CTS-V420

I brought my V into the dealership today because I've been having a problem getting it in Reverse sometimes. I know that is a pretty common problem with the V but that is not normal for any expensive car. I bought a B&M short shifter but I dont want to install it until the Gears are more reliable. WIll the short shifter help?
I've gone to the track twice but with the the v's wheel hop my 60ft is only a 2.1 what have you found to be the best RPM to launch at?
I am looking to chip the car aswell and was wondering if anyone has the SUPERCHIP plug and play. its cheap and easy but im wondering if it will do much. any suggestions
I installed my Eibach pro kit and it seems only the front dropped. Has anyone else who installed springs find that the front sits incredibbly lower?

bmfcamaro

iTrader: (1)

loom into a tuning suite, handhelds only go so far.

Closer_2001

iTrader: (6)

The short shifter might help reverse...probably not. I just push on my as I let out the clutch and it goes in.

I wouldn't dream of tracking my V - too much wheel hop.

The rear shocks are self leveling (Nivomats). The Caddy forum has a guy who sells a spacer kit that tricks the shocks into lowering the rear of the car.

Where are you located? I'd suggest going to a reputable tuner for a good dyno tune once you have your engine mods in place.

CTS-V420

thanks, ill hopefully put the shifter in tomorrow. I have upgraded bushings in the rear to help the wheel hop. It helped a lot. As far as the superchip goes, im disapointed. I really was hoping that it would help.
How much should i expect the dyno tune cost?

SilveradoSS500

Launch at 3000. What tires are you using? Have you thought of rims? Have you checked out BMR Products??? Look at some camshaft options... Thunder Racing, CheatR cam,maybe?? All you would need is valve springs....Im not sure how much you know about the specs of cams but i put a small size cam (bigger than stock, of course) and it makes the car 10 times more fun to drive and its pretty cheap.
PS. Buy those headers. They are bad ***.... And thats a good deal

JonCR96Z

iTrader: (33)

One thing I've learned to deal with is the stupid reverse on T56s. Synthetic tranny fluid is a must. Also something that I've noticed is that most of the time when I have trouble getting in reverse completely I just take my foot off of the break and let the car rock a bit and it slides right in.

Putting a shifter on my camaro and V actually made it a little more noticably that it doesnt go in smoothly, maybe from having less leverage.

Jon

ahahnu

Get the Kars AWH kit. Stage III. Check out the caddy owner forum for my recent review. I just had it installed. You want a chip upgrade, get the stealt V one. He will custom tune it to your specifications. And I believe because the rear shocks are self leveling you may have to switch them out. Some other guys have had that prob, but I haven't done it so I dunno. Good luck. Where you from? Check out the faq....

2c5s

iTrader: (11)

The reverse issue is with the clutch. Bring it in for the warranty fix. The Kars kit is good, the hard sidewall runflats make the wheelhop worse than it really is IMO. Where are you located? Don't waste your time or money on a can mail order tune. For a touch more $, you can have a dyno tune done on your car. As a matter of fact, unless you are going to mod it with at least headers, a tune is a waste of money. Don't buy into the driveability B.S. some mail order tuners will feed you.

Chiro v

iTrader: (1)

A quick fix for the reverse is to take off the boot and trim the foam underneath. A lot of times the shifter is hitting the foam making it harder to shift.

I noticed a huge increase in traction when I put on my rear cradle brace (Kars Stage II) and switched out my runflats for 275 nonrunflats in the rear (245's in the front).

The self leveling shocks in the rear will counteract the springs. You'll have to get non V shocks or an easy fix is to get special spacers that will trick your shocks and lower the rear. You can get them from a guy named Wildwhl. I'm not sure if he's on this board.

obZidian

iTrader: (2)

Like it was suggested, the rear shocks wont let you lower the car, dont get the shock CTS-V shocks, gt a set of those bushings and stay with the V shocks. A good upgrade is the FG2/F2G shock package, IMO, well worth the money.

THe reverse thing is weird. I dont think its the clutch, i've had the clutch and flywheel replaced and its the same. The foam thing is cake and it could help out but im not sure if that is the problem.

From what i notice is that before every gear, that is, before it fully engages/locks in its gate, the shifter feels like it hits "something" that pushes through that and goes into place. THe warmer the trans gets, the worse that something gets and actually blocks the insersion of the shifter into a gear. Its not that it wont go but at times, it feels blocked, its NOT hitting the gate wall/tip, and the amount of force i have to use is astonishing to say the least.

Funny, i have even grinded gears a bit even with my foot all the way down to the floor on the clutch pedal.

It would seem as if two things are happening. Either A, the syncros are not lining up/damaged and not allowing the selected gear to be "geared" or that the clutch isn't fully disengaging. I said that i did have a TSB clutch service done with a clutch bleed but maybe the dealer has not been trained how to bleed a clutch properly.

I have also read a few reviews that by just swapping out the stock heavy flywheel, the shifting becomes smoother/easier but im not 100% since i still have the stock flywheel/clutch assembly.

CTS-V420

thanks for all the advice....i had cadillac give me some kind of antiwheel hop kit. it helped..they are white spacers by the shocks in the rear. as for the reverse issue, cadillac installed the B&M but did a horrible job, it makes noise and squeaks so i left it with them untill it will be fixed. I still want headers and a chip but i can't afford new headers. I def want a chip too but i dont see much sense in the superchip plug and play if i dont get noticable power.
So as of now i guess ill wait for the tune until i get the headers.

Chiro v

iTrader: (1)

I had the GM bushings installed and I noticed very little improvement. With the non runflats and the Kars kit I noticed a HUGE improvement. You'll see.

obZidian

iTrader: (2)

chiro, whats the differnce between the kars stage 2 and the stage 3?

EPP

iTrader: (22)

We charge $450.00 for a dyno tune.

We also charge roughly $2,000.00 for a cam change, which includes a new Comp cam, new Comp timing chain and gears, new Comp 918 valvesprings, new Comp pushrods, new timing cover crankshaft seal, six quarts of synthetic oil and filter, air conditioning system recharged, and a complete dyno tune. I'm probably missing a few items from the list, but it hits most of the items included in the install.
If you added headers and an exhaust system at the same time, you would see a huge increase in power, making the car seem all new again. Bob

EPP

iTrader: (22)

And the shifter... Getting into reverse is a problem that has been common with the t56 transmission since it came out in the earlier Camaros and Firebirds. I sometimes have to let out the clutch halfway to get into reverse in my '99 hugger orange Z28. Bob

CTS-V420

cadillac said that the reverse was because the transmition was still spinning or some BS, so they told me that it is perfectly normal and the best way to stop the spinning and to put it in reverse was to put in in 1st and the Reverse...actually help but that isn't exactly fixing the problem.
for the Kars stage II or III, where can it be purchased???
I would pay $450 for a dyno tune any day, but Where in south FL??? and if I Cam my car do i need any supporting mods that would make it very pricy? IM new with Cams and Heads and all that so I just want to get power safely....is that safe and easy

someone asked which tires i use, i use BFGood KDW2 265/35/18 in the rear and 255/40/18 in the front i use them mostly becasue of all the tread they come with, its my only way of keeping a tire for over 5 months and they look sweet with the drop...no rubbing and they are meant for summer..works great for me

EPP

iTrader: (22)

I'm not sure where in Florida to recommend for you. You could always come up to Indiana for a road trip... We just had a couple two weeks ago come down from the upper part of Canada.

The headers and exhaust would be the only other upgrades to our list of items that go with the camshaft install that you would need. The stock injectors will work with a tune. Bob

Chiro v

iTrader: (1)

www.Karsxtremeperf.com is the website for the cradle kit. The stage II is a bolt on, the stage III requires some welding and I believe also incorporates the rear cradle area, not just the front cradle area like in the stage II. Both kits tie the cradle, the shock mounts and the differential together to stabilize the area and dramatically reduce wheel hop. If you go to the website it will give you a good explanation. Also, the guy that fabricates them, Doug, is a good guy to talk to if you have any questions. His number is on the website.

I went with the stage II because I wanted to be able to take off the kit in case I had any differential issues. Either way, it's awesome and a must for all V's! Only cost me $50 to get installed.

CTS-V420

is the Kars stage one better than the BMR antiwheel hop kit chiro v how did you like the superchip tuner? would you have rather gotten a dyno tune

SilveradoSS500

I wonder if you could use both? Someone look into that....