Are there any automatic 5 or 6 speeds?

[Unique580hp]

I read in another post about a Tremec auto 5 speed.

Are there better options in an automatic overdrive transmission than a built Ford AOD?????

Please let me know as I am considering switching trannys very soon.

Thanks

[DAVID GAGNARD]

580;

I've never heard of an "automatic Tremec",but Len-Tech builds some very good AOD's... They are run behind some serouis hp drag cars....Check them out for an automatic overdrive.....

You may want to pick up a couple of the varouis Mustang magazines,the tranny guys all have ads in them.....

BTW,I'm running a Tremec in my 65 Mustang and love it....From forth to fifth,my rpm drop is approx. 800 rpms.... With my gearing,75mph on the interstate is 2000 rpms with 27" tires,get 23 mpg at that speed all day long.....

David

[Mike Braatz]

IT WOULD BE NICE --- TO HAVE AN OVERDRIVE ---
HOW ABOUT FOR A C-6 ---- HOOKING UP TO A 428 -- WITH ABOUT 500 HP.

MIKE

[flipper35]

Gear Vendors has an add on overdrive unit for most transmissions.

[BevanWright]

Why not get a bit trickier and go for a BMW transmission, 5 speed tiptronic / auto modes. No idea what computers are required, but it would be the best of both worlds.

[NASSTY]

As I understand it, both Ford & GM are developing 6 speed autos that should reach the market in about two years time (if you don't mind waiting )

BMW's lastest 6 speed auto is apparently only 0.1 sec slower to 100km than a manual and has a trick lockup converter that only slips when taking off. Sounds more like a manual than an auto

Cheers,

[Excaliber]

Jeep Cherokee has a 5 speed automatic right now!

Actually it IS a "6 speed", but heres the rub. "Passing gear is TWO different gear ratios depending on wether the trans is upshifting or downshifting. So all though there ARE 6 speeds only 5 are ever used at any one time.

Ernie

,,,,just bought a used Cherokee Limited V8, LOVE that car!

[tonyvda]

Originally posted by BevanWright


Why not get a bit trickier and go for a BMW transmission, 5 speed tiptronic / auto modes. No idea what computers are required, but it would be the best of both worlds.

I've done the tricky thing and have a BMW V8 with the 5 speed Tiptronic gearbox. Given the complexity of the package I would not recommend trying to match the BMW box to another engine, it was bad enough getting the gearbox and engine combination to work outside its normal environment.

Having said that the acceleration and smoothness of the drive is outstanding........and theres always the manual option if I get bored.....or even converting to paddle shift on/ behind the steering wheel in the future........

Cheers,

Tony

[NASSTY]

Originally posted by tonyvda


I've done the tricky thing and have a BMW V8 with the 5 speed Tiptronic gearbox. Given the complexity of the package I would not recommend trying to match the BMW box to another engine, it was bad enough getting the gearbox and engine combination to work outside its normal environment.

Hi Tony,
Like you I want to use an auto in my Cobra. Just wondering if the BMW V8 and engine came together? Do they both use the same ECU or does the auto have a separate computer?

I ask b/c I want to use the new GM 6 speed auto behind a Gen3 or Gen4. But depending on when it is available I wanted to know generally if I could use a 4 speed first & later change over to the 6 speed. The other problem may be that the 6 speeder will only work with the Gen4/LS2. If so I'll have to be a bit more patient
I just wanted to know generally how your setup works.

I think an auto in a Cobra is a great way to go, relaxing to drive, no heavy clutch, can have two hands on the wheel all the time (good for drifting etc) but when the need arises you can flick the stick across for manual sequential control!!

With 5 or 6 speeds to play with, who needs a manual, especially when the supercharger is making boost

Cheers

[NASSTY]

BTW, wht GM & not Ford for those who need to know?

Blame Australian Design Rule 79/00 for that one. Windsor V8's no longer pass emission tests and the new Ford V8 is a 5.4 Ltr DOHC version of mustang's 4.6 and is three feet across the beam. Too big for a Cobra

Cheers

[Turk]

DAVID,
With 27" tires, I would have guessed you would get bet better gas mileage!

TURK

[Sizzler]

I don't understand your desire for a 5 or 6 speed.
If it's actually just a desire for an overdrive gear, then all you really need is a 4-speed automatic.

A 5-speed (and 6-speed) trans is only really needed behind engines that are peaky in the power curve or just plain low-powered, the idea being to have more gears available to keep the engine in its sweetspot rpm-wise in most driving situations. Any engine in a Cobra should have a sweetspot the equivalent of a Prince racquet in the back in the days of the little wood and gut racquets (how long ago it all seems).

And, any 5 or 6-speed automatic you find, probably won't live long behind any engine exhibiting any amount of torque over 300...torque is what a trans needs to handle, not HP.

If you want an automatic with an overdrive gear, I'd recommend Lentech, just let them know what sort of powerlevel will be coming through it. Otherwise, above, the name GearVendor came up: an add-on overdrive unit you can put behind virtually any 3-speed (or 2-speed) automatic ever built in the last 40 years or so, with an excellent reputation. Just need to verify total lengths (trans + OD unit).

As for transplanting foreign transmissions, with weird computers and dodgy harnesses, just to get paddle shifting. At SEMA, Moon Equipment was showcasing a add-on paddle shifter system for most popular American transmissions. Cost about $500. Don't know the cost on exotic axis trans, but I'm thinking it's probably cheaper, and Moon is a company I think should be supported given their history with streetrods.

[NASSTY]

Jags, Mercs & BMW's have been using 5 speeders for ages & now using 6 speeders behind some really powerful engines eg AMG 5.4 V8's s/charged etc with the extra gear or 2 acceleration is much improved. The lastest autos are using some impressive new tech making them more effecient than ever b4. The AOD 4 speeds that GM & ford use are old tech. As I stated earlier in this thread, the new BMW 6 speeder is almost as quick, 0.1 sec, slower to 100khp or 60 mhp than a 6 speed manual in the same car. That's why I want a 6 speeder auto & I hope both GM & Ford release new generation of autos b/c the AOD's are almost 20years old.

[NASSTY]

Also,

The luxury Merc Limo - the Maybach uses I think a 6.0 ltr V12 with twin turbos and produces about 800nm (say about 600) and uses a 6 or 7 speed auto; carn't remember. Considering it weighs about 5500 pounds and accelerates to 60mph in less than 6 seconds - that's pretty good

[Sizzler]

Originally posted by NASSTY


Also,

The luxury Merc Limo - the Maybach uses I think a 6.0 ltr V12 with twin turbos and produces about 800nm (say about 600) and uses a 6 or 7 speed auto; carn't remember. Considering it weighs about 5500 pounds and accelerates to 60mph in less than 6 seconds - that's pretty good

By your logic, we should be investigating the use of Peterbilt transmissions then. More gears are better? Or we should be adding ballast to Cobras?

I still disagree with the need for 5 or 6 speed transmissions in a 2,500 pound vehicle. In a Maybach, which is just a gussied up truck (structurally and weight-wise and even design-wise nowadays), or in a AMG Mercedes, which is a Camaro for gents who don’t want to feel the jerky transfer of power from gear to gear, 5 or 6 or more gears may be needed to properly transmit (read that as ‘smoothly transmit’) the power through the passenger cocoon to the rear wheels.

As for the question of automatic versus manual 0-60 times. It is the axis members with their slush boxes who are 20 years behind. In America, automatics have been known to be faster than sticks for 30+ years. Europe has been fondling sticks too long and are just now waking up to the fact that automatics are not only better, quicker, easier to drive, but also safer (you don’t need to take a hand off the wheel or put the phone down to shift). The whole business point of Lentech is to supply quick transmissions for racers. Racers have been turning to automatics, either the 2-speed Powerglide of the 60’s, or the Lentech AOD’s of the 90’s and today, because they are known to be faster. Not just 0-60, but 0-160 and beyond.

The cost of a full-dress Lentech AOD or a GearVendors OD unit is less than $4K.

So, assuming I want to pursue the use of a Mercedes or Maybach transmission in a Cobra, please let me know where I could purchase such an item. Its approximate cost. Its dimensions – length and weight. Where to find the key to unlock the programming controlling the shifting functions as clearly, a Maybach is a slightly different vehicle than a Cobra and the shifting functions would be needed to be modified to take full advantage of whatever it is that this overpriced, overweight transmission is supposed to be better at. Would I be looking in junkyards for totalled Maybachs, or the PennySaver for donor vehicles?

[NASSTY]

Sizzler,
We are almost on the same wavelengh. My Cobra will have an auto for all the reasons you've mentioned. I've been in Cobras with both autos & manuals and much prefer an auto. My Cobra will be for the road with the occasional club track day. My goal is to have a car that handles will, goes fast & is compliant enough to absorb badly maintained back roads that are so typical in country Oz so my fillings don't fall out.

I'll take your point that Cobras are too light to warrent 6 speeds. I certainy won't be sourcing a Maybach 7 speeder(if anything GM), my point was that there are more & more high HP motors with these types of autos behind them. In Oz we have cars using AOD's that are a similiar weight & power to some of those Euro cars with 5 speeds and the Euros are always quicker b/c of the extra cog. I'll also agree that for the quarter, no stick will ever beat an auto, but my car will be for the street, not the strip. That is why I'm investigating 6 speeders. They are more efficient than a four speeder.

When I was a kid my bike had 3 speeds, now they have at least 18. A gear for every occasion I suppose...

Cheers

[Dwight]

I HAVE A COBRA WITH A TKO. BUT LAST WEEK I BOUGHT A COBRA FOR RESALE WITH A 351W AND A AOD AUTO WITH A B&M SHIFT KIT. I DROVE IT ABOUT 125 MILES YESTERDAY. VERY SMOOTH, SHIFT UP AND DOWN WITH NO PROBLEM. IT'S GREAT FOR RIDING AROUND TOWN, LIGHT TO LIGHT AND STILL HAS GREAT ACCELERATION. THE OVERDRIVE ALLOWS ME TO RUN 70 MPH AT JUST OVER 2000 RPMS. AND I STILL GET THE THUMPS UP, AND THE WAVES, AND ALL THE ATTENTION THAT GOES WITH ANY COBRA. I WISHED I COULD KEEP IT.

[tonyvda]

[quote]Originally posted by NASSTY


[b]Hi Tony,
Like you I want to use an auto in my Cobra. Just wondering if the BMW V8 and engine came together? Do they both use the same ECU or does the auto have a separate computer?
can flick the stick across for manual sequential control!!

Hi,

Sorry its took so long to get back to you.

Engine and gearbox came as one big lump from a 740i, with two seperate computers to run each lump.

Biggest problem arose because the goons who removed engine and box in the breakers yard simply used a hacksaw to cut through the wiring loom after the computers and it took a good 10 months to knit myself a new loom........

The drive itself is really smooth, with a kickdown that puts your kidneys into the back of the seat.

Then when I get a bit bored of tootling along I can use the gearstick to change manually, although BMW racers on the track just leave the stick in the sport mode as the gearbox thinks faster and moves faster than they can.

Only problem is the width across the heads and the length of the transmission casing which means I win the award for shortest UK propshaft 2004.....

Cheers,

Tony

[NASSTY]

Thanks Tony, much appreciated

Cheers

[Tim rodifer]

There is a ford transmission that you can get right now and that is a 5R55-E R.W.D. that comes in most all fords SUV. Soon there will be a six speed but not yet.