6L80 how strong is it?
6L80 how strong is it? Well throughout my journey of learning GM I'm taking it step by step for modding a G8 GT. Problem is I've been binge watching Cleetus McFarland for the past couple days and now I'm thinking about more bald eagles and doing it for Dale.
With that said I might....maybe....Want to go LSA and shoot for over 700whp. I dunno, that's a nice solid sounding number to me. I know these motors are solid but I know from past dealings with going against GMs that after the motor they find their weak links. So...How strong is the 6L80?
And hell while we are talking about it, other than heat (obviously) what is death to a auto trans? I know drivetrain shock on a manual is death so what is death to an auto?
With that said I might....maybe....Want to go LSA and shoot for over 700whp. I dunno, that's a nice solid sounding number to me. I know these motors are solid but I know from past dealings with going against GMs that after the motor they find their weak links. So...How strong is the 6L80?
And hell while we are talking about it, other than heat (obviously) what is death to a auto trans? I know drivetrain shock on a manual is death so what is death to an auto?
TECH Junkie
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,612
Likes: 1,324
From: Iowa
Heat kills
Shock kills autos too
But with a synchronous shift auto (6l80/8l90/10lwhatever) a shitty tune is a quick death for sure.
In a 6l80e at 650 hp the converter will be the first thing to **** the bed (assuming you have an A++ quality tune)
After that you'll tost OD (4-5-6) clutches...then the 3-5-r clutches...then grenade the spline area of the 4-5-6 hub
There have been guys that have gone 700 horse on a stock 6l80e and there have been guys that have nothing but issues with cam only camaros. Take that for what you will
Shock kills autos too
But with a synchronous shift auto (6l80/8l90/10lwhatever) a shitty tune is a quick death for sure.
In a 6l80e at 650 hp the converter will be the first thing to **** the bed (assuming you have an A++ quality tune)
After that you'll tost OD (4-5-6) clutches...then the 3-5-r clutches...then grenade the spline area of the 4-5-6 hub
There have been guys that have gone 700 horse on a stock 6l80e and there have been guys that have nothing but issues with cam only camaros. Take that for what you will
Heat kills
Shock kills autos too
But with a synchronous shift auto (6l80/8l90/10lwhatever) a shitty tune is a quick death for sure.
In a 6l80e at 650 hp the converter will be the first thing to **** the bed (assuming you have an A++ quality tune)
After that you'll tost OD (4-5-6) clutches...then the 3-5-r clutches...then grenade the spline area of the 4-5-6 hub
There have been guys that have gone 700 horse on a stock 6l80e and there have been guys that have nothing but issues with cam only camaros. Take that for what you will
Shock kills autos too
But with a synchronous shift auto (6l80/8l90/10lwhatever) a shitty tune is a quick death for sure.
In a 6l80e at 650 hp the converter will be the first thing to **** the bed (assuming you have an A++ quality tune)
After that you'll tost OD (4-5-6) clutches...then the 3-5-r clutches...then grenade the spline area of the 4-5-6 hub
There have been guys that have gone 700 horse on a stock 6l80e and there have been guys that have nothing but issues with cam only camaros. Take that for what you will
Launching!
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 230
Likes: 73
From: south florida
6l80 in my yukon was fine with cam/bolt ons for over 40k miles and +/- hundred passes. nothing done to it but the trucool 40k cooler. had a cheap circle d 278mm converter for first half then switched over to billet triple disc. threw the turbo on it pretty much as it sat, with 5-6psi transmission was still ok, fed some torque management back into it.
after going up in boost it became a pain to keep the tune straightened out - didnt want to shift out of 1st gear without banging limiter, power downshifts were a mess hunting gears.
the death of it was actually a fairly mild pull in 4th with the converter locked, acted like it just wiped the clutches clean - still has 1st-3rd
after going up in boost it became a pain to keep the tune straightened out - didnt want to shift out of 1st gear without banging limiter, power downshifts were a mess hunting gears.
the death of it was actually a fairly mild pull in 4th with the converter locked, acted like it just wiped the clutches clean - still has 1st-3rd
TECH Junkie
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,202
Likes: 1,390
From: Nitro Alley
At first, it was converter after converter coming in for these transmissions...
If not a converter problem... then the 4-5-6 intermediate shaft was twisted and broken on the other units.
Later on, as people started building these units... I would see drive shell/ shafts broken.
And finally if someone got a unit to live thus far, I would find a broken output carrier.
If you could not tell, I am not a fan of these... Shift timing is crucial for these transmissions.
The synchronous shifts and the compensator feed circuits are all living on a thread that is the software/ tune.
Something I feel, to easily destroys these units.
If not a converter problem... then the 4-5-6 intermediate shaft was twisted and broken on the other units.
Later on, as people started building these units... I would see drive shell/ shafts broken.
And finally if someone got a unit to live thus far, I would find a broken output carrier.
If you could not tell, I am not a fan of these... Shift timing is crucial for these transmissions.
The synchronous shifts and the compensator feed circuits are all living on a thread that is the software/ tune.
Something I feel, to easily destroys these units.
I understand when they first came out a lot of issues were due to bad tuners. But I would imagine by now tuners have figured out how to tune these properly.
Look, I don't have many choices here lol. I'd love to drop a Zf8 in the G8 but from my understanding that isn't possible. So I'm stuck with this 6L80.
Look, I don't have many choices here lol. I'd love to drop a Zf8 in the G8 but from my understanding that isn't possible. So I'm stuck with this 6L80.
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TECH Junkie
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,612
Likes: 1,324
From: Iowa
TECH Junkie
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,202
Likes: 1,390
From: Nitro Alley
I am really not a fan of the design of these... even with better metallurgy hard parts and an actual "good tune"... they are not great at handling power.
If I ever had to fabricate a drive-train using one of these transmissions... I would use the actual/ original version of the transmission from ZF.
They kept the best of hardware and software for them selves.
I feel, out of the three versions of the transmissions... Ranked from best to worst:
-ZF version
-Ford version
-GM version
If I ever had to fabricate a drive-train using one of these transmissions... I would use the actual/ original version of the transmission from ZF.
They kept the best of hardware and software for them selves.
I feel, out of the three versions of the transmissions... Ranked from best to worst:
-ZF version
-Ford version
-GM version