What is your ultimate engine and transmission combo?

Yamaha Two Stroke Twins (RD & TZ); because H-pattern synchro gearboxes are abominations in comparison and a rev happy two strokes spinning to 12K are glorious. This is also the reason I like motorcycle engined cars.

If I have to pick a common automotive combo I'd go with Miata engine and gearbox. Nice gearbox with a revvy motor.........I especially like 1.6s.

The TR7/TR8 gearbox is phenomenal, unfortunately I don't think it was ever mated to a really good engine.

Twin turbo 555-ish " BBC/BBF and a Lenco. May or may not include a Bruno for the inbetween....

Yamaha V8 + 6MT or V12 Maranallo + 6MT

20B + BMW DCT

In reply to triumph7 :

The 4 speed or the 5 speed?

TKX bolted to the back of an LS.  

Not a cheap proposition, but I have learned to be blasé about  6 speed manuals.

Because of a current thread re roll-your-own mid engine, I have become fascinated with LS to Audi conversions. Fascinated, but not sold on for various reasons.

In reply to fidelity101 :

That sounds like a fun combo to me.

In reply to NOHOME :

I don't think you can really go wrong with that.

Depends on what I'm dreaming of building.  Right now, my dream engine/trans combo to stuff a Cummins 12V backed by an Allison 6 spd AT with a dual range transfer case into my 1992 E350 to make it 4WD. 

6.0 Jag V12 and Saenz 5 speed. ( dog ring) 

I just love shifting dog rings.  I feel like such a brute doing those clutch less shifts with my throttle foot flat to the floor.  I understand they can even make it sequential rather than H pattern. 

  The 6 liter would be offset ground  and liners taken out to .100 to yield a 7+ liter engine.     With a pair of T4 turbo's and E85 as fuel   1200? Hp!!!!!

My 1600 Cortina with a period Jack Knight 5SP....or a new Quaife 5SP

4G63 to a real mid-engine trans with decent highway gears and still strong enough to bang out quarter mile passes all day every day.  

Even more cooler is if that trans has a provision to run a front transfer shaft as well.  

Yet even more cooler is addressing the coolant situation so the 4G is piped like a proper inline RWD application and not a FWD application turned sideways.

I'll just leave this here. Fun starts around the 30 second mark.

This, mated to a fancy BMW dual clutch transmission should do just fine

NOHOME said:

TKX bolted to the back of an LS.  

 

My lastest 'project' has this setup, and I am digging it.  Very nice combo.  Mandatory new project (the $8K C6) photo:   

The BHW and FS5R30A going into my Mercedes is pretty fantastic honestly.

OM648 backed with a ZF S5-320z would be a close second

I also dream of a Duramax(ask curtis which one) with a ZF S6-750 and a manual shifted transfer case for a snow and highway capable RV dream build.

I really liked my Yamaha FZ1 engine and it's six-speed box. Strong bottom end pull, very strong mid-range, and crazy top-end. You could pootle around town all day long shifting at 2500 rpm, or let it rip to the crazy redline. The gearbox shifted like butter whether you used the clutch or not. 

RadBarchetta said:

In reply to triumph7 :

The 4 speed or the 5 speed?

The 5 speed, LT77

M275 with a robust 6 speed manual. Or even better, m120 with itb's and said transmission. 

It was a factory pairing, but I keep coming back to the B16A/S1 combo that I had in my CRX. The B16A had all the revs–especially after its new computer–while the S1 had that low fifth gear. To quote JG, it was like driving an impact wrench. 

Terrific on track. Not a great highway car, though. 

VW 07k 5cyl with a single turbo and an Audi 01E 6spd transaxle.

In reply to GeddesB :

Where is the TKX mounted, behind the engine normally, or at the rear diff like normal for a C6? 

Interesting project.  Is there a build thread on this?

preach (dudeist priest) said:

VW 07k 5cyl with a single turbo and an Audi 01E 6spd transaxle.

username checks out

I have to say I'm quite happy with the already existing marriage between the N52 and whatever the code for the 6spd manual BMW uses in them.  Silky smooth bottom to top.

In reply to triumph7 :

I got to experience one stuck in 4th gear for a full 2 hour stint. Luckily the Rover V8 has enough grunt to keep moving. I was only a few seconds slower over a 2.25 mile track compared to having all 5 gears 

NOHOME said:

TKX bolted to the back of an LS.  

Not a cheap proposition, but I have learned to be blasé about  6 speed manuals

I keep thinking about this in a Miata.  A higher revving 5.3 build to be specific.  

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

VW 07k 5cyl with a single turbo and an Audi 01E 6spd transaxle.

username checks out

only video I could find that isn't an exhaust-centric video.

IMO a lot of the good sound from a turbo five comes from the intake and the turbo whistle.

750 horsepower at the wheels... not bad for a base model Jetta engine

triumph7 said:

RadBarchetta said:

In reply to triumph7 :

The 4 speed or the 5 speed?

The 5 speed, LT77

Really?? I had a bunch of them in Rover SD1 form and never thought they were that slick. Broke a few of them too

Racingsnake said:

triumph7 said:

RadBarchetta said:

In reply to triumph7 :

The 4 speed or the 5 speed?

The 5 speed, LT77

Really?? I had a bunch of them in Rover SD1 form and never thought they were that slick. Broke a few of them too

Mine was smooth as silk, very direct.

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

NOHOME said:

TKX bolted to the back of an LS.  

Not a cheap proposition, but I have learned to be blasé about  6 speed manuals

I keep thinking about this in a Miata.  A higher revving 5.3 build to be specific.  

I drove a repop '69 Camaro that had an aluminum 565ci big block and one of those Detroit Speed suspensions that used C5 running gear.

It also had a TKX.  All that money in the car and the cheapest trans American Powertrain sold.

The trans was great in the sense that it connected the engine to the driveshaft, but smooth/quick shifting it was not.  Fortunately with nine liters of engine you don't actually need to shift.

Also the trans leaked all over the damn place, from every possible sealing surface, but it may also have been a little bit outside its design limits torque-wise.

I don't like T56s either but the one I put in the Torino from Hell (also 565ci, but 385 series Ford) shifted wonderfully.  And it also didn't leak like a sieve.

(my personal opinion, an engine that big, just throw an automatic in it.  I had a longtime customer with a '67 Camaro that started out as a 468, that we upgraded to 496, and finally a 540, and all the while it had a reverse manual TH350 that just kept on plugging along.  It had an air shifter but I never tried it, honestly I prefer shifting with the shifter anyway)

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

You sure that wasn't a TKO?

It's sad to say, but I actually liked the stock diesel/auto that came in my ex-BMW 524 TD (which I perhaps should not have LS-swapped, but replaced with a Cummins instead).  It was the peppiest diesel of its time, and it got amazing mileage (40 mpg with my driving), even after decades of neglect and 150k of miles.

Anyhoo, I can vouch for the LS3 + TKX (not TKO--TKX shifts perfectly) combo.  It spins a sticky 315-width tire on a 3.07 rear axle like it's nothing, on low RPMs and clutch slip . . .  so much better than turbo LS (for anything other than a 1/4 mile).

I had a friend that had a TKO in a 67 Mustang behind a warm 351W... that trans was the achilles heel of that car.  I have high hopes for the TKX since it's really just a modern T5.  T5s were always nice to drive they just blew up at lower torque. 

I'm posting having only read the thread title.  I prefer manuals and I've never been a Ford guy.

Now that I have that out of the way, the best combo I've driven on the street is a 5.0 Coyote with the 10 speed auto.  Punch it at ANY speed and it gets it right.  Such a pleasure to drive every day as I did for an entire month.  I've also had a 10 speed Camaro 2SS and although the stopwatch will prove the 6.2 to be quicker than the 5.0, it certainly doesn't feel it.  It's a much lazier tune.  392 Scatpack with the 8 speed felt downright doggish compared to the Coyote but the clock says it's right up there if not the fastest of the three.

NOHOME said:

TKX bolted to the back of an LS.  

 

Yeah...go have lunch while I whip up a set of those headers.  Jeebus 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Agree that it sure sounds like a TKO. What you posted was an itemized list of what the TKX is meant to have fixed.

Sweetest power unit/trans I ever owned was this one - Lamborghini 4.0 with 5 speed all synchro (including reverse). Exceptionally  flexible - I could lug it from 1500 rpm in 5th gear and it would have pulled cleanly to the top speed in the 165 mph range, sounding glorious all the way.  Very reliable but of course expensive if you needed parts and if you took them to an Italian mechanic you paid a luxury surcharge over what you would pay for similar work on any other car (I did most of my own work and sourced parts from other cars - they used a mix of Lucas and Girling stuff with the usual Marelli etc.).

They used this engine in the Islero, Islero S, Espada, and Jarama in front engine form and in the Miura etc, in mid engined form with a suitable transaxle.