Is there an aftermarket paddle-shift automatic transmission available that will fit a '95 Camaro Z28? I'm looking for a 6-speed one in particular.

The one from a '06 Corvette doesn't fit because of the way it is made, and the one from a '03-'06 Pontiac Grand Prix won't work because it's for a front wheel drive car (plus it's a 4 speed).

I could have sworn I saw a system put on an older muscle car on Overhaulin', Rides, Pimp My Ride, or that show with Barry White. Any ideas?

 

Theres a local guy named Del that did this to his T.T. Tahoe and is instaling it soon in his Camaro

http://www.mnfbody.com/showthread.ph...t=paddle+shift

http://www.mnfbody.com/showthread.ph...t=paddle+shift

 

http://www.twistmachine.com/ Here is a company that sells a retrofit one, similar (or maybe the same) as the retrofit unit that I've seen them use a few times on that Wrecks to Riches show.

I haven't read up on it much, your post just reminded me I wanted to search around for one of these retrofit units, maybe it's not too feasible for our cars. Would be cool as heck but then I've heard it's hard on our transmissions to shift manually so I wonder how hard this would beat on your tranny...

EDIT - DOH, same thing as provided in the forum post linked to above...

 

Unfortunately the A4 transmission on LT1 cars isn't too beefy. I had to have my transmission rebuilt at 64,000 miles and I've never even raced it. It's all city miles. In my personal opinion, using the stock transmission is a bad idea, especially since it uses technology over 10 years old.

Would a transmission from an LS1 car (if it is different) fit? Or maybe the one from a GTO if it is stronger? In all honesty, I know very very little about transmissions.

I'd personally like a 5 or 6-speed, but I have no idea what would work.

Is the auto in a GTO a 5-speed?

 

Fairly sure the LS1s use the 4L60e, as do the GTOs. The newest year model Corvettes have a 6speed paddle shifted auto, which I believe is the 6L80e, but I imagine they're not cheap and the retrofit into a older vehicle is probably not easy, none of the aftermarket transmission control units I was looking at supported it yet either. Most of this "Shrifter" stuff and the TCUs seem geared toward standard 4L60e and 4L80e trannies... Still looking at over a grand to get the whole setup, ouch...

I would want a qualified opinion on the stress this would put on a stock 4L60e, general consensus seems to be it's a no-no for regular use.

 

Hmm... Does anyone know if any Cadillacs have paddle-shift technology? Or any other GM cars for that matter? This type of info is difficult to find on the manufacturer websites usually, and obviously, it doesn't say "will not fit Camaro"

GM cars I know of with paddle-shifters/tap-shift/semi-automatic/you-control-the-gear-shifts-without-using-your-foot-to-press-a-clutch:

*Corvette - transmission is said to be unusable as it uses a transaxle configuration, instead of mounting directly behind the engine

*Grand Prix - FWD so transmission won't work for RWD

*G6 - FWD so tranny won't work... it uses a shifter rather than anything on the steering wheel, so it wouldn't be a direct switch anyway.

Other than them, the only non-GM things I can think of are an RX-8 (wouldn't handle the torque of a V8) and a Ferrari 575 Maranello (if I had that kind of dough I'd just swap the engine too :: )

I haven't had a chance to check out the links you guys posted yet (I was at work when I posted before) so I'll do that now.

--Tainted-- got a link to the website that sells the kit?

 

The system linked off of Ray86IROC's post would work the way you want it to, although it looks like it might require an aftermarket transmission controller. It also looks like it works similarly to Porsche's Tiptronic system, which is becoming more and more common in cars in the US.

I can't see a tremendous amount of advantage in a system like this, though. Most Tiptronic systems are not that much faster than a fairly good driver with a conventional stick shift. Secondly, the line pressure boost required to make a standard 4L60E shift alot faster than it does now would be such that the wear and tear on the transmission would be phenomenal, I would think. Third, safety issue, this system kills the airbag. Obviously somewhat less of a concern in a race wearing a helmet, but bad news on the road.

As far as adapting an F1 style paddle shift setup, I would guess the amount of time, effort and money would be staggering. Most exotics that use that kind of setup use transaxles, not transmissions as would appear in our cars and wedging the guts of one into a case that would work, not to mention the computer and sensors and sorts of gizmos required to make that work, eek.

Bottom line; good idea, not very practical.