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What transmission for a tuned diesel ?


MogLite

Auto or manual  

22 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you go auto or manual

    • Auto
      19
    • Manual
      3


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Just gathering a wish list for my next project vehicle. Which I think will be a cheap diesel 38a Rangie that I can mess with.

There is a thread in the Range Rover forum, but this is a more generic question

The engine in the Rangie is a bit more powerful than a TDI, but they are supposed to respond very well to big intercoolers and chips. 170bhp is easily achievable.

So for tuned diesel would you go auto, or would the potential for extra lag make driving awkward ?

Or would you go manual, so you can drive the diesel in its optimum rev range ?

I love autos, and Rangies should be autos, but I think it could be quite bad off boost :angry:

Anyone out there with a tuned diesel auto who does plenty of road mileage ?

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I had a 200tdi auto disco and apart from being abit sluggish I rather liked it, just needed a bit more umph. I reckon a tweeked DSE would have enough umph to make an auto a nice drive. I think a lot would depend on your driving style and preference though, but if you like autos anyway...

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I love autos, and Rangies should be autos, but I think it could be quite bad off boost :angry:

Anyone out there with a tuned diesel auto who does plenty of road mileage ?

My Landy is absolutely perfect with the auto box, would never even consider changing for 1 nanosecond!

Lag? What lag, the auto makes up for any boost lag with the torque converter, I have to lock mine in top gear and lock the Torque converter electronically just to test for boost lag!!

Superb gearboxes but if going for big torque get a really strong one.

Lara.

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My Landy is absolutely perfect with the auto box, would never even consider changing for 1 nanosecond!

Lag? What lag, the auto makes up for any boost lag with the torque converter, I have to lock mine in top gear and lock the Torque converter electronically just to test for boost lag!!

Superb gearboxes but if going for big torque get a really strong one.

Lara.

This reply will depend on how far you are planning on going with the mods

I run Auto for strength on the V8 90

but I race on Manual I take it that you will be playing with the 2.5 BMW which I would expect that 170bhp is only scratching the surface of what it can do.

I have a BMW 2.0 DT which is 200bhp restricted to save the drive train but has a limit of 350 bhp so I would expect the 2.5dt also has a long way to go.

but I do suffer massive turbo lag.

I went in another production race 4x4 last season that like me ran a helix clutch and a manual box his lag was a little less than mine but the bhp was a lot more and the toque was over double mine.

for a factory auto's to cope with these mods you will pay through the noise for them to be modified.

If you mod a engine and run a factory auto it will cope to a point but it will only be good if you cap the amount you up the power.

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Agreed, the cost of a very strong uprated ZF auto and special Torque converter is expensive.

If I were to do another auto setup I would fit a Turbo Hydro 700E, this is the 4 speed auto fitted to the current Corvete etc and can take gobs of power, and is very stupidly cheap for what it is!

One will be going into my next project :)

Lara.

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When the lt77 goes on my 200tdi defender i'll probably put an autobox in; just fitted an allisport intercooler, and will tweak the fuelling to maximise the performance of the combination. I'm hoping to pick up a new ZF box of the same type thats being fitted to production pinzgauers. Go auto! maybe we can start an evolutionary pressure to start selecting out left arms!.

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Andy, I think its got to be auto; its an electronic box so I assume its got 'sport' mode which'll give you the best of both worlds.

Only if the box is up to the mods you are going to do.

The R380 is for its torque rating the 2.8 international is something like 378 rating so the standard manual box is right on the limit. if you start to mod it the auto box will be rated to a similar setting if you go above that it will over heat and be a pain like all the guys that fit the 6.2 GMC and refer to ZF boxes as a service item.

If you can get a box that is right for the engine then it is by far the better option what I am saying it that I think you will struggle to get a auto box that is a good match for a uprated engine that is capable of that much power.

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I'm not planning on a race engine, just a nice tractable road engine

Picking one of the chip companies at random, they are claiming 165bhp and 240lb/ft or 325NM

200bhp and 380nm would be the absolute max I'd want to go to.

Point about turbo lag and torque converter is a good one though.

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Lag? Why not charge it?

Eaton M90, Fenner HT TDP3 belt, yay heapum fun :)

or.......... I found a nice place that does a two speed pulley system for chargers.. lots of boost off the bottom end without the parasitic waste at higher speed

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Lag? Why not charge it?

Eaton M90, Fenner HT TDP3 belt, yay heapum fun :)

or.......... I found a nice place that does a two speed pulley system for chargers.. lots of boost off the bottom end without the parasitic waste at higher speed

Go on

I have had very little contact with chargers

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I used to build charged twins for the supertwins drag class, its a piece of chuff on a diesel in comparison because air/fuel isnt as big and issue.

without the additional belt guards needed for a toothed belt to survive in pooh pusher a road going lump isnt going to tax your brain as an instal.

The blower doesnt suffer from lag like a turbo - the hit is instant but the drawback is parasitic loss at high RPM, theres a nice little company building an two speed pulley that changes gear according to rpm so you can run an optimised ratio for bottom end thump higher RPMs

Choice of charger boils down to two main players; Eaton and Paxton. Eaton chargers are self contained (no oil feed and drain issues) and have a decent lifespan (teflon coated rotors) they recommend an oil change every 70-100000 miles if memory serves, the blower can be mounted in any orientation (so that simplifies installation). Alternatively a paxton centrifugal (effectively a mechanically driven turbo) gives a softer hit without as much parasitic loss

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Well the poll is firmly in favour of an auto.

I prefer buying autos as 2nd hand cars TBH, seems to keep the driveline in better condition.

I will not be fitting a blower - its a daily driver fer'christ'sake :D

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hi on this topic and i dont mean to but in on the thread but is it possible to fit a v8 auto box to a 200tdi without to much modification, just i been offered one on the cheap and am quite interested?

know a few of you have done the auto conversion before :)

Thanks

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