I am going to start modding my 1998 Z28 A4 this spring. As of right now the car has about 60k and is stock except for a Borla adjustable catback(car has the factory 3.23 gears). The car has been taken care of very well; my father owned the car for 5 yrs. He never abused the car (he was 76yrs old). The car was used mainly for local driving (grocery getting and doctor appointments). I want to install: longtube headers, catted y-pipe, Ls6 intake, Fast Toys CAI and lid, Yank 3600 or Vig 3600 and a shift kit. I obviously will be getting a dyno-tune after all the mods also. I plan to take the car to the drag-strip(1/4 mile) on Wednesday nights and maybe on the weekends. I know fore-telling the future is impossible, LoL, but are the odds against me for the trans shitting out or do you think it'll last as long as I keep the fluid fresh AND get a GOOD trans cooler?
The Z has the factory 3.23 performance gears, but I have heard that I should swap them for at least 3.73s because of the stall converters that I want; what do yuo think; this car is a DD and I would like to keep the fuel mileage as high as possible becase I plan to take on car on some road trips too.

 

I think your fine with the gears, and it's always a bit of a gamble with these trannys, but it looks like you are on the right path with verter choice, shift kit (use a trans go kit) and a cooler. If you really want to make it last i'd lay off the whole drag strip thing for a bit, every once in a while is fine but 4-5 times a month might be pushing it a little.

 

pm sent

 

man trust me spend the money on the trans first i speak from experience just look at my link in my sig hahahahahahaha

 

I wouldnt go any bigger than a 3200 or 3400 stall. I have information and a dyno sheet that shows some pretty shocking numbers between smaller stalls and larger stalls. If you have an e-mail address I would be happy to forward it to you.

 

send them to christate1@gmail.com

 

I have a 3200 I put out some pretty decent numbers I am running stock trans right now still waiting for a trans cooler. I dont beat it up to much at all just cruise around unless I get a quick race I'm not in to the who drag strip thing.

 

Mods in sig for 18K except for stall that went in 20k ago. Get a good cooler and shift kit to firm up shifts and you should be ok for a while. I don't baby this car either.....

 

i was paranoid as heck too once i threw in the stall, and cam. but i rarely drove my car. but i have a stage 2 4L60E and runs great. from reading on peoples experiences with these trannies its pretty much hit or miss. if i were u, i would go ahead and get the tranny built right away. it would suck to spend money and then have your tranny crap out. just make sure u dont take any short cuts. look into FLT, performabuilt and other sponsors that know these trannies inside and out. also make sure u get a good converter like yank, vigilante, and circle D.

 

The reverse reaction drum is the suspect. Everything else is pretty good. Either it will last a while or it will fail. The other thing is the tune after the SK. DON'T let the trans shift too hard. The input sprag and reverse drum take the beating. If the shifts are fairly firm at WOT, you shouldn't have too much of a problem. When you have the trans gone thru, you can ajust the tune for slightly firmer shifts. Remember, when the trans looses reverse, or it seems to take a long time to hit 2nd, (really shifting 1-3 and no OD), stop the car immediately and have it towed. The drum spins very fast and will rub against the broken splines or stripped splines and will send metal thru the unit. The tow will be worth it. 3200-3400 stall, 3.73s, hedders, high flow cats and Y, LS-6 intake, lid, bellows, tune, you'll have a great DD that rips.