One of the companies we've been working with in Australia is ready to release their direct bolt-in T56 replacement. Aside from the benefit of sequential shifts, the tranny can also handle DOUBLE the torque rating of the T56. This will work in GTOs, F-bodies, and Vipers, and we will be working with the manufacturer to see if we can get it to work with the transaxle in the C5 as well. Here's some information about the unit:
Specs:
Torque rating: 800 ft/lbs. (constant load)
Gear Ratios: 1st- 2.692
2nd- 1.972
3rd- 1.466
4th- 1.195
5th- 1.000
6th- 0.842
All indirect gears are mounted on splines so that ratio changes can be made economically. 1st and 2nd gears have double cone syncromesh. Heat treated nickel chrome steel is used for all gears and the gear profiles are ground on a Reishauer machine after heat treatment. The selector forks are aluminum bronze alloy. The casings are cast LM25 aluminum alloy heat-treated to T6 specs. The clutch splines are normally 1 1/8x 26 24/48 DP x 30 degrees PA.

Operation:
The gear lever is pulled back for up changes and pushed forward for down changes. Neutral is selected from 1st gear position by moving the gear lever to the left and forward. Reverse is selected from the neutral postiion by pushing the gear lever forward. From the reverse gear postion, neutral is selected by pulling the gear lever back and 1st is selected by pulling the gear lever back again. This system eliminates neutral or reverse being accidentally selected when in the forward gear change pattern.

A cam shaft performs the gear change with hydraulically assisted cam followers to ensure low effort gear lever movements. The main shaft, input shaft and lay shaft are mounted on taper roller bearings straddling 3rd, 4th, 5th and constant mesh gears.

Preload is easily adjusted with spacers behind the front cover. First and second gears are in the rear housing with the extremities of the shafts supported by needle bearings.

Pricing is not finalized but don't expect this to be the next "everybody's got one" bolt-in. Rough estimates on intial pricing are in the $10,000 USD area, but should come down as production ramps up. Anyone planing on building a serious race vehicle with a T56 will benefit hugely from the addition on this gearbox assuming it meets class rules. We expect 9.0-9.2 second quarter mile f-bodies will finally be able to consistantly break into the 8.9 bearier from the flawless shifts this tranny will allow. Road-race and autocross vipers, f-bodies, and GTOs will be able to effortlessly click through gears, never missing a beat which will decrease lap times, decrease driver effort/fatigue, and increase consistency between laps.

While I am getting the A4 I am excited to see that the aftermarket is starting to take off!!

:laughbounce: :laughbounce: :laughbounce: :laughbounce:

Wow, that sounds like one hell of a transmission. 800ft/lb of torque?! Is this seperate from the one GM or Holden or whoever the hell is going to be making? I know GM was testing 5 speed automatic but Holden or someone showed them a six speed automatic can be easier to make/repair than their 5 speed design.

this is not an automatic. It will still have a clutch...it replaces the 6-speed T56 in the way it is shifted (pattern), the gear ratios, and the power-handling

Sorry about that :D

Is this T56 replacement only going to be able to bolt onto ls1's?

Oh, good question...gimme a while to get you an answer on that.

Okay, I had to confirm this before I posted it. The new tranny will use the bellhousing of the T-56 originally in the car. The length and the splines on the input shaft will vary in some models such as the C5 corvette.

you said it still uses a clutch. Will this work like other sequential gear boxes where the clutch is needed to put the car into 1st?

It's recommended to use the clutch, but under hard race situations you can forego using the clutch after you ingage 1st gear. Naturally, this cuts down on the life of the tranny.

Do you have any pics? It sound like a richmond trans with a add on to me but I would love to see some pics of this cool tranny.

I have a picture but no scanner at hand. I'll try to get to one in the next day or two.

If you have a digital camera, just take a picture of the picture. Most digital cameras have a higher resolution than a scanner and are much faster.

If that does start up...I would be seriously considering one for the '94 for sure. That sounds pretty sweet to me.

I know a while back I had heard of some people thinking about a straight cut gear dog box, but thats been over a year ago and I haven't seen anything of it yet.