Stephen68

Here's the dilemma, as most of you know i spent this past winter rebuilding a nice motor for my 95 TA. All that has been keeping it from being installed is that my garage is the front yard and the weather is crappy. Anyways, a buddy of mine just called and wanted to know if i wanted a complete T56 drop and swap for my 95 TA...My question to all of you guys and gals is:.....Is it worth the trouble it will be to swap from my A4 to a T56? All input, suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated....Thanks!

96.Z28.SS

I have never done a swap of any kind, but I do own a t56. It's an amazing transmission. I have drove the a4 as well. What I have heard is that the automatics are a little better at handling power. In my honest opinion... tell your bud no thanks and spend the money u were to pay for the t56 and spend it on like a 3000 stall. You save the time and frustration from figuring out how to do the swap. And if the a4 is original why not keep it that way. It's getting harder and harder to find a nice lt1 that's original. You will be happy. A Stall will wake up a automatic for sure. I hope this helps but then again it's your car so. Just giving my .02

Injuneer

T56 can't handle power? Where did you hear that? I put over 750 HP thru my factory T56, behind a McLeod Street Twin, launching with 5,000 RPM dumps, on full slicks/sticky track. Buddy of mine went over 800 HP with same setup in a 30th SS convertible at 4,000 # race weight. Put some 4.10's behind it and it will haul a$$, and still get great MPG with the 2 steep O/D gears.

parkers Z28

NO expert here. ....but what I understand is the T56 makes more power on the dyno than the A4 with the same mods But you're less likely to see it at the track due to the driver
It does seem to be a lot of extra trouble to swap them
A higher stall does wake up the automatic and it's a simple swap
The A4 is easy to drive and just about everyone can do it...having a straight gear is like having backup anti theft
IMO...the straight gear is more fun to drive at times and it has more
Of a performance race car feel

96.Z28.SS

Idk who the hell said that the t56 Can't hold power? Who the hell said that because I didn't? Last time I checked I said it's an amazing transmission?

Fatdog2

Be sure your friend has a clutch fork as they are almost nonexistent. Do search here on this board.I heard sometimes the third gear can be missed but Hearst has a linkage to fix this.The T-56 does put more hp to the rear I've read but I prefer the auto.Hope this helps.

Injuneer

...

Calm down. You gave your opinion, I gave mine.

96.Z28.SS

That's allot different from saying "the t56 can't hold power"

Injuneer

If you want to argue about this, take it to a PM.

Injuneer

...

96.Z28.SS

Based on those quote one says an automatic is a little better at handling power and the other says the manual in an amazing transmission. I don't know what your trying to prove? Neither of them say they can't hold power and neither of them said they are bad? I have no clue what your so mad about and what you are trying to prove

96.Z28.SS

I'm not going to argue with you over pm and I'm not trying to argue now. I think there was some misunderstanding...I'm going to try to clear it up. Nobody said that the t56 can't handle power. I think you were missunderstood and got defensive too fast. We both have our opinions but getting defensive and telling somebody they are wrong is not the way to deal with the subject and frankly it is off subject. Especially when they didn't say a such thing. in this thread we are suppose to help the man decide swap transmissions or not. What I see is you didn't really help the man come to a conclusion at all? You immediately started to point fingers at people for something they did not say. Let's stay on topic. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. And I'm sorry for getting defensive on my part. Now let's help the man out here. What's your opinion? Swap or not? I'm guessing you think the t56 is amazing as well?

Injuneer

I think I helped..... the OP '"liked" my post.

Please drop it, or the thread will be closed. Last warning.

Fred/Moderator

JakeRobb

I think you should have the transmission that makes you happy. Installing the T56 will be a fair bit of work and will cost you a fair bit in parts (unless your friend can really supply you with EVERYTHING you need, but I'd take the opportunity to put in a new clutch and flywheel, unless the ones he's giving you are already quite new), but it will also completely change what it's like to drive the car.

If you spend hours each day in traffic, you'll hate it.
If you spend your weekends autocrossing or running HPDEs, you'll love it.
If you spend your weekends at the drag strip, you'll have to work really hard to get consistent results.
If you like a spirited drive down winding roads, you might prefer a manual.

There are pros and cons to both transmissions. From the factory with nothing modified at all, I would expect the 4L60 auto to fail on average at a lower power level than the T56, but not by a large enough margin that you should worry about it, and you never know if the particular one you have is weaker or stronger than average. In either case, modding your trans to handle more power is not complicated and costs about the same.

Another thing to think about is the gear ratio in your rear differential. T56 cars came with 3.42 gears, whereas auto cars came with 2.73 or 3.23 depending on whether it has the "performance axle ratio" option. In general, no matter your taste, you're going to be happiest with a slightly higher (numerically) ratio with a T56 than you would with the 4L60E. So you might want to factor in a gear swap while you're at it.

96.Z28.SS

Not to forget that a ten bolt rear ended can be a iffy on a manual if you like to dump the clutch. Some people never have a problem... some blow them up.