Shift kit installed

L

Logan

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Well, I went for it. Based on feed back from both Pierce (Dr 2K) who has a 45 and has had transmission upgrade work and Brad (Jumbosrule) who recently had his 35 transmission/TC reworked I decided to go with a Transgo shift kit. The kit was last on my performance hit list before I do my UPREV tune.....I Picked up my ride last night from Village transmission in north Seattle and immediately got lodged in 45 minutes of traffic, then jumped out of my car to get in the family car for dinner wit the fam and then home. My initial thoughts were ehhh the lower speeds were not noticeable (which I expected) when I did get up to speed for a bit of a faster shift it seemed a little bit better but just wasn't impressive and almost seemed jerky......

SO this morning on the way to work I had a couple of clear shots to take it from a dead stop and through the gears under load and I have to say and its pretty impressive. At shift when stock it was soft and relatively unnoticeable. Now it lunges forward with authority at shift and in a very good way. Still smooth but faster and it just jumps forward. Looking forward to trying it out a bit more and REALLY looking forward to seeing what it feels like after the tune.

The bonus for me on the install was that at 28,500 I was nearing a tranny fluid change anyway and the shop also cut me a great deal on my diff fluid change.

Thanks to Brad and Pierce for the feedback along the way.
 
Sweet! Glad it worked out for you!

I agree with your assessment of how it feels - definitely shifting harder in a good way. My dealer noticed it when test driving for other repairs and asked if I had mods done - with a smile on his face.

Not sure if the same is true with the 45, but in my 35 I can get the tires to chirp when shifting in manual mode at high rpm. I had to play with speeds and get to know it a little, but I feel more in control now.

Do you notice less shift lag in manual now?
 
Nice mod Lance.
I redid the valvebody myself on one of my other cars and I know it made a fantastic difference on the up and downshifts. The shifts were much quicker and more positive. When I did it I replaced the separator plate with a modified one and replaced a couple of check balls and removed one spring. It was a B&M Valve body kit. When I did it I changed the filter and fluid. It performed like a totally different transmission.
What was involved with your kit?
 
jumbosrule said:
Sweet! Glad it worked out for you!

I agree with your assessment of how it feels - definitely shifting harder in a good way. My dealer noticed it when test driving for other repairs and asked if I had mods done - with a smile on his face.

Not sure if the same is true with the 45, but in my 35 I can get the tires to chirp when shifting in manual mode at high rpm. I had to play with speeds and get to know it a little, but I feel more in control now.

Do you notice less shift lag in manual now?
Click to expand...

I have yet to open it up completely so I'm not sure if I'll get a chirp or not, my guess is with AWD its probably not going to happen. Maybe after the tune and if I drop 50 Lbs......The manual shift is a kick, I thought there wouldn't be a diffrence but yeah, it seems faster now. So you feel the same thing in manual?

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 PM ----------
GEE35FX said:
Nice mod Lance.
I redid the valvebody myself on one of my other cars and I know it made a fantastic difference on the up and downshifts. The shifts were much quicker and more positive. When I did it I replaced the separator plate with a modified one and replaced a couple of check balls and removed one spring. It was a B&M Valve body kit. When I did it I changed the filter and fluid. It performed like a totally different transmission.
What was involved with your kit?
Click to expand...

Damn Wayne, I never even looked in the box! :) Basically just a Transgo Valve body kit. Funny you mention downshifts I never even thought it through to consider downshifting and there it was, as solid as shifting up, pretty cool.

---------- Post added at 02:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 PM ----------
Dr.2K said:
Great to hear you like the VB upgrade Logan!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input along the way Pierce. As I said in the post with out the intel I probably wouldn't have done it. Really looking forward to the drive home tonight......
 
From what I understand they are close to the same thing but if anyone (maybe Jumbo) wants to weigh in on this feel free. On the non-technical side the drive home was a kick, this is a solid mod. IF you are going in for a tranny flush at 30K or you need a fluid change.....the fluids aren't cheap, they are going to be in there anyway, negotiate a price and get after it.
 
Stillen has a valvebody mod ..

453335.jpg

http://www.stillen.com/product.asp?id=STIVALVE01&c=PE&year=2005&make=INFINITI&model=FX35


I think they are different.

How much did it cost for the shift kit? (labor)
I think i want this done since it cheaper than a VB upgrade (cant afford right now)
 
Yep, if that's the hardware involved in the VB mod that's a bit more than I received in the mail from Transgo....The full price from the shop for the the kit, install, Amsoil, and tax - $700.00. Price also included a very luxurious Dodge Caravan for the day :) I'll pull the invoice tomorrow and post the labor breakdown.
 
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My Transgo shift kit was $250. Labor was spread over four separate transmission mods at once, so I probably got better value that way. (Cooler, Level 10 internals, shift kit & TC mod)

The difference between the shift kit and the VB upgrade is essentially an ECU. Shift kit doesn't have one - it uses the stock transmission ECU. Couple other things as well - the VB upgrade is supposed to be a more robust upgrade. I wanted to keep as much of the FX "feel" as possible which is why I purposefully kept the stock tranny ECU and stock core Torque converter (rather than completely replacing the TC).
 
The Transgo kit purchased through my shop was 300.00, install was around 250.00, Amsoil ATF 80.00, plus tax around 700.00.
 
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