Yes, but when you feel this harder shift, many things occur. The 2 biggest reasons why have a valve body mod is so I can have faster 1/4 mile times and so I can have a little more fun driving around town when the gears slam into place.

 

Wait, so without the VB mod, just the clipped wire thing, there is no actual gain at the 1/4?

 

Has anyone thoought about what would happen if instead of having just an "on/off" switch, putting in a potentiometer instead with the max value being equal to that of the resistor? Would this vary the "stiffness" of the shifts so you could leave it at a "tuned" setting that you like? That way, you'd be able to crank it to "off" when you want to shift really hard, or crank it all the way up to max resistance to have normal shifting.

Does anyone think this will work?

I'd try it on my own Max, but I won't have it in my possession until Thanksgiving.

 

My car does a min of .5 sec faster with the drop resistor switched out, but thats at a low 13, when I run N/A in the 15's it doesn't make much difference at all. The drop resistor shifts faster and is quicker than a VB mod because its shifts at full line pressure not just increased ??? (whatever the various VB mods increase the pressure to) from stock like the VB mod.

PS
Just don't forget this is a WOT, turn it on only when you are racing mod. Its not for daily driving, hence the switch.

 

I tried that, it works.

However, the pot that I used wasnt rated for the current in the cicuit and it caught fire.

If you can find a high-power potentiometer that you can vary from 11 kOhms to zero, you'd have it.

 

did anyone did the drop resistor mod with a vb mod. Why not get the best of both worlds. Get full line pressure on shifts and the vb mod makes the tranny stronger so it can support those shifts. Opinions?

 

THAT'S what I'm talking about. Now that would be very interesting!

 

I couldn't find a large enough pot with that low of resistance.

However, I did buy a bunch of 25 watt high power resistors at different values and tried just about every combination from about 13 ohms down to less than one by hooking them in series, parallel etc and it would not vary the line pressure, it was either full pressure or stock.
The stock resistance is between 11.2 and 12.8 ohms.

As far as disconnecting the drop resistor with a VB mod installed, it would probably shift at the same speed as the drop resistor mod by itself. Whether the tranny would last longer, who knows, I am not convinced the VB mod does make the tranny last longer and that is pretty much impossible to prove. Its like using an oil additive and saying your engine will last longer, you can make all the claims you want they cannot be proven or disproven.

 

I just unhooked my drop resistor and drove the car. At WOT, it didn't seem to shift much differently from 1st to 2nd - still kind of sluggish! But at lower revs, I noticed it shifting harder. WTF? I checked my tranny level, and it is at the very bottom mark on the "hot" level while the car is running. Maybe I should add some fluid (flushed it not long ago so maybe I didn't put enough back in)?

 

Brad! You experimenter!
I guess we can really test at the track on Fri. - On and Off.

Cool.

 

ya i hope i can get this wired in before going to the track in a week and a half...if weather permitting (****ing rain last time , and i get a good amount of runs in like im hoping for), ill get about 3-4 runs with it on, and 3-4 runs with it off

 

One more thing, my CEL never came on! I unplugged the resistor with the car running, drove it a couple miles, turned off the car, plugged the resistor back in, started the car, and no CEL!

Those of you that have done this - did your CEL come on while it was disconnected or after you reconnected the resistor?

 

My CEL comes on the second time it shifts with the resistor unhooked. If I stop the car, switch it off and go...it will shift 1-2, and when it shifts 2-3, the light comes on and stays on.

 

Hmmm, wonder what I have going on. Mine shifted probably about 15-20 times in the time I drove with it unplugged. I'm confused.

 

so did you already hook it up?

 

You can actually build pots that can take that kind of current. Its basicly an empty pot and you buy your own resistors. Digi-Key sells all kinds of electronic components if you can't find what you need at radioshack.

Does anyone know what kind of current the resistor sees through it? If someone tells me the voltage and resistance, I could easily figure out the amperage.

 

I've been following this mod for a while now. I just have a couple of questions, for anyone who has bought a switch what kind was it, and could you post how you ran the line(I saw one guy who mounted it in his change holder in the center console.) And do you have to reset the ECU (make the check engine light go away)_ each time you unplug the switch. I would only unplug during racing.

 

The answer i've been thinking a lot... put it in your ash tray, take out the insert that's in there and bust out the small light. You can put a small switch in there and the cool part is pressing the ash tray so it can open and how it opens smoothly. THen you use the busted out ash tray light to wire another small green, red, or blue LED and make everyone think you have nawz or something... completely rice but pretty damn cool if you ask me. They'll wonder WTF when you're chirping in an automatic, but i'd hold off on this mod til i was faster than most rice rockets (which doesn't require much...just waiting for my Budget Y)

 

i believe Jime is right, no matter what type of resistor is in there, the tranny cpu or the ecu will detect a drop in current and automatically go into fail safe. its not like the ecu will adjust accordingly with out some type of piggy back ecu.

 

Yeah i trie this mod and even did resistors and noticed no difference. Its either full or regular. I unhooked it though because when I RSMed the acceleration it was the same so i felt no need to feel my car slam the gears.

 

Of course the acceleration is going to be the same. All this does is make the shifts must faster. Which is turn, would make your 1/4 mile time slightly less.

 

i tried this last night....it was hella fun, but it doesnt feel very good for the tranny, at ALL...well, im gonna do the switch today, and ill try it out next sunday when i go to the track

 

How can your 1/4 time drop and your acceleration stay the same?

 

Thats tru. I've had this done for awhile not it seems to be okay. I have to say tho i dont think its very good for the trany at all that i can tell. I only use this when i'm screwin around with someone around town or when i'm at the track . Brian

 

lol, you know what I mean. This mod will not make your car pull harder like a Y-pipe will. But, since it quickens the shifts, you will accelerate faster. But, 0-40 mph will be the same. I know you understand.

 

Yes it is true you 1/4 mile time will drop but the acceleration will stay the same. It seems your accelerating faster but its the shifts thats making you faster thats why everyone is saying the auto tranny is slowing down the potential of the VQ thats why alot of autos are getting VB mods or switch to 5 speeds.

 

if its not clear to you yet, ill explain fully...if its clear already, i just wasted my time

when your going down the track, and it comes time for the 1-2 shift, just theoretically speaking, normally if your car takes 1 second to shift, that will be a second where you are getting no power...now say with this mod, your car shifts .5 second faster, that is a half second sooner that you are getting power, therefore, your 1/4 mile time should decrease a full second considering youd be in 3rd when you come to the end.....

granted it doesnt take a second to shift, and .5 seconds faster to shift with this mod, but hopefully your getting the point

 

Considering all that timing changes, with this interruptor switch what would be the best way to shift through the gears to get a better time from start to finish at the 1/4?

 

My best times always came from letting the transmision shift itself not manual shifting. Mine shifts around 62-6400 in all gears.

 

What about the start. I was playing around with the switch and got it to work. Is there any difference at the starting point. What do you recommend doing for the take-off? (sorry, i feel like a n00b all over again... i just want to make sure i can squeeze out the best 1/4 times) Thanks for all the info!

 

I usually torque to around 2200, thats about max for me, as well as 1500 and idle. Doesn't seem to make to much difference but I like to torque to max then hit the spray right out of the hole.

As far as the switch it doesn't make any difference what position it is in unless the trans shifts, so I just turn it on after I burn out a bit and turn it off when I cross the 1/4 line.

However, just try your launch different ways till you find the one that you feel most comfortable with and gives you the best 60'. What works for one person may not be best for another.

Good Luck
Jim