LFX auto for Autocross & HPDE
I haven't driven an automatic, except in a luxury car, for quite some time now but I believe that if I transplant an automatic transmission with the LFX into my Lotus 7 like car it will be quite adequate for Autocross, HPDE and the occasional NASA 1 hour race now that the transmissions don't do that hard jerk when downshifting that upsets the backend. They feel more like a good manual downshift.
I think the auto would be simpler to find and I'm thinking it might even be (a little) less expensive.
I have no idea which transmission is used in the Camaro, CTS, etc. only that it is either a 6 speed or an 8 speed. I can't believe that in this day & age an automatic in a performance vehicle wouldn't hold up to that little bit of abuse. It's not as if I'm going to use the car in the 25 hours of Thunderhill or 24 hours of Le Mans.
What do you guys say? And what changes to the software would you recommend?
I have a CTS with the auto and I found out that when you are in manual mode it will still downshift when you're going slow enough rather than stay in the gear as I'd like. Can that be tuned out? I'd like it to stay in the same gear unless I came to a complete halt as does the BMW trans.
Can it be made to shift a little sooner after you move the lever? I found the one time I tried to drive the CTS a little hard to see what the transmission would do that there was quite a lag there. Can that be reduced? It would make sense it could be adjusted on the upshifts but maybe the soft downshift would still require the time. Downshifting wasn't much of an issue.
Are there any upgrades any of you would suggest or are there better models than others I should search for before I buy a trans?
I have decided that I am not going to buy the software. I don't want to take the time to learn the software which will take time away from my build. I'd rather pay someone else to do this.
I am in the Fort Worth area so is there anyone you might suggest in that area who could do the trans tuning?
David B.
A Paddle shifter setup that works
The 6L50 is in the same family as the 6L80/90, however, the software for the 6L50 does not use the hardwire input. Paddles have to be input through the GMLAN. Needless to say the GM BCM is less documented than the E39 and I know of no one using it in a swap.
I did find a third party who has created a BCM simulator that has successfully implemented the paddle functions. It was designed for the E38 ECU but we have gotten it to work with the E39. It also interfaces with the cruise control on the E38, but we are still troubleshooting why it won't work with the E39. It appears that the E39 is a hybrid with some Gen IV and some Gen V interfaces.
www.oecontrols.com