Hi, I am the proud owner of a 97 Z28 4L60E. I was just wondering why chevrolet decided to not give the driver of the car the ability to "select and hold" 1st gear on my trans
I apologize if this is a newb question ive just always wondered since i bought the car. Ive always owned and modded older rides so this is my first computer controlled car and this is gonna be somewhat of a challenge for me. Oh and is there a valve body swap i can do to make it so i can hold first or am i pretty much hosed there? Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

1st gear was not included on the selector in an attempt to limit noise (I believe), on the cars that were equipped with the "base" 2.73 rear axle (RPO GU2). The cars that were equipped with the "performance axle package" (RPO GU5, with 3.23 gears) have a selectable 1st gear on the shifter. You can modify your shifter to access 1st gear by removing a small plastic blocker tab on the shifter.

 

your right about the car having 2.73's...yuk. Im definately gonna look into that plastic blocker, now all i need to do is find a shifter

thank you very much for that!

 

You don't have to change the shifter, you just have to cut out the piece of plastic. Then get a new plate for the cover, it you want it to read "1".

 

oh no i meant to replace the shifter with a B&M or Hurst, i was just kinda worried that maybe the valve body was different and thats why it had no "1st". But you cleared that right up! Oh and when i read your reply i ran straight down to my garage, removed the console, found the blocker and cut it out...poof i have a selectable first Any recomendations on a shifter?

 

You say that you are new to computer controlled cars so here's a tip. Forget about a shifter. The computer can do a much better job of shifting than any driver. And if it doesn't shift just exactly the way or the when that you'd like it to then it's just a laptop and cable away from being changed.

 

3 words: TransGo Shift Kit

Don't manually shift these autos.

 

transago breaks trannys

 

some pieces of transgo's kit are ok but they do break trannys on the whole(vac mod is junk).
yes the computer will always be able to shift the car better then you can.

BUTTTT
when held in manual first and manual second more clutches are applied i believe 7 more clutches in 1st and two more in man second.

plus u have the added bonus of holding first gear if the clown u are racing wants to go from a slow roll.

just my 2 cents

 

Not mine I put a TransGo kit in my 2000 back in 02 and ran it 'till the middle of last summer running a big converter and low 11s. I changed it out because it started slipping a little on the big end probably because of the 850+ passes on the stock trans.

 

ok so i dont need/want a shifter, let the pcm do all the work...got it
you mention "laptop and a cable away from being changed" i have the laptop so what software would i need to get, oh and cable?

 

pcmforless has the link for the cables (diffrent ones dif years) and can buy a tune on line and down load ,dont know about a 97 tho.

 

To add to this, Tunercat and LT1 edit are the best known/liked. A search on here will give you tons of reading and info. There's a whole section of this board dedicated to computer tuning.

 

THX AL and everybody for the info its been a huge help

 

So is it ok to manually upshift the trans, but not good to manually downshift?