December 2019

It’s that time of the year when you get on the road with your friends and family. But don’t let a laggy ride drag you back, try some performance transmission upgrades that can turn your current car into your dream ride.

There is so much more a high-performance transmission coupled with a torque converter or drivetrain components can do for your vehicle, and for starters, it can improve its horsepower. All you need is DIU upgrades, and where you get stuck, you can employ the services of a professional to give your ride a boost even in the winter cold.

It’s the moment of celebration and as such, even the car you spend a few minutes in should bring you joy. If you agree, then these are the performance transmission upgrades you should try to enjoy the jingle bells season.

Why You Should Optimize Your Transmission for Increased Performance

Here are some reasons why your ride needs a performance transmission upgrade.

1. Engine Produces Torque that Can be Handled

Performance transmission upgrades are important for your car since it ensures that your engine does not produce more torque than what can be handled by the transmission. If that happens, a lot can go wrong which is usually evident in worn synchros, broken shafts, and bent forks.

2. More Power Can be Handled

It is also essential to upgrade your transmission so that it can handle more power, and the same applies to the transmission’s gear ratios to have increased performance. For instance, if you have a GM 4L60/E series transmission which was notably used in performance vehicles, it may not deliver to its best capability due to old-school mods.

Old-school mods are unable to improve the durability of your ride when it comes to extreme racing applications. Modern parts, on the other hand, are able to handle modern horsepower.

3. Improved Acceleration

A performance upgrade to the transmission can enable the engine to spend more time in the power band’s sweet spot. It is, however, worth noting that this might not impact the peak horsepower that is getting to the ground.

Nonetheless, the average horsepower that is put to the ground is increased thereby giving an improved acceleration that makes for a quicker 0-60, quarter mile or lap times.

Performance Transmission Upgrades

Your car’s power and ability to regulate heat all lie in its transmission and as such, this is such a powerful component. You would often need to do the following to get a good performance transmission upgrade:

• Rebuild manual
• Rebuild kit
• Shift kit
• Accumulator pistons
• Separator plate
• Torque converter

1. Rebuild

A great place to start is to replace or rebuild your transmission in a bid to improve its performance. It’ll be one that can handle payload more efficiently, and as such, what you’ll get is a faster and more powerful transmission. When it comes to rebuilding your transmission, you can rely on a car repair shop to do it for you.

In this case, your duty is to ensure that the shop uses the highest-quality OEM transmission parts and has skilled technicians to rebuild your current transmission. The result will be quite rewarding if either of these is in place since it’ll take a good technician to make the most of the quality parts you will be offered.

On the other hand, there are rebuild manuals for automatic transmissions, hence, if you want to do the upgrade yourself, you can be armed with one of these. A good resource manual centers on various aspects of how to work with the transmission in your car including the assembly, dis-assembly, diagnosis, troubleshooting, etc.

2. Rebuild Kits

There are also rebuild kits you can work with and if you choose to do it yourself, this type would prove useful. Let’s say you’re working with a 4L60E transmission, then you can settle for a standard better-than-stock kit with a molded piston kit or a high-performance rebuild kit.

Depending on which you settle for, it will determine the things you can do to your transmission and how well you can optimize your ride. The high-performance kit sometimes features the following: Raybestos Stage 1 clutches, a Kevlar band, a new filter, Kolene steel plates with 8 clutches 3-4 pack and a full bushing kit.

3. Shift Kits

Shift kits are also required in performance transmission upgrades. The 4L60E takes advantage of one of two kits most times, it is better to use one of two shift kits.

Some of these are the TRG-SK4L60E, and the TRG-4L60E-HD2. TRG-SK4L60E helps to prevent, correct, and reduce problems that may be associated with shift performance.

On the same note, it fixes harmonic bounce that may wear out the pump and valves and thereby, cause shuttle shifts.

4. Schedule a Transmission Upgrade

Now’s the time to take action, and schedule a transmission upgrade with a reliable company. In this case, you’ll be getting a high-performance transmission upgrade, and therefore good quality that can give a significant boost in your ride’s speed.

Moreover, such a company is one that has a high level of experience when it comes to high-performance transmission upgrades for vehicles. The same applies to whether it is an automatic or manual you are driving since the transmission in either of these can be upgraded.

5. Accumulator Pistons

There are also accumulator pistons that need to be replaced, and they are usually recommended in the case of a 4L60E rebuild. If they aren’t replaced, these may tend to ruin your transmission. In the 4L60E, a great place to start would be to replace the forward accumulator piston a well as the 1-2 accumulator piston.

The Bottom Line

Now it’s your turn to implement these performance upgrades on your car to improve its horsepower this season. The goal is to have a ride that can handle the impact of the winter given that this season is usually accompanied by snow and ice on roads.

And if you still want to transport easily, these tips can show you where to begin and the transmission in your car that is in dire need of upgrades. Therefore, don’t assume you’ve got the perfect ride, but go out there and do it.

Winter’s here, and that means your ride needs to revamped to handle the ice, snow, and sleet on roads. A vehicle winter-ready list, for instance, will ensure that your car can withstand the harsh weather, thereby enabling you to drive smoothly and seamlessly as if it were summer.

Thus, winter won’t be something to detest since it does not mean you’ll be stuck indoors for hours unending without taking a therapeutic ride. So, how do you begin? Use the vehicle winter-ready and car maintenance checklist outlined below, and try these tips to ensure that your ride is ready for the weather.

Vehicle Winter-Ready and Car Maintenance Checklist

To protect your car, use this vehicle winter-ready list to help ensure a smooth along rough surfaces. Do the following below.

1. Check Your Windshield Wipers and Lights

The ability to see clearly as you drive through the snow is important, which is why you should check your windshield wipers if they are working properly. It’s even better if you replace the windshield wipers with winter blades that can help to wipe off the snow and ice that will be on the windshield.

Much more, a windshield washer tank with deicing fluid will remove the ice build-up and save you the extra time of waiting for it to defreeze. On the other hand, you also need to inspect your headlights and tail lights if they are working properly since it will provide good illumination when you’re out late.

You need to see the snow or ice clearly to maneuver through it, and if the lights are yellow or dim, clean the lenses or replace the bulbs entirely.

2. Protect Your Car’s Exterior

Did you know that you can winterize your vehicle’s exterior? It involves washing and waxing the car’s exterior to prepare it for winter. But here’s what it looks like:

It’s no surprise if you still have last season’s buildup on your car. That may be the case, but taking the step to scrub this build-up away can be useful.

Once that is in place, you can proceed to apply quality wax on the car to give it maximum protection against the impact of snow and road salt.

3. Maintain Your Car’s Battery

If you’re using the same battery from summer, the season’s heat could have affected the quality of the battery thereby causing it to be weak. This weakness is evident in the car’s inability to start on a very cold morning since the battery it totally drained.

On the other hand, you can ascertain the current state of your battery by performing a battery and charging system test. It will enable you to know if you need to purchase and replace the existing battery with a new one as a defense against the cold weather.

Nonetheless, a new battery may not guarantee that your car is safe proof for winter if you live in extremely cold areas. As such, the battery may have to be paired with a maintainer or trickle charger. Another thing you can try is to disconnect the battery from the car in a bid to prevent unnecessary power drainage.

4. Change Your Car’s Oil

Cars can either use synthetic or conventional oil, and synthetic oil has shown to offer several benefits over the latter especially in cold temperatures. For instance, synthetic oil warms up faster in comparison to conventional oil, and it also tends to flow freer at low temperatures.

As a result, the engine’s moving parts are protected immediately once the car is started. Cold weather starts are also easier when the car is running on synthetic oil.

That being the case, a winter vehicle maintenance you should also try is to change your car’s oil. In this case, use a full-synthetic oil that is appropriate for your car instead of relying on conventional oil it may currently have.

5. Examine Your Tires

A new set of snow tires for the winter is one more thing you should consider. But first, inspect your tires and if the treads don’t have enough depth, then you need a new pair.

The aim is to get as much traction as possible to enable the tires to handle the treacherous roadway conditions. Over and above that, it is expected that every 10-degree drop in air pressure could cause a decrease in tire pressure by one pound.

Hence, you also need to check the inflation of your tires, since an under-inflated tire can reduce handling and traction. It could also affect your vehicle’s fuel economy, asides from the obvious fact that the tires will tend to wear down faster.

6. Inspect Your Fuel Injectors

Clean fuel injectors can also make your ride powerful this winter. It all boils down to the fact that cold temperatures can cause performance issues to a vehicle’s fuel system. Some of these problems may be evident in hard starts and rough idling. The same can be said about the presence of water in the fuel system since it can spring up several issues.

This, therefore, brings about the need to maintain clean injectors, by employing a fuel injector cleaner. A cleaner of this nature will help with the restoration of lost power and prevent several performance issues from arising. All you have to do is add the fuel injector cleaner to the gas tank as you fill-up.

7. Check Your Antifreeze

An engine’s cooling system has a liquid that is made up of a blend of water and antifreeze. Antifreeze is an important winter chemical and it could contain ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. These chemical compounds in the antifreeze help to prevent freezing and expansion of water.

That being the case, you need to measure your car’s antifreeze strength using an antifreeze tester or let a mechanic do it on your behalf. The aim of the test is to determine the lowest ambient temperature of protection that is offered to the engine from freezing.

8. Inspect Your Car’s Thermostat and Radiator Cap

The thermostat and radiator cap are useful in the car’s heating and cooling system. The thermostat helps to provide the heat needed to the car, and if it fails, it can be attributed to the fact that the corrosion has occurred or the coolant has not been changed frequently.

On the other hand, the radiator helps to keep the antifreeze in your vehicle in place. It also ensures that the entire cooling system is pressurized, thereby increasing the boiling point of the coolant.

What’s more, it is important to check the radiator cap for any leakage signs or replace the cap with a new one if its been years already since you’ve used it. The reason is, a leaking radiator cap can lead to an overheating of the engine and leakage of antifreeze.

The Bottom Line

The vehicle winter-ready list is for car enthusiasts who want to maintain the full functionality of their ride and ensure that the cold does not impact on it. If that’s what you want, then employ these tips for a good winter-weather driving as if it were summer.

The requirements on this list are quite easy to implement, and you can also employ the services of a professional to ensure you get them all right. Now, you can drive seamlessly without the fear that your vehicle could potentially break down this winter.

As technology advances, most products we are using on a regular basis are becoming more efficient. This enables them to offer us a higher level of performance. Transmissions are no exception to the rule. It is beneficial to understand what transmissions are, what their history is, and what you need to know when purchasing one of your own.

Transmission Talk

“Transmission” is a term that is used to describe the mechanism that channels all of the horsepower that is generated inside of your motor vehicle.

Imagine the way in which the power from your engine gets to your wheels. The motor is capable of making that power, but without the transmission, it would be useless. Add a transmission into the equation and then there is a fully-functional motor vehicle.

Your transmission can also enable you to quickly adjust gears via the clutch. The clutch plays a really important role because it is responsible for separating the engine from the transmission and then re-connecting them both when it is necessary. This is what allows the transmission to change gear ratios so that you do not have to shift gears manually.

A Brief History of Transmissions

You can trace the origins of what we would consider to be modern transmissions all the way back to the year 1904, when the Sturtevant brothers developed what was known as the ‘horseless carriage’ gearbox in Boston, Massachusetts. The unit that they created featured two forward speeds that could be changed by flyweights that were driven by the engine.

Naturally, a higher speed would make the high gear engage, while a lower speed would do the opposite. Unfortunately, the metallurgy in the early 1900s was not as good as it is today. This led to a number of these gearboxes failing without warning. Luckily, improvements have come a long way.

The early part of the 20^th century would lead to a number of important developments in the field of mechanics. In 1906, Henry Ford would release a special two speed plus reverse transmission that could be manually controlled using pedals.

The Turning Point

But, it was not until 1932 that we would see the first transmissions using hydraulic fluid.  The inventors of the first transmission using hydraulic fluid is by two engineers, Araripe and Lemos, who then sold their creation to General Motors. However, in the Wall Street Journal, an article appeared crediting ZF Friedrichshafen for the invention.

By the 1960s, three-speed units that featured torque converters had become incredibly popular. At this point, whale oil is being taken out of transmission fluid, something that shows real ingenuity. Fast forward to the 1980s and the three-speed units were already evolving to overdrive-equipped transmissions. These new developments involved four or more different transmission speeds and a lock-up torque converter that would improve fuel economy.

As amazing as all of these improvements and inventions might sound, the really interesting things have occurred over the course of the past two decades. We have seen everything from the first six-speed transmission to the first nine-speed automatic transmission in this small window of time. We can only imagine that things will keep improving as more time passes.

What Should You Look for When Purchasing a Transmission?

Consider what you want before you begin considering purchasing a new transmission. You can put as much money as you want into your motor vehicle, but all of that money won’t mean a thing if your transmission decides that it is going to fail.

Because mainstream transmissions are so standard, majority of car garages will have them in stock. But, there is an alternative solution.

Question whether or not to invest in custom high-performance transmissions. High-performance transmissions are both designed and built to meet the exact specifications of your own car, ensuring that everything fits together and works in perfect harmony.

Are Transmissions Really THAT Important?

Without a transmission, you would not have the power that the engine generates from your car to the wheels. It would be impossible. Replacing a transmission can cost a lot of money. Because it’s costly to replace a transmission, it’s a good idea to provide it with regular maintenance.

If you want to customize your ride, consider looking into high-performance transmissions. Remember that the quality of transmissions is always improving. With these improvements, it is worth considering whether or not an upgrade would be worthwhile.