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Old 03-05-2009, 11:39 AM   #22 (permalink)
Shawn D.
Harebrained Idea Skeptic
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Alpharetta, GA
Posts: 211

The White Car - '84 Mercedes-Benz 300td
90 day: 28.84 mpg (US)

The Blue Car - '86 BMW 535i
Last 3: 23.86 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frugal builder View Post
A manual valve body will eliminate a portion of Automatic trans power waste. It will shift like nothing else, though. There is no RPM reduction during the gear change so the torque converter will be the only place to absorb the shock. The joints in the driveline will need to be of excellent quality. Wet weather drivability will be something that will need to be delt with. It will be so much fun, you may never see a mileage improvement.
It's not the "manual" part of the valve body that causes the hard shifts, it's that because manual valve bodies have always been for racing purposes and thus inherently include a reduction in clutch application times due to the elimination or modification of fluid-damping devices such as check balls and accumulators.

I do agree that harders shifts are extremely fun! The shattered differential and split driveshaft from my '57 Chevy would disagree, though!
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