Thanks guys. I haven't really driven it enough to get a good feel for the gas mileage, but I did average about 24 mpg today just cruising on the highway around 75 - 80 with a little "spirited" driving.

Sam can probably explain our conversation regarding the overdrive on the car better than me, but basically when the cars in overdrive you have the highest chance of damaging the factory clutches in the automatic transmission since the computer allows for the most slippage when in overdrive (5th gear on the 5spd auto). Doesn't mean you can't do it (I've already done it a few times), just means you will get the most slippage and cause the most wear on the tranny when going full throttle / hitting full boost in overdrive. This shouldn't be an issue if you rarely drive the car at 9/10 or 10/10. If you tend to drive the car hard most of the time then your best off driving the car in manual mode (M) or drive sport (DS). In manual mode you can choose the gear you want to be in, so cruising in overdrive won't be an issue. In DS, the car seldom goes into overdrive, especially if your driving agressively... the DS mode will learn your driving style and shift the gears according, so if your an aggressive driver it will tend to hold the lower gear longer and more often. As I drive the car I will play around with different shifting scenarios and post my thoughts.

 

Car looks great man congrats on getting it done!
You only have the trans cooler for tranny upgrades right?

 

I believe he got the Transgo shift kit and the trans cooler installed correct?

 

Yeah, I got the transmission valve body upgrade as well.

http://www.gtmotorsports.com/product...cat=262&page=2

The shifts are so much sharper and more crisp now, especially in manual mode.

 

How are normal low rpm shifts around 3500 rpm? Does normal driving still have smooth transmission shifts? Are the paddles finally worth having with the shift kit installed at high rpms? I'm going to attempt the shift kit install on my own.

 

the video is great and the car seems a whole lot faster! but the deaccel fluttering sounds a bit annoying, any cure for that?

 

wow i would guess that you have spent upward of 12k for the kit and the other goodies too. i guess i have to save up some more.

Hey sam any news on the the AWD G with the super chargers

 

Can you hear any whine coming from the Walbro fuel pump?

 

SO basically if you drive on highways on 90-100mph will it wear the tranny more?? as I am thinking of doing it on the Z but there is not DS either manual or auto option, so a bit confused on this gear slipage conversation

 

It's not recommend that you go into boost in 5th gear because it's overdrive. You can cruise in 5th at those speeds but not go WOT. If you wanna go WOT just choose the right gear (3rd/4th)

 

Hmm I wonder if there is away to turn off the overdrive...

Any news on how the supercharger handles on the AWD version? I wanna see how the axles handle the extra power.

 

I guess it's fine, even on D (at least on mine) and attempt at WOT will automatically kick it down to a lower gear.

Although, for all-out acceleration (i.e. Texas Mile?) 5th would be pretty much useless then.

Overdrive = 5th gear on the auto, or 5th and 6th on the manual (IIRC, both gears are gas saver gears). To "turn it off" is to stay out of these gears. Your max gear would be whichever is the direct drive.

 

Hitting boost in overdrive will not kick the transmission down fast enough. ALWAYS downshift 1 or 2 gears before boost.

Even with a shift kit, the transmission programming is for fuel economy so it wants to up shift way to early for my taste. Driving around in DS mode is no fun either because the transmission can't figure out if it's better to be in D or DS mode.

For those that don't know, even if the shifter in DS position it will drive like it is in "D" mode as much as possible and then "DS" mode when driving agressively. Strange things like hard downsifting to redline happen in traffic if you have to brake suddenly as well as accelerating to redline when you don't need to.

I pretty much use the paddles 100% of the time now unless I am eating or drinking.

 

I've always figured as much but thought it was just me, glad to know there's some consensus on this. On the track i've had it at D, DS and full "manual" -- DS felt just like D to some degree.

So, back to the topic, what's the best way to make sure 5th gear (auto) can be used at WOT?

 

what would have to be done to prevent the transmission from going into overdrive after adding boost.