Yes, alright, it's not a good idea but some people go outside the box (pun intended) sometimes. So with that out of the way I'm looking for tips and experiences including engine braking capacity and shift kits and coolers. Including driving experiences, pros and cons. Thanks gents and others.

 

If you have not already done so then I HIGHLY recommend the Transgo VB upgrade coupled with the Exedy Sports Clutch Kit with the metal plates. The VB upgrade will provide you with much more noticable and cleaner shifts and the clutch kit upgrade will ensure the transmission plates can handle the additional "abrasiveness" from the VB upgrade.

 

Since you ARE talking about closed circuit racing, in addition to the TransGo kit mentioned above you should consider getting a larger ATF cooler. You have a 3.3 final drive compared to a MT at 3.5. Engine braking, yes of course, plus faster shifting than a MT. Rubber side down!

 

Been down this road the last 2 years. Here is my set up below. In my experience, you need to do ALL of these. I was piecing it together as I went and it was always overheating. Once I put the fan on 100% of the time, it was fine. Note, this is only for hard track time. Daily driving it was 100% fine.

• Trans-go shift kit
• 11x7 trans cooler (you could try an even larger cooler to skip the pan and or fan, but once mine was heat soaked. It was over with)
• 8-10 inch fan, running on a toggle switch from start to finish (I originally wired it into the regular cooling fans and that was not enough. It needs to run the entire time)
• PML deep pan with temperature sensor

 

Any problems with engine braking? I know that the Nissan 4x4 bush bashers use a gadget to lock their converters eg when going down steep hills.

 

Converter lock up could probably be adjusted using a aftermarket TCU, thinking about it a manual switch would be impractical in a race car, too busy busy busy.

 

None, even wo the TransGo kit. No need for conv lock.