r8 auto sc problems
r8 auto sc problems
Author
Discussion

kaw

Original Poster:

1,081 posts

214 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
any tips advice and problems encountered by fitting sc to r8 auto .need to know before buying one

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Bargepole, dont and touch are all related to such an item.

Stick with the manual. Ive read about loads of Auto's dyning and seen the same myself.

Ask Mysty his auto is Ill with the SC. Other guys have died without any mods. Unless you want to spend some ££ on rebuilding it to handle the power.. Warranty is also highly questionable as its modofied so Vauxhall will push back hard if there is any issues.


Bonnie and Clyde

11,701 posts

222 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Should have bought a Monaro

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
No just a manual wink

Bonnie and Clyde

11,701 posts

222 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Manual Monaro

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
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Troublemaker!

S600VXR

5,877 posts

230 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
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Ditto above comments, people do seem to suffer with SC auto R8's, I think all that extra power trying to pull along such an overweight barge is just to much for the box!

EssexHSV

792 posts

228 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
I agree with everyone else, I know a guy who put a SC on his R8 auto. The box went BANG! and vauxhall warranty through the claim out.
Sell your and buy a manual would be the best bet if you really want a SC fitted.

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
kaw said:
any tips advice and problems encountered by fitting sc to r8 auto .need to know before buying one
Buying a vxr8 or buying the SC?

If you already have the vxr8, just leave it as is, or sell as mentioned. Personally I would talk to Mysty as he is arranging a autobox upgrade. Maybe in a year or so when upgrades for the auto are proven and available then you can revisit the idea.

Bonnie and Clyde

11,701 posts

222 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
I remember looking at Mysty's at Santa Pod last year. Both myself and Col thought it was a gorgeous car and it went really well. I didn't realise he'd had problems with it.

Magic919

14,557 posts

231 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Mystvxr (Chris) is waiting on some software changes for the 'box and a new torque converter from what I gathered. He's interested in fitting the oil cooler too (like the later cars).

MyM8V8

9,468 posts

225 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
They should've stuck with the 4L65E. Good strong box. If you're buying an auto does it matter whether there are 4 or 6 gears. I tested a VE SS Commodore with the six speed auto and IMHO it was rubbish.

Would be interesting to know if the T43 would run the 4 speed?

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
T42 does the 4 speed IIRC

You can get an independant controller, but the stock one is integrated into the BCM and ECU for torque management, stability control etc.
So you would be better off with a full manual powerglide and a manual tune wink

See the bottom of this page for what controllers do what trans
http://www.efilive.com/index.php?option=com_conten...


MyM8V8

9,468 posts

225 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
I suppose you couldn't do a segement swap?

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Nope because its a separate controller. In the old days when it was an integrated controller that was an option. You could swap ECU and TCU parts over and adjust the PCM segments as needed. Thats my understanding anyway.

Mystvxr

427 posts

228 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
I had a few problems with mine, but nothing like the box going bang as I've heard has happened even in the standard car, here, in the US and Oz.

While at Santa Pod the autobox didn't want to change gear, the engine would hit the rev limiter and I would have to manually select the next gear! This has never happened when road driving even after 3 laps of the Nurburgring

There was suggestions that the box was somehow slipping when the car was on the rollers at the dyno day, but that may have been the supercharger belt.

The car has seemed a lot better after a service at Picadors where the old GM Dexron 6 transmission fluid was replaced with fully synthetic Redline Racing stuff.

My planned upgrades are: Oil cooler as fitted to the ls3, Walkinshaw have this for me but I'm also waiting for a new torque converter from the US, but the company (Vector Motorsports) seem to be now ignoring my emails! this was after I agreed to pay $300 shipping! TCM tune, I think this will help massively, there's good feedback from others who have had theirs done.

Walkinshaw also offered me a clutch pack and seals kit upgrade, this doesn't come in cheap but I managed to save some pennies over xmas so I'm not ruling it out just yet.

If you want to run s/c'd with an auto I would suggest new trans fluid, an oil cooler and TCM update at least, also driving with mechanical sympathy in mind wouldn't hurt!

Well_Fans

4,193 posts

254 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
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Mystvxr said:
If you want to run s/c'd with an auto I would suggest new trans fluid, an oil cooler and TCM update at least, also driving with mechanical sympathy in mind wouldn't hurt!


so thats what you were doing after the last BTCC race at silverstone - driving round the carpark with mechanical sympathy in mind lol, I could have sworn you were doing a bit of drifting with the odd donut flung in for good measure

Mystvxr

427 posts

228 months

Tuesday 27th January 2009
quotequote all
Well_Fans said:
Mystvxr said:
If you want to run s/c'd with an auto I would suggest new trans fluid, an oil cooler and TCM update at least, also driving with mechanical sympathy in mind wouldn't hurt!


so thats what you were doing after the last BTCC race at silverstone - driving round the carpark with mechanical sympathy in mind lol, I could have sworn you were doing a bit of drifting with the odd donut flung in for good measure


lol oh dear, you got me! I did keep it off the limiter though angel

kaw

Original Poster:

1,081 posts

214 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
mystvxr can you tell me what a tcm tune is ,seen auto specialist today gear box cooler fitted next week and may be some good news on gear box upgrades. this guy builds boxs for drag cars so he,s good.

ringram

14,702 posts

278 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
tcm = transmission control module. You can tune, shift times, line pressures, torque management etc
Your main problem might be aftermarket uprated parts for the trans, its only just out so parts might not be available.

A mild tune up might help, but guys have messed up the trans badly because its pretty complex and can be in 2 gears at once, so if you mess timing and shift speeds up you can tear it apart. The knowledge will come with experimentation smile
I hope you have a large wallet.