I have an 04 track with 49k miles on it. Car is now supercharged and am looking to upgrade the clutch soon. I see all the talk about the Later model CD009 being a better trans, so am considering the upgrade while the trans is removed anyway. My current trans has no grinding issues now, so my question is would I even notice the upgrade? Is it overall that much smoother? Is it worth the $1600 price tag?

 

If you don't have any issues then NO. I wouldn't fix something that isn't broken. I say drive it till it shows signs of wear and tear.

 

^^^ This. I have both and the CD009 IS a lot smoother than my '03's stock tranny. BUT that is the one with the wonky third gear and my '08 CD009 has different clutch actuation and half the mileage; therefore making this an unfair comparison.

But if it ain't broke....

 

The difference in feel between a CD007/8 or even a tired 009 and a minty fresh CD00A/9 is immense.

Downshifts are smooth on most any transmission if you know what youre doing...its the upshifts that a fresh transmission improve the most.

From a sheer upgrade perspective IMO it is worth it, but obviously in your case you have to decide if saving $4-500 down the road in installation costs and downtime is worth spending $1600 now.

Plus it is beautiful.

 

I am on tranny #6. I have tried and broken every single model . . . except the CD009. I have had it a few years now.

I know there are 2003 and 2004 owner's who have NEVER had a problem. If I were them, I wouldn't bother "upgrading" to a CD009. If it works, keep it.

I would immediately get rid of the original "dual-mass" flywheel. I believe its design or application is flawed.

 

Side note: no issues in my 04 at all. I now actually am considering a cd009 for my 2j SC.. These trannies will become alot more popular for swaps in all types of cars..

 

03 original tranny with 78k miles. Used as a daily; the car is turboed and it's been tracked .. No issues..

 

I have a 2003 350z Performance model. I replaced my transmission. I was having difficulty downshifting from 6th to 5th gear. I just couldn’t match revs and was grinding and often could not get into the correct gear.

I replaced the original transmission with a CD009 build. The transmission swap immediately fixed the synchromesh problem, but I also noticed a significant overall improvement. The CD009 is much less “notchy,” and up-shifting is much better. Overall the CD009 provides a noticeable improvement.

With this said… If you are happy with the transmission in your car and have no complaints, I would say stay with it. If you do swap for the CD009 transmission, you will notice an improvement, but it might not be worth the expense and effort. --Spike

 

I have the CD009 and it is so noisy, esp 4th gear. 5 & 6 are quiet. The rest all like to make music. Very smooth but jeez, it's a noisy transmission. Makes more noise than my 800 whp motor most of the time.