A new gearbox?

[domcross]

Before I took the plunge and bought an M400 I was on the verge of getting an M3 CSL. It's an amazing car but I just couldn't get comfy so gave up on the idea. That said, the semi-auto gearbox was AMAZING!!!! The way it 'blips' on the way down and allows you to change the speed of the gearchange... fantastic.

I can't help thinking what an amazing car an M400 would be with such a gearbox. Given that I'm a technical 'idiot', can someone in the know tell me what would be involved (issues/likely problems) in getting such a gearbox (with paddles!) into a Noble?

Thanks,
Dom.

[matt_fp]

It would cost a huge amount of money to get anything operationaly close to the SMG2+ box in a Noble, technicaly you could use the existing gearbox with some sort of electro-mechanical actuation on the existing gear selector, but the control system/software required to make it work (theres a fair few calculations the CSL has to make as to how much it should blip the throttle under what conditions) would be a serious and very expensive undertaking. SMG2 has had a fair few pounds spent developing it.

It would be easier to install an X-Trac fully sequential six speed, but this is more touring car than CSL and not suitable for road use.

Best Regards
Matt

[Mr Noble]

I got picked up by a friend yesterday and she had a merc a class with a normal manual box but no clutch. I was amazed, never even heard of it. Does anyone else know of it or how it works?

[DanH]

If you like the blips, you could just learn to heal and toe?

I'm torn with SMG boxes. I think they can be pretty cool and encourage you to use the gears a lot more, but at the same time, I love heal and toe so don't want to give it up.

[matt_fp]

Mr Noble said:

I got picked up by a friend yesterday and she had a merc a class with a normal manual box but no clutch. I was amazed, never even heard of it. Does anyone else know of it or how it works?

Do a Google for Saab Sensonic.

Basicaly a sensor in the gearknob detects when your going to change gear, makes a not of how fast you've been accelerating, what the current RPM is, what gear is up next and then works out when to disengage the clutch and exactly how quickly it should engage the clutch after the change is complete.

>> Edited by matt_fp on Sunday 6th March 23:48

[hunttheshunt]

I think the SAAB one is made by Fichtel and Sachs and was fitted to RUF Porsches and called EKS. I had an RUF RCT fitted with it and it was OK.

No clutch pedal, but you changed gear in the normal way. On acceleration you needed to back off the throttle ever so slightly to engage the next gear.

It got converted to a conventional manual after a few years so make your own mind up how good it was.

Agree about the CSL box though. Fantastic around a track, love the speed of the change and that noise on the down change. I would imagine that on the road it could encourage you to drive a bit like a hooli quiet often.