Any of you guys who has done a valve body upgrade on their 5AT, what differences in driving feel did you notice. Is it a very profound difference? Would it be a "safer" route to do the valve body job first, get used to new driving characteristics and then go FI, or am I being too paraniod again?
Thanks for help.

 

I don't think doing a valve body upgrade is going to be so dramatic that you have to get used to it. The tests claim that it is only 1/2 a second off your quarter mile time. That isn't very much. I think you could do both at the same time but remember with more power the turbo and supercharger companies recommend that you get a new torque converter. Something that can handle the power like a Protorque or something. You may want to better the entire transmission.

 

It all depends on what power level go FI and then see what you need for the tranny

 

The SGP valve body is like night and day from stock shifts . My blower is off , so I cant run it hard . But just NA , the shifts are much harder and faster

 

The initial plan is for initialy 400 whp and in a couple years to do the full tranny/motor rebuild and possibly push it forward a bit...

 

ok so get your FI kit running safely and then look at the tranny mods. I believe with only 400rwhp and a valve body from sgp you should be go unless you beat up the car daily if you drive it normal and do your racing regularly then it all be good.

 

The valve body upgrade makes the shifts faster both up and down and it is very easy to get used to. I would recommend the VB upgrade before FI or at the same time because it will help to keep the transmission running at a safer temp. I would also add a fluid cooler if you go FI to also aid in keeping the tranny fluid from overheating. The valve body install is not that challenging and doesn't take a alot of time. The replacement fluid is what costs money at $10-12 per quart.

 

OK, thanks a lot, guys...

 

What will make a more profound difference if the car is N/A? A Valve Body upgrade or a new torque converter? What will give more performance gains?

 

The valve body will create faster shifts which helps more for road racing and general around town performance. A TC can improve launch rpms, but you can not get too aggressive or you will create issues with the ECU unless someone has that all figured out.

 

is the 1/2 second off of your 1/4 mile true? with just the VB?

faster shifts might knock off a little off your time, but i dont think anywhere near .5 seconds.

i had edge racing modify my torque converter a year ago. i had it modified for nitrous use, so most of my gains are realized only when i use nitrous. n/a improvements were .2 seconds. nitrous improvements were .6 seconds faster with the same shot when compared to the stock TC.

VB upgrade is number 7 on my list of things to do.

 

The Level 10 or Stillen VB will not knock 0.5 sec off your time, but the SGP VB upgrade might come close.

 

SWEEET!

Cesar

 

One thing that the VB doesn't fix is at what rpms the car shifts. Since the VB really shines in full auto mode, the car shifts too early in the 1/4 mile for my tastes. With FI cars the VB upgrade does help the car shift before hitting the rev limiter only because the car is accelerating much faster and the delay in shifting with the stock VB causes the rpms to climb before the shifting actually occurs. I still prefer manual mode shifting all day long with the 5AT.

 

But, will I notice ANY difference is daily drivability?