Hey Everyone -

I'm just looking for recommendations and feedback. As it pertains to transmissions, what are you all using for track days and auto x?

I could go full road race, install a jerico 5 speed and be done. Or, I could go the Tremec route...or possibly an automatic with paddle shifters.

Just wondering what's out there in the wild and what the "standard" is.

Down the road, I'm looking to participate in SCCA events.

Thanks!

 

Mostly, whatever comes bolted in from the factory....stock T56.

Some may have them rebuilt to handle more power or small gear ratio changes, but nothing extravagant.

 

+1 on the T56 and it's derivatives. It's common, simple, strong, easy to find parts for.

 

If it's a street car that might see some track time, then- IMO - the T56 is pretty tough to beat for all the reasons stated above.

My car is a dedicated track toy. My plan is to eventually swap in a dog geared T5 with a 0.82 5th gear. It's smaller, and about 50 pounds lighter than a T56. I never use 6th gear, and rarely use 5th.

 

Your only 3 choices are going to be the manual T56, Auto 4l60e, and auto 4l80e that is if we're talking about Fbody with LS engine, this is excluding crazy expensive options like the earlier mentioned jerico sequential trans.

The Factory T56 is really your best option, its a factory option and there is a ton of support for it and it can be built to any power level.

4l60e will not last... ask me how i know .

4l80e will be able to handle most of what you throw at it but manual shifting the lever is not the best option for controlling manual shifts during road coarse racing, also you'll need to keep it cool especially if you're running higher stall. Another downside is the 4l80e weighs quite a bit more than a T56 and will eat up some HP through the converter.

If you really want to use auto with paddle you can, I'm running a 4l80e with TCI controller and paddle shifters but it was not an easy setup nor is it perfect. I've gotten it down pretty well and it works very well, I still need to add more cooling for the trans though. It's fun to have something different and have it perform pretty well and much better than more people expected. If there is enough interest in my setup i could do a write-up.

 

Building from scratch for an LS, either a T56 or a TKO600 with the .83 road race 5th gear.

 

Thank you everyone for your responses. At this point my mind is leaning towards a T56 build. That should satisfy the use of the car...at this point, I imagine it will see more street time then track time. Once I get more competitive and want a track only car, I'll look to move to Jerico.

 

These are the calculations that went into my TKO600 selection.

I went with the non-road race version knowing I'd take a hit for it on the track. I did it for the streetability aspect. And since I shift out of 4th at 130 mph (plenty of speed for me), 5th is just a maintain speed/give the engine RPM a break gear.

 

Of note- A stock TKO600 shifts like garbage compared to a T56 Magnum and doesn't like high RPM shifts unless you modify it.

100% stock T56 Magnums will shift at 8000rpm+ without issues. They need 2-3000 break in miles before they become truly buttery smooth. Downside is 145lbs with bellhousing and then add another 35+lbs for a lightweight clutch flywheel.

A G-Force GSR 4spd is around 70lbs and can take a pounding being a dog box with SOLID shifts.
I ran one behind a 438ci LS7 and loved it; however they are a bit fragile if you don't fully engage reverse... Grenaded one due to that.

 

Bringing this back up. My car only has 30k miles on it. I had the 4l60 "beefed" up a few years ago when I upgraded the ls1. Car makes about 420 whp. I have done a few autox and track days. This summer did an all day road course. I have a circle d 3600 triple disk stall with a nice cooler. Last week i added a turn one steering pump and cooler since im running 315's now. Long story short, Ive lost 3/4 clutches I guess. Do I get it rebuilt again or go to a manual or 4l80? Not sure how Ive ruined the trans already. I havent beat on it that much.

 

Go manual... T56 and don't look back.

 

Ok, so what is a full swap worth? Knowing I would have the T56 rebuilt and possibly a new clutch. Trans, pedals, tick master cylinder, clutch (no sure of brand), harness, etc. May have found one for $1250.

 

Here is the cost in mine, you would have to add the purchase of pedals and the transmission itself sense mine already had those:

$1K for the new rebuild.
$180 MGW shifter.
$250 UMI crossmember.
$300 Tick Master.
$150 Slave.
$700 Monster Clutch.
$40 Motul 600 Fluid.

 

Jerico 4 speeds are MUCH cheaper,, especially since they also have competition in that space,
there are a lot of choices in a 4 speed and you can get any gear set you want..

If you need the 5th gear for the occasional cross state trip a ranger OD unit is $1600, so you'd have 8 forward gears and 2 Reverse speeds..

 

I haven't done it with my jerico 4 speed but you can flip the linkages from up to down and swap the gears on the clusters to essentially have a 2-3-4-5 gearset. 4th (1:1) becomes your third gear and 3rd becomes an overdrive gear. You lose out on a 1st gear ratio but most ls cars can launch from 2nd gear without issue and you will rarely go down to 1st in most cases apart from driving around the pits.

 

I wouldn't go too big until you have a specific want/need. The t56 is a great transmission and I've been running mine hard for about 130k and it still smooth. When the time comes I plan to do a stage 1 tick rebuild and call it a day. I daily, autox and track days, no plans to road race.