paddle shifters?

[tumbler33]

i saw on horsepower tv on the marketplace this company called retrotek. And they make paddle shifters for aton of cars apparently but would it work with our transmissions? The reason i would want to do it is because it seems easier than doing a whole manual tranny swap. Opinions and info would be appreciated. http://www.retrotekspeed.com/products/smart-shift/smart-shift-stand-alone/smart-shift.html

[Dennis Reinhart]

i saw on horsepower tv on the marketplace this company called retrotek. And they make paddle shifters for aton of cars apparently but would it work with our transmissions? The reason i would want to do it is because it seems easier than doing a whole manual tranny swap. Opinions and info would be appreciated. http://www.retrotekspeed.com/products/smart-shift/smart-shift-stand-alone/smart-shift.html


Very expensive, I did a gear vendor and talked the man out of the paddle shifters, that would have been 3k more. I do not want to paddle shift at 128 MPH going down the track, I want both hands and eyes on the track in front of me.

[tumbler33]

why is it so expsensive and is it that complicated to do? i have no idea what would be involved so i know i sound kinda retarded

[Dennis Reinhart]

why is it so expsensive and is it that complicated to do? i have no idea what would be involved so i know i sound kinda retarded


http://www.gearvendors.com/

[MrBluGruv]

Dennis, did you do the gear vendors swap into a Marauder?

[BigCars4Ever]

I looked into doing this and it does get complicated. The ECU controls both the engine and trans in our cars. My research so far has concluded at best the ECU would have a constant light. The ECU directly controls the shift pressure and shift solenoids. The ECU monitors the current to the solenoid coils. If the current is out of range it will throw a light. I don't know if this results into putting the ECU into a limp mode. If you could get past this problem by properly loading the control lines then you get some more fun stuff to deal with. The torque converter lock up would have to be controlled. This requires a fairly complicated knowledge of throttle position and vehicle speed at the very least. It is also believed that the ECU monitors the relationship of the crank speed and drive shaft speed to determine the correct level of lockup in any gear. If you don't ever lock up the converter then your fuel millage will suffer. Next issue is shift pressure. While you have control over the shift pressure you need to know the speed of the vehicle, throttle position and what gear your leaving and entering to pull this off. Perhaps you could use a Cobra ECU for a manual and devise a control box to either be a full time paddle shift or paddle/automatic. These devices are on the market but cost $1500 to $2500 and are intended for the use of a 4R70 in a hot rod not to replace an ECU in a car that already uses a 4R70. See P71interceptors site for the troubles of just swapping 4R70 transmissions from year to year and you'll start to appreciate the complexity of paddle shifters.

[BigCars4Ever]

Here is an inexpensive system - http://www.becontrols.com/products/tcs.htm - $400 but look at paragraph 8.

It is possible to use the Baumannator TCS in a vehicle which was originally equipped with one of the intended transmissions. This could be done in conjunction with an engine management system upgrade (such as an F-150 Lightning mass air flow conversion or the use of a tunable after-market engine management system) that no longer supports the transmission. Use of the Baumannator for this purpose allows flexibility in choosing the engine management system, in addition to the increased control, performance and transmission durability afforded by the Baumannator TCS.

That's the scary part but it should be no different than the what guys go through when they swap in a manual.

[tumbler33]

so this obviously isnt an easy job so would you just do the electrical part of the manual swap with out the manual tranny itself? plus since this is VERY technical where would you take it to get all of these bugs worked out

[BigCars4Ever]

I would think a tuner could pull this off but for most it would be uncharted territory.

[tumbler33]

thats what i like about it

[FordNut]

You could do it with the PCS controller as well as the Baumannator. You have to program the car's PCM to think it's a manual trans.

[tumbler33]

so with alot of finetuning and electrical work its possible...interesting

[FordNut]

Paddle, pushbutton, shifter, however you want to toggle between gears. It's possible. Not cheap, though.

[Got_1]

paddle shifting your car will feel nothing like a manual trans. there is alot of lag time between gears and its no where near as fun as bangin through the gears of a manual.

[BigCars4Ever]

It is a reasonable compromise though. My biggest problem when I Autocrossed wasn't how fast my car could shift but that it tried to shift into 2nd midway through a turn. A paddle shift would let you hold gears in the twisties and keep your rear end behind your front end. Then on a normal cruise or in traffic let the auto be an auto.

[Donny Carlson]

The instructions you can browse show it compatible with Ford transmissions. The kit is $995, and there are some accessories that could bring the price up. The kit installs an actuator on the transmission which I presume does the shifting, the paddles are used to control the actuator.

I can see where this may be a desireable thing in some circumstances, but not at the quarter mile. As Dennis said, you want to keep youy eyes and hands on what's happening at the time. I've seen some people try using autostick at the track, but the best best is to let the auto do the shifting.

Autocross, or running through the twisties, different story. Autostick is pretty usuful here, and I could see paddle shifters being a help. There's a reason they are on high end supercars and performance cars, and not because their owners race them at drag strips.

[BigCars4Ever]

That's no different than pulling on the shifter itself and the manual select fill rates of the servos are terrible stock. You really need an all electroinc solution to really exploit the full potential of the trans.