New GM 6 Speed Auto . . . 6L80E!!

[RPM Dragracing]

Being I've spent a good part of my life working on and modifying transmissions I feel I can say this with some very good certainty. This new 6 speed is definitely based on or built in conjuction with Borg-Warner of Europe. All the elements of the B-W staples that you'll find in almost any year Mercedes/BMW and some Volvo's are all there. The dead giveaway's are the 3 bolt yoke, the torque converter backing plate, the base rail around the pan and most important is the limited view of the integral solenoid pack thats appears to be a separate and secondary valve body unto itself (closely macthing current B-W's). What does this all mean, well after owning transmission franchises for almost 17 years now before I went onto racing full time, less than 1% of my business was around any Borg-Warner units, they are a great design and they just take a beating. I would even venture to say that when it comes to this trans the days of shift kits and big servo's are done, other than racing clutches and high stall torque converters all performance enhancements would be made through programming. I cant wait to see what the aftermarket comes up with on a stand alone controller for this monster.

[BAD6SPD]

Keep in mind that the 6L80 is a Clutch to Clutch transmission, and not a step gear free-wheeler like a 4L80E...It is FAR more difficult to calibrate, as you have to control the oncoming and offgoing clutches, and timing is critical. The 6L80 is smaller than 4L80, due to the C2C design, which results in smaller components, but does have a lot more solenoids for pressure control....I am fortunate enough to have spent alot of time with the 6L80 in a variety of applications, and it is awesome.....

[Steve Chryssos]

Do you have one--maybe--lying around that you were thinking about kicking to the curb?

[deadcarny]

is this the AAllison 6 speed? If it is, I believe it is a very large tranny (comparitively). My dad works at GM and was telling me about a truck they have there with the ALLISON AND HE SAID IT WAS SWEET.

[BAD6SPD]

No, not Allison, this is pure GM Powertrain.....



Steve, I have been trying to talk the powers that be into using my car as a testbed for aftermarket development...not much success...lol...

[Fuelie Fan]

Keep in mind that the 6L80 is a Clutch to Clutch transmission, and not a step gear free-wheeler like a 4L80E...It is FAR more difficult to calibrate, as you have to control the oncoming and offgoing clutches, and timing is critical.

I was afraid of that. I've been reading a lot about that in sae docs, a lot of the japanese autos went to them a number of years ago to reduce the size of their transaxles. Definitely more complicated from a controller standpoint

[protour_chevelle]

One could expect it to be larger. Otherwise the additional components must be made smaller (read: weaker) to fit. But you never know. This really is a whole new generation of transmission.

Cripes, I'd hate to see how much bigger it is. The 4l80e was a tight fit and required enough tunnel mods!

Its also going in the 06 Vette, Paddle shifter, with auto option.

Heres a few pics of the Vettes paddle type shifter.






http://v-series.com/home/content/view/21/31/

-Matt

[BAD6SPD]

Again, the 6L80E is SMALLER than a 4L80E.....

[Diognes56]

I love these trannies. Any idea when they are going to start selling "crate" versions?

David

[Steve Chryssos]

They may not ever offer generic crate versions. The commputer logic in these transmissions is vehicle specific. So if you pull a perfectly good 6L80E transmission from an LS2 Corvette and put it behind an engine with different output and in a car with diffferent dimentsions, that vehicle specific computer could get confused and cause the transmission to fail.

Until someone figures out how to make easy-to-use software that will calibrate the transmission to your application, don't hold your breath.

Currently available aftermarket transmission controllers are only capable of processing a limited number of input and output variables. The PCS controller is the most sophisticated with user definable control over six basic output drivers including basic pwm, shift and accumulator solenoids. But the 6L80E is way more complex. If anyone can figure it out, these guys can.

I'm not trying to bring you down. No one wants a 6L80E more than me. But I think it will be a long while.

[Diognes56]

That is ok because I am sure it will be quite some time before I would be able to afford one ;) . When they do figure out the programing necessary to do crate versions and/or swaps (since I probably wouldn't be able to afford a crate version) I hope there will be a Shrifter for it :D .

David

[Steve Chryssos]

....I hope there will be a Shrifter for it :D .
David

Me too. I don't see why not. The Shrifter is essentially a fancy electric switch, so it should work fine.