Who here manually shifts there A4?

I was thinking about getting a shifter and a shift light for my A4.Does anyone here get better times or reap any benefits from doing this.I was thinking about doing it,any light on this subject would be nice.

I've read that since its an electronically controlled transmission that it takes slightly longer to shift when manually shifting... or at least something to that effect, can somebody else chime in here?

shifting will not give you better times

do NOT downshift, itll tear up your trans

you can upshift all you want, but since your trans is electronically controlled it'll shift at its set point unless you have a '93

I shift mine manually, all the time

;) ;)

I occassionally shift my 4L60E when I want more gear. Heh.

I shift mine manual. I have a reverse manual valve body in mine.

like the others said... it is eletroniclaly controlled so it dosn't really matter... just leave it in Drive and then you can upshift into overdrive when you get there. That is the fastest way a A4 can shift

The 1993s have a 700-R4 which you can shift manually with no detrimental effects..94-02 has the 4L60E (electronically contolled 700-R4)...Being computer controlled it will shift better if you let do the shifting...manually shifting will cause two things: excessive wear of the bands, and it will not shift right away, there is a delay which means that your shift points will be off...
--Alan

I know other people have said but I am chiming in to re-inforce this. Letting the computer shift for you will not only make the car run the quickest but it will also make it more consistent if you bracket race.

Originally posted by ABA383
The 1993s have a 700-R4 which you can shift manually with no detrimental effects..94-02 has the 4L60E (electronically contolled 700-R4)...Being computer controlled it will shift better if you let do the shifting...manually shifting will cause two things: excessive wear of the bands, and it will not shift right away, there is a delay which means that your shift points will be off...
--Alan

LOL...Where do you guys come up with this information? Manually shifting does one very important thing in an automatic transmission...It RAISES line pressure. Higher line pressure means more positive and quicker shifts! Quicker shifts means LESS chance for the 2-4 band or 3-4 clutches to slip...Which HELPS make them last longer.

Just as a referance, I've been building racing automatic transmissions for 14 years, and I manually upshift AND downshift mine.

Frank

Originally posted by 12SCNDZ
LOL...Where do you guys come up with this information? Manually shifting does one very important thing in an automatic transmission...It RAISES line pressure. Higher line pressure means more positive and quicker shifts! Quicker shifts means LESS chance for the 2-4 band or 3-4 clutches to slip...Which HELPS make them last longer.

Just as a referance, I've been building racing automatic transmissions for 14 years, and I manually upshift AND downshift mine.

Frank
hahahahaha...i manually shift mine too...lol...i dunno i found this funny for some reason......my buddys been working on cars his whole life and races anyhting from a 4 cylinder car to a monsterous V8 and always shift manual if its an automatic......i woould think it would be better off shifting....alo isnt tha t what a shift improvement module for these cars are for...to stop that delay during shift???correct me if im wrong...

uh, Frank How many years have you been rebuilding overdrive trannys?When you manuallyshift a 4l60e theres a delay in pressure rise, you shift it from 1st to second and there is a delay because there is not enough line rise to complete the shift on command . You will burn the tranny out shifting manually because ther isnt enough fluid pressure to hold the clutches.These trannys dont respond to manual shifting like the t-350 or 400 do,I worked in a transmission shop also except we only did performance rebuilds for conventional and overdrive trannys . No disrespect to you I just dont want to see any board members experience premature tranny failures.

Im just wondering if it would hurt my tranny to slip it into neutral and throw a rev then put it back in D while rolling? Can anyone give me some info

Originally posted by white97z/28
Im just wondering if it would hurt my tranny to slip it into neutral and throw a rev then put it back in D while rolling? Can anyone give me some info

Works just fine as long as you're not trying to use extra revs to punch forward, ie rev it up in neutral and throw it in drive. Popping it out of gear won't really have any bad effects on it.

GM most likely spent countless hours on these transmissions getting the shift points correct and ensuring reliability. Why risk it manually shifting? Unless your car shifts prematurely at like 5200 rpms or something [mine is always between 5800 & 6k;) ], there's really no point, when you're racing it's better to leave it in od and pay attention to the road. Manually shifting is not going to make you any faster from a stop. From a roll, I can see the point to it since the 4L60E takes a second to downshift, but make sure you do it carefully. My friend put my car into 2nd gear at almost 80 mph today (3.23) and I wasn't too happy about that- luckily the tach did not read over 6k. I don't see what the point of manually shifting an automatic is unless you're downshifting from a roll to get a quick response, or you're going around a slow turn and plan to let it rip afterwards.

In summary, I don't know too much about the effects of either, but the 4L60E doesn't really seem to care what you throw at it, it'll go out when it decides to. It seems most of the problems are with user error, such as over-revving or downshifting one too many gears...which will help it go out a lot sooner. if you need to manually shift all the time, then maybe you need to look at something with 6 gears instead of four also.:)

Originally posted by GreenDemon
if you need to manually shift all the time, then maybe you need to look at something with 6 gears instead of four also.:)

My thoughts exactly. reving in neutral with an automatic tranny is a kinda ricy thing to do. I constantly see kids in old automatic imports do it to try and fool people into thinking they have a stick.

Then again... I've done it with a few older Irocs I had.. So i'm the pot calling the kettle black. ;) Hindsight is 20/20.

soo then just straight up answers at the track leave in OD?? yes or no.....thanks alls im looking for is yes or no

Originally posted by TABAHR
My thoughts exactly. reving in neutral with an automatic tranny is a kinda ricy thing to do. I constantly see kids in old automatic imports do it to try and fool people into thinking they have a stick.

Then again... I've done it with a few older Irocs I had.. So i'm the pot calling the kettle black. ;) Hindsight is 20/20.

How is that ricey? I do it all the time. If people ask me, I say its an auto. They get really mad when they lose to an AUTO domestic pos

Originally posted by KeVMaN
How is that ricey? I do it all the time. If people ask me, I say its an auto. They get really mad when they lose to an AUTO domestic pos

I dont think it is ricy to simply give a rev. What is ricy is using neutral to make it look like you have a stick. If I am behind a stick car, I can tell by when the brake lights come on. There are ppl that try to fake it by using neutral. That is ricy to me. Why pretend?

Originally posted by CamaroSS30thAnn
soo then just straight up answers at the track leave in OD?? yes or no.....thanks alls im looking for is yes or no

Yes, OD is fine. When you've got it floored, your auto knows when to shift to maximize acceleration. No user input needed. You could leave it in D also, but it won't change the acceleration of your car.

And yeah, thinking autos are automatically pos's that are slow is quite stupid. I've got a guy here that thought he could beat me in his Ford Explorer of all things because I've got an AUTO. That is, until he was told otherwise, no need to race him to embarrass.

The whole auto vs. manual crap was taken from ricers, it seems, claiming that manuals are better in every way. It may be true for their cars, but that's because the powerband on their cars lasts from like 5k to 6k, they need lots of gears to avoid bogging. For cars like ours that can actually accelerate from 2k or 3k, the pros and cons of both are on more equal terms.

That said, I still would have preferred a manual.:) But it seems that GM thought otherwise because now the manual versions are priced significantly over their auto counterparts due to rarity.

i like my auto too...but i fell in love w/stick again after my buddy testdrove his MAch 1...wow if u think most guys at thedealer dont get on the cars then ur wrong lol....but they have their pros and cons......consistency is a major pro for automatics btu then u do have those who actaully know how to drive stick lol

Once again it all boils down to the driver for the M6 guys. I'll take my auto since I tend to get a little rowdy during races and would probably miss a gear.;)

Bottom line is the manual is faster- if you can drive it right.

I only downshift, just because I have really loud, mean exhaust. And when I'm cruisin with it in "3rd" it sounds way mean and kind of intimidating.

i put mine in "D" while racing

Hey Frank if you read my post you wouldve seen that the I said it was fine to shift the 700-R4 from a 1993, which, by your sig, is what you have.....My information comes from Carl Rossler, John Lingenfelter, Art Carr, Eric Shertz (Dyno Tech), Century Transmissions, and Locally Dr. Trans....No disrespect to you intended, but I think I'll follow the advice of Lingenfelter (RIP)...You guys can do what you want, but all of the above said that manually shifting a 4L60E causes a delay in line pressure rise, a delay in the shift, and will hurt the trans..I suppose there is about 100 combined years of transmission knowledge here...my computer is programmed to shift where I want it and it shifts harder, faster, and more consistent than I ever could anyway...
--Alan
P.S. It is my understanding that the 700-R4 (4L60) has the same internals, but is not electronically controlled...the 4L60 uses a TV cable, while the 4L60E does not...

Leave it in drive.
We are talking virgin transmissions (4L60E) hear, ones that have not been worked on and came from the factory.
Tell you what, put in car in 1st gear and take it up to the rev limiter, it will shift even though it's in first.

I would not suggest to manually shift the transmission unless some type of performance upgrade has been done to it.

Than you would be visiting Frank for a upgrade.

The most consistant way of drag racing at the track is leave it in Drive and have fun.

Originally posted by n20ta2
uh, Frank How many years have you been rebuilding overdrive trannys?When you manuallyshift a 4l60e theres a delay in pressure rise, you shift it from 1st to second and there is a delay because there is not enough line rise to complete the shift on command . You will burn the tranny out shifting manually because ther isnt enough fluid pressure to hold the clutches.These trannys dont respond to manual shifting like the t-350 or 400 do,I worked in a transmission shop also except we only did performance rebuilds for conventional and overdrive trannys . No disrespect to you I just dont want to see any board members experience premature tranny failures.

Um...Yes, I've been building racing 700's since I started 14 years ago...And 4L60E's since they came out in '93 (In trucks).

Just out of curiousity, what "clutch" are we trying to apply on the 1-2 shift? 2nd gear is a BAND! I've never seen ANY pressure rise delay through a pressure guage.
Maybe all these other guys aren't building them with the right parts. OH...I KNOW!:eek: ...The heavier slide springs I use the pumps keep the pressure up at the shift points.

You guys are right, maybe you should only shift your 4L60E manually if you have someone build it that knows what they're doing.

Frank

i was goign to type a long drawn out thing on the subject.. but you people seem to have your minds made up.

on a stock tranny up shifting does cause a drop i line pressure. i know someoen who builds all of RPMs trany they are in dallas. he was a hydralic proffesor for 20 years. and got into hot rods. he built his own tranny dyno. and if you put a stock 4l60e on it you will see a drop in pressure from up shifting. but when you get into built trannys everything changes if the person that built it new what they were doing. oh by the way the guy im refering to is the guy in the march issue of gm hightech. and he has sevaral f bodys in the 9s and low 10 and the tranny has run fine for obver 2 full season at the track. hes proved he knows waht hes doing.

there is know way i would up shift a stock a4.

Sorry...Maybe I should've broke it down.

Stock transmission:...Probably not a good idea to shift manually

Correctly built transmission:...Alright to shift manually.

I do a couple things in these transmissions to help the pressure instability.

Frank

Originally posted by Ken95Z28

Tell you what, put in car in 1st gear and take it up to the rev limiter, it will shift even though it's in first.


Thats funny mine hits the rev limiter....:confused:

I understand that you can make them shift manually if they are modified to do so but This guy was talking about stock hence the correction.I know the 2 nd gear uses a band ,but the clutches still need pressure and if the stock tranny is up shifted manually it will tear these up prematuarly. I have no doubt you know your stuff frank But like I said I would hate to see any of the board members think its ok to shift there stock 4l60e

n2ota2 is right because I was an idiot and shifted my 4l60 in my 93, in about 4 months i destroyed my tranny, now swapping to a 6spd bottom line leave your stock tranny in D learn from other peoples mistakes, Im an example.

Hey Frank or any of you tranny pros....since I don't know dookie about a tranny rebuild, what do I need to do to beef up my 4L60E tranny? I have about 108K on it and right now I have it tuned for firmer shifts. I'm thinking of going a lil more aggressive by doing a valve body shift kit. I have a B&M shift Improvement kit laying around but thinking of Transgo Kit instead. I was told to go with TCI internals for a rebuild if I want it to be stronger. So a rebuild consists of the clutch plates, band and filter? I'm probably missing other items but anyhow...Im not seeing any rebuild kits in Jegs or any of my motor mags. All I see is TH & C4-6 series of rebuilds. If theres a 4L60E kit I can purchase from an online vendor, any of you guys please shoot me in the right direction.. I'm trying to get as much use out this tranny as I can & semi-hard shifts...if it helps any...I'm doing the Hotcam next month so I guess I don't need anything agressive but I plan on doing some heavy pedal a bit. I'm still not sure about a converter yet bcuz I'm hoping I can get away with a rebuild and a shift kit..but I was suggested I use a 9' TCI lockup. I forget if a 2600 or 2800 was mentioned. Well, thanks..in advance...btw..car will ever hit track..just my quick weekend grocery getter...

thanks..late

mikaele

http://www.transmissioncenter.net/4L60E.htm

Frank

If any of you think that manually shifting your trans messed it up, your very mistaken. I'm sure there were other issues that caused the trans failure.

Frank

manualy upshifting no but manualy down shifting will uterly destory it.