What is your favorite transmission?

28 Mar 2016

On my quest to build the ultimate Crown Victoria, I’ve been eyeing the current (stock) transmission with sadness. It is fantastic for a luxury sedan (quiet, smooth, and decent MPG) but it really lacks the drama, fun, and driver involvement I envision it having someday. I’m actually considering changing the transmission (in a few years) to a special kind of manual transmission you may not have heard of until now: a Lenco transmission.

I bet you’re thinking “Woah! Look at all those levers! How can you possibly learn how to use something that complex!” Well, it’s not as crazy as it looks. It’s actually very intuitive and simple. Check out this video of it being used:

Notice how this hero driver only uses the clutch to get his car rolling… and then, with each gear change, he doesn’t lift his foot off the gas pedal even for a second! He must be destroying his gearbox, right? Actually, no… because this is not a regular synchro gearbox, or even a dog box. This transmission uses planetary gears (just like an automatic does), and, because of that, it can support up to 3500 horsepower and shift without lifting or using the clutch. Wicked!

Instead of wasting money on the balls-out racing version, I have my eyes set on their “street/strip” transmission, the ST1200. Like the name suggests, it can support up to 1200 HP easily, and is available with 2 to 6 forward speeds, optional reverse, and optional neutral. All gear ratios can be specified to your preference, the bell housing bolt pattern can fit anything from GM, Ford, MoPar or anything custom you want, and shift pressure can be adjusted between gears to taste.

I think this transmission would be extremely fun, and it would be perfect in a Crown Victoria. Especially because you don’t need to lift to shift if you don’t want to! Not to mention, it looks like it’ll shock and awe my passengers…

My question to you is, what do you think of the Lenco transmission? Should I stick with my 4 speed automatic for that luxury? And, if you had a choice, what transmission would you want to see in your dream car build? I’m always down to learn something new. Leave a comment & let’s talk!

Comments

Woah, those are so cool! I had no clue those existed; such a neat concept. If each stage has the same ratio, it doesnt matter which gear lever you grab, too. However, I’d imagine driving this in traffic may get a bit tiresome after awhile, probably not the best on the street. But, don’t let the “luxury sedan” title deter you if it is what you want to do.

Yeah, that’s the concept! But you can also specify different ratios for each gear. My goal is to have a 5 speed, with 2 speed ratios of 1.48-1.44-1.38-1.31. So, first gear would have the total ratio of 3.85 (much better than my current first gear of 2.400), 2nd would be 2.60, 3rd would be 1.81, 4th 1.31, and 5th would be 1:1. I hope this makes sense.

I’d prefer to keep my overdrive, but they don’t list any overdrive options on their website. They do say they do “custom work”, so hopefully something could be arranged :)

Driving my manual volvo isn’t tiring to me in traffic, it’s kinda fun. I’m not a hero driver though, and I can’t heel-toe… so I brake in neutral, and then shift into the correct gear after I exit a corner. I think that this transmission, with its ability to shift without messing around with your feet, would be really easy. Also, it is as quiet as my stock AOD, and I can’t stand straight cut gear whine so this is also a plus :)

Jerico clutch-less five speed

You should look into a T56… its the transmission out of the viper and corvette/LS-based V8 chevy’s… super reliable, can handle tons of power, and is easy to find…. they make bell housings to fit an incredible range of engines, and it even has multiple positions to mount the shifter to make it truly modular and compatible with a huge variety of swaps

i’ll check it out! thanks :)

Came here to make sure this was said. The T56 is a true champ

Getrag 420 because blaze it!

The LT77 in my TVR is a great gearbox, short throws, snappy, grabs quickly :D

Wow, that’s a very cool transmission! This would be perfect in a mad max style rat rod :D

I dont know how its callef but its from fast and furious it has 20 gears and I want it :DD

If I had the choice of one “huge” modification to my crown vic it would be the last gen Mustang’s 5 speed manual, I have seen some kits for it online and it fits the stock 4.6.