turbo 400 or 4l80 for my F1A
01-26-2010, 07:47 PM
#1
turbo 400 or 4l80 for my F1A I currently have my car on the sales block but its not looking like im gonna get what im looking for so it might be time to change transmissions and race the hell out of this thing. I have a freshly built 4l65 with a vigilante converter but i dont think it will hold up to the abuse I want to put my car thru if im going to race it. I do enjoy driving on the street however. So the big question is should I do a 400 or a 4l80? I will definately want a brake. what am I looking at for cost on a 4l80 and converter? I can have a 400 and converter built locally for around 1150 fot the trans and 950 for the converter. is this a good price? how bad is it not having overdrive on the street? Im currently running 3.70s in my 9 inch.
Last edited by lmt0705; 01-26-2010 at 07:53 PM.
01-26-2010, 07:59 PM
#3
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I run 3.42's in my 12 bolt rear end. I run a TH400 and I'm comfortable on the highway although with the stall being around 4000 it tends to rev up pretty good when I get into heavy boost. If someone invented a lockup TC for the TH400 it would be the ultimate. You can also go with a gear vendor add on but it adds about 100lbs to the car.
01-26-2010, 08:44 PM
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I'm pretty sure you can have them built as well as a turbo 400. The 4l80 cost a good bit more than a 400 to build though. My tranny builder talked me out of my 4l80 in favor of a TH400. Much cheaper for him to build me a bullet proof 400 with a brake than a comparable 4l80.
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01-26-2010, 09:04 PM
#9
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if money is no object 4l80, prolly cost a MINIMUM twice as much! especially if its a street car and do a lot of highway or interstate driving. now if the street driving you do is more in town lets say, under 60mph or so id go for the th400 no doubt! with my 3.50 gears 28" and th400 under 60mph aint too bad! interstate or highway driving sucks ***!!!!! th400 is alot lighter, and alot cheaper!
01-26-2010, 10:06 PM
#10
Are you guys figuring in the $1000+ converter for the 4L80? Some need stand alone computers to run them depending on what they go in. More money to spend. The cost of a GOOD 4L80 is also going to be over $3000.
Ok, an FLT level 5 4L80 is $3150 with an $850 core charge. That's just shy of 4 times more than the $1150 for the TH400.
Ok, an FLT level 5 4L80 is $3150 with an $850 core charge. That's just shy of 4 times more than the $1150 for the TH400.
01-26-2010, 10:29 PM
#12
I was considering a TH400 for my turbo project but hate the idea of not having O/D. Cruising around at 3k is not appealing to me. Called RPM transmission and they quoted me 3600 for a 4L80e that is rated to 1000rwhp. I am also considering two vendors here who happen to be lower in price.
01-27-2010, 08:44 AM
#15
I have as you can see one of those RPM 4l80s. Price as said was like 3600 but that includes core charge.Shipping was another 400 or so. Then another 800 or so for the converter. I did't get a transbrake but that would push things another 700 or something forget exactly. For serious racing obviously you would want a transbrake.
The stock ecu can control the 4l80 with hptuners. Thats how I control mine.
And for the swap of course you need all the other stuff . For my t56 needed to get crossmember from bmr, lokar long firewall 4l80e dipstick, conversion harness from t56 to 4l80e. flexplate from speed inc.Got auto pedals, auto shifter, auto console top piece.
Some 90 degree fittings and modified the back one to be like factory they have extension on them.
Install went pretty good bit extra work here and there because of my aps downpipe on drivers side and gate on passenger side.
Oh yeah you also need trans cooler if car was originally t56.
But the OP has already auto car so swap is much cheaper. Turbo 400 from reading are pretty good on highway with like 3.08 gears . Lots of turbo guys do run those gears it seems but not sure how they would work with supercharger. Most supercharger guys seem to like 3.73 or so.
And lockup converter is nice on highway as well.
So guess the 4l80e is still best choice for a car that will be highway driven a fair bit or person might want to add that overdrive to the turbo 400 if he is going to run higher gears like 3.73s.
The stock ecu can control the 4l80 with hptuners. Thats how I control mine.
And for the swap of course you need all the other stuff . For my t56 needed to get crossmember from bmr, lokar long firewall 4l80e dipstick, conversion harness from t56 to 4l80e. flexplate from speed inc.Got auto pedals, auto shifter, auto console top piece.
Some 90 degree fittings and modified the back one to be like factory they have extension on them.
Install went pretty good bit extra work here and there because of my aps downpipe on drivers side and gate on passenger side.
Oh yeah you also need trans cooler if car was originally t56.
But the OP has already auto car so swap is much cheaper. Turbo 400 from reading are pretty good on highway with like 3.08 gears . Lots of turbo guys do run those gears it seems but not sure how they would work with supercharger. Most supercharger guys seem to like 3.73 or so.
And lockup converter is nice on highway as well.
So guess the 4l80e is still best choice for a car that will be highway driven a fair bit or person might want to add that overdrive to the turbo 400 if he is going to run higher gears like 3.73s.
01-27-2010, 09:19 AM
#16
There is a trans builder in the midwest who builds 7 and 8 second th400's and 2004r's for years that recently got into the 4l80s. he offers his basic 4l80e rated at 1000hp for $1895, a $300 core charge, and $550 for a controller. He can build them up to 1700hp.
01-27-2010, 09:53 AM
#17
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th400 is 3 speed the 4l80e is 4, so if you do any sort of street or highway driving i would go with a 4l80e, i know you can make the th400 work good on the highway with a bigger gear in the rear end but then the acceleration is sacrificed a little.
01-27-2010, 10:13 AM
#18
This is easy. If you are going to race more than 50% of the time, get the TH400. If it's going to be on the street more than 50% of the time, go with the 4L80e.
I did my 4L80e swap in my GTO last year. The converter was $850 from Yank, I spent about $250 on the core trans, rebuilt it with some buddies, added about $600 in parts. It can be done cheaply if you try...
I had to buy a controller as well for almost a G because I have a GTO, but you can use your stock PCM to control it in an FBody and just get the adapter harness. Had to get a custom driveshaft, cooler, flexplate, hardware, shifter, etc. Still, my entire build was just a little over $3k I think.
I did my 4L80e swap in my GTO last year. The converter was $850 from Yank, I spent about $250 on the core trans, rebuilt it with some buddies, added about $600 in parts. It can be done cheaply if you try...
I had to buy a controller as well for almost a G because I have a GTO, but you can use your stock PCM to control it in an FBody and just get the adapter harness. Had to get a custom driveshaft, cooler, flexplate, hardware, shifter, etc. Still, my entire build was just a little over $3k I think.
01-27-2010, 10:22 AM
#19
The 4L80 is a TH400 with overdrive. Many of the guts are interchangeable. That said, you can buy a Th400 w/ rmvb and tbrake + a GearVendors overdrive for the cost of a 4L80.
If you haven't alraedy done so, call Greg @ FTI and get a price on a transmission and converter package. These guys are a pleasure to work with and are sponsors on here. I have used his converter (same one) for the last 2.5 yrs and had it restalled a few times for all my different setups that I have run. They restall the converter in one day. No screwing around. I 60' in the low 1.3's consistantly.
01-27-2010, 03:43 PM
#20
Even if it costs you a little more you will be glad you went with a 4l80e for street driving. I have a th350 at the moment on my ls1 that I cant stand so when I do go for my big motor and install my turbo system it will be a 4l80e. If I don't have the money for at the time I will just wait until I do.
I know some member on here just took a low mileage stock one and put in a shift kit and went 9's on it. I don't know if I would trust going that route myself.I already talked to my tuner and he said he can redo the pcm to have it controlled by it so thats a good thing that I like.
As a matter of fact I am going to go pick up a 4l80e right now that a guy is selling for 50 bucks that is broke. I am going to get it just for a core.
I know some member on here just took a low mileage stock one and put in a shift kit and went 9's on it. I don't know if I would trust going that route myself.I already talked to my tuner and he said he can redo the pcm to have it controlled by it so thats a good thing that I like.
As a matter of fact I am going to go pick up a 4l80e right now that a guy is selling for 50 bucks that is broke. I am going to get it just for a core.