trans after another with the 6MT guys (not to say the 5AT hasn't had it's share of mishaps, but that was for the most part related to a shady business practices at SGP).

In the twisties up at ZdayZ with a B&M 70264 trans cooler right in the path of airflow up high in the grill, temps skyrocketed, as high as 290 deg F until I let off. And I was NOT shifting, kept it in 4th. That said, I was easily keeping up with a stock M3 despite turbo lag keeping it in 4th, but could not chase down Sharif's beast of a GTR. I was neck and neck on the airstrip with the GTR, but between AWD traction and not being able to shift, there was no hope. Oh yeah, it was a little wet out too. :P

I'm swapping to a trans cooler that's double the size. We'll see how well that does. That's the biggest that will fit - takes up basically the entire passenger side of the radiator opening up in the grill at 11 x 11 x 1.5".

By the way, I swapped out GTM's TC for one with a slightly lower stall to help with the heat. The GTM got hotter, but it was faster in a straight line. I've got it if anyone wants it. Lock up with 450 wtq was around 4500 rpms.

 

Autos are definately fun in many aspects. The heat is not something fun to deal with though. I've had that same situation of the trans basically not wanting to go into higher gears do to heat. A good cooler, good placement, not being insanely abusive and it'll be a great overall car.

6MTs do have their issues as well. I'll gladly take dealing with possible broken gears, maybe jackin up syncros, burning a clutch over the thing in the back of your head about how the auto is gonna act in certain situations.

A clutch and being able to have some feedback from that left pedal is worth it. Can't deny the power possibilities as well. Unless it's a TH trans the RE505REA will limit you in this aspect no matter who does the trans build up. Would love to see a 650-700hp 5AT though.

 

TH trannies are 4 gears though.. NO OD right?

I want this to be street able...

 

You make it seem as if he's making an F1 car. At 500-600 WHP, I would still take an MT over an AT. It's definitely more challenging, but the whole point of MT isn't about making it a piece of cake to drive. It's about skillfully mastering the techniques of driving an MT.

Again, the whole AT is superior to MT is a lame excuse for not mastering an MT unless we're talking about 9 second drag strip cars or F1 motorsport cars.

 

^ I completely disagree.

 

You disagree with what? Please explain.

If that's your preference, then that's all good. But the fact is, you won't see many folks around that power level switch from an MT to an AT, even if its a TH tranny.

Those who have driven MT for a long time know that skillfully mastering an MT is rewarding both in the street (regular driving) and the tracks. Again, there are a ton of 6MT driving at insane power levels. Go check out my350Z and see the levels that some Z guys are driving in a 6MT.

P.S. I'm not trying to make this an MT vs AT argument. Just trying to rebut the claim that you NEED an AT for high powered cars.

 

Sounds like an ego thing to me. So you can brag about how good you are at shifting to people that have never driven a manual. Not losing boost- I get a perfect launch everytime- and having a tranny that can shift faster than anyone can.

Doesn't that seem to be the ideal tranny?

Maybe I should just buy a Porsche / z06

 

Jtrain, I have pushed my car hard at the 520 whp/480 wtq level for 15k miles and I'll be going higher with W/M this summer. The GTM-5AT has been solid with NO issues whatsoever but I keep a close eye on temps and I almost always keep it under 240 degF and do a drain/fill of ATF every 5k miles (along with oil).

The heat issue bugs me and it seems stupid not to be able to find a reasonable solution but space is at a premium. This larger cooler is I'll be putting in this weekend is rated 29000 BTUs. I would not recommend anything smaller and hopefully it does the trick...

 

Can you provide a link to this larger cooler, I have been pushing over 520 ft trq for almost 50,000 miles on GTM tranny so this would be a piece of mind for me too.

In regards to the MT v AT, I think it comes down to personal preference as I have only been driving MT's for the last 18 years but for the last 4 years driving an AT has it own kind of fun.

 

That's funny, I was in the same boat as you. I had that exact same cooler (70264). About a month ago I swapped it out for the 11 x 11 one and this thing is HUGE. It takes up like you said the entire side of the radiator. I hope next time I take it to the track it doesn't overheat like it did back in April. Maybe I need to track in colder months and not during the summer to make it practical. I really really don't want to do a 6MT swap as that just doesn't seem worth it. I hope this cooler is sufficient for 25 minute sessions.

 

This is the one I bought: http://www.makcotransmissionparts.com/4590.html

I am also going to position my temp sensor AFTER the cooler so I can get a good idea of the temp going back into the transmission. The sender right now is before the cooler and is getting fluid coming right out of the torque converter. I may be seeing falsely elevated temps. I have aftermarket hi speed radiator fan/shroud kit that I can engage full speed with a switch inside so I'm hoping that will finally be all that's needed.

I don't want 25 min sessions, I want unlimited use! Of course, running the mountain roads is tough because not only are you pushing hard, but you're constantly going up steep inclines.