Help me pick a trannie for my Turbo Turd

And yes I have been very scarce lately. Between work and starting school again I just haven't had a bunch of time for my hobbies. However I'm going to start making time, so I don't go crazy. So with that be said, the t-5 in my car is pretty angry with life. Borrowed time is what I'm on here. I've started to give alot of thought into what kinda trannie to put into the car.

To give you an idea of what I use it for. I really don't drive it a whole bunch. The farthest I might drive it would be say 35 miles to the track, which is interstate driving. Then it just gets cruised around in some on the weekends and maybe the occasional drive to work.

I still can't really decide if I want over drive or not. I know c4's can be built for cheap, and can hold my power level well (at most it'll be 500rwhp limited by the stock block). I don't know a whole heck of a lot about the AOD's or what all it takes to keep a realativly mild one together.

Or I could just shell out the money for a tremec of some sort.

My only goal with the car is something that is a fun street car. Stock block, mild heads. yada yada.

Should I not be so concerned about the overdrive part? Should I keep it a standard for the street.

Give me some ideas and feedback fellas. Parts suggestions. Priceing ideas.

Brandon

It really depends also on your rear gear. A built AOD will cost 2X or more than a really well built C4 and you can use a higher gear and get the same performance because of the gear ratios built into a C4.

I would say if you rear gear is not higher that 3.55 you would be ok with the C-4. I just put an AOD in this year and have over 670 at the tire(tko number) and 3.55's in the rear. LOVE IT!

Crusing at 60 in 3rd is near the 2,800-3,000 mark, would be doable but would get annoying if crusing on the eway at 70 for a while. However in OD the car is at 2,200 at 60mph. and like 2,600 at 70's Also have about 4,500 stall.

If you have the cash and not concerned about every last hundreth in 1/4 mile time get an AOD. Lentech street terminator PLUS would be fine for 500 rwhp. Only $2,000 plus stall. On sale now. So your looking around $2500 for a great AOD trans.

Or simply try the C-4 and if you don't like the lack of OD, sell and upgrade. Also you can try and drive in 4th all the time now to see what it would be like with out OD.

hmm, good points, I have no problem swapping rear gears around some. I was planning to use 3.27's if I go auto.

That is probably going to be to small. If anything you'd probably be better with 3.73, AOD, and 500 RWHP and see some mid-high 10's.

Buddies convert with AOD, 3.73, s-tim, and holley sytemmax 2 kit on a 302 went 10.6x' all day. He dynoed like 530 at the tire through a 5 speed.

I am considering going back to an auto. Stick cars are a blast to drive, but autos seem faster and are way more consistant/reliable.
I would not consider a trans without OD for the street. A C-4 would be fine for a strip car, but seems too impractical for street use. I am sure that it is done by many, but that is my belly button and I am sticking to it.

Eric

Lentech AOD if you want a good street tranny that'll take the abuse.


or i got a Glide forsale you'd NEVER break :D

Man with 3.27's do the C4 swap and run a full reverse VB and never look back. Should be dead reliable and dead consistant.

<echo of regattacoupe> If parts money is tight, a well-built C4 and 3.27s would be fine & dandy for the turbo turd. If you have the extra cabbage now, then I would go with the best AOD you can afford and the 3.55s. You will save some gas money and overall rpm-related strain on the highway doing it this way, but depending on how much you drive it, possible that not enough will be saved to make up the cost difference between C4 and AOD. Best advice either way: get lots of good advice on proper converter selection, this can make or break the performance of an auto behind a turbocharger.

edit: thinking about it, I might skip the expensive AOD build and go right to the AOD-E, make it work with a Baumann control box.

http://www.becontrols.com/tech/ch3aodeupgrade.htm

So this sums it up:
-C-4--ALL out best bang for ther buck
-AOD--Great performer, convenience of OD, little loss of performmance at the track...$$$$
-AODE--Computer controled shifting and costly tuning. But no thought shifting
-Powerglide--WOAH.

HMMM what haven't we help him eliminate. LOL

Opinions we all have em. Good luck in whatever you decide.

The AOD and the E are very different trannies as built from Ford - the E's main benefit is, they are much stronger than the older AOD. By the time you build up an AOD to match the reliability of the E (better input shaft, alto clutches, etc), you are going to match or exceed the cost of a good solid nearly stock E with a controller box, recal'd valve body, and a good cooler setup (should handle 450hp with no problems).

Most Es (everthing built after '96, plus non-mustang Fords in '94-'95) came with the wide ratio 2.84 1st gear rather than close ratio 2.40 1st. [edit: after '95 they were called 4R70W, the W stands for wide ratio).

The wide ratio is nice for a turbocharger setup because they have great midrange torque available to pull the wider ratio change. A centrifugal blower is better off with the close ratio gearing and a shorter rear gear to keep the boost built up.

Powerglide is always a (relatively) cheap and reliable option when you have plenty of power to spare, but definitely not my favorite street tranny.

Over the winter when I was contemplating the Auto, Lidio (alternative auto) was a huge fan of the AODE. He ran it on his mid 9 sec yellow fox with a 351 and t trim. It was basically ~$5,500-$6,000 for the AODE built to handle my 800 HP and the baumanator controls, stock style shifter, and his instalation and tuning of the computer. Also the driveshaft must be shortened since the tail on the E is longer. That was part of the cost as well. Basically drop of and pick up. No SFI Bell or Transbrake however.

I instead went with a Lentech AOD strip terminator, Edge converter, JW SFI Bell and transbrake, B&M shifter, B&M Cooler SS lines, TCI SFI Flex plate. All totaled about $5,200 plus me installing. Note that the SFI bell was $620 option.

My main issue wasn't so much the saving of the $400-$800 but rather the ability to shift manually. Some was the $$ as well.

I have a c4 and everything else needed on the way, thanks guys.

I drive the car maybe 1k every couple years, so fuel and milage are not an issue. :D

thanks for the input though. If I could afford it, I'd have a lentech. But i can, so I'll comprimise.

Yeah, if you only drive that little on the street than the C-4 is definitly the way to go.