Fiddling With Slushy

[Sykohtic]

Long story made short, is there ANYTHING that I can do to improve the slush box in my car? Obviously no auto is ever gonna be a manual, but I figure the auto with a rebuilt torque converter in my car (car has under 130k with the tranny not including the converter rebuild, which has maybe 8k or 9k) is pretty solid and should handle like 230 bhp without issue. I've heard that 250 bhp is pushing it past reliability, so I figure 210 to 230 bhp shouldn't be too much on it, or is it?

I want to upgrade the cams in my car eventually and tune it to redline at 7k, which is only 300 rpms more to begin with. Can the transmission take that, and is there anything I can do to make the most out of the 3 gears + overdrive?

[jlevie]

Short of a five-speed swap, no.

[Sykohtic]

Short of a five-speed swap, no.

Can the autos even be tuned to higher shift points? I guess that they are fully mechanical in nature and not electronically controlled being as old as it is.

Also... Could one maybe change the gears out in an auto? Or is the geometry just impossible?

[Andy.B]

I just swapped a manual to a five speed. Getting the bloated transmission out was the hardest part of the job. Seriously.
Adding go fast parts to an automatic is a complete waste. The automatic transmission in e30s is terrible. It is honestly tough to put into words how bad they are, and how much the car is improved by swapping to a manual.

[Sykohtic]

I just swapped a manual to a five speed. Getting the bloated transmission out was the hardest part of the job. Seriously.
Adding go fast parts to an automatic is a complete waste. The automatic transmission in e30s is terrible. It is honestly tough to put into words how bad they are, and how much the car is improved by swapping to a manual.

I appreciate the feedback, and I know ultimately you're right. I know that the car NEEDS a 5spd swap. That's what I want. I know how horrible the slush box is, I've been driving it long enough to feel how held back the poor car feels. I also know its actually quite easy. Unfortunately, it isn't my name on the title at the moment. Embarrassingly enough, it happens to be the name of my father. And unless I really do some talking, which so far hasn't worked, he won't let me swap the car to a manual while he still owns it.

It would be as simple as dropping him $2500 to claim ownership, however with me being in college and unsure at the moment of where I will sit income wise when I return to college, the car is too expensive for me to own 100% by myself thanks to the insurance from my... excursions into not so legal territory in terms of traffic law. Literally, the closest I can get to a manual at the moment would be to sell my car and buy a car with a manual already installed, which is also a problem considering:
A. I don't want to really let go of my car. It's where all my money goes at the moment when I'm not paying for something that's really essential. I put the entire cooling system with the exception of the water pump all in it and back together and reassembled the entire front end (this sounds like nothing to most on here, but for an 18, now 19, year old kid who had never before worked on a car in that intensive a manner, it seemed big) so I know most of what's in the car.
B. Here in NC, my selection for another E30 with a manual and respectable miles with an M20B25 (because sorry, I'm just not interested in a 318 unless it has a turbo) is pretty nonexistent for under 4 or 5 grand. And really, I'd be REALLY reluctant to drop to even an i-model from my is-model unless suspension work was all properly done with everything from coilovers (or spring and shock setup) down to the sway bars and bushings, something that really isn't likely to happen around here unless you have 7 or 8 grand to drop on a car (unless said car had 200+ on the odometer which while I have 100% faith in the fact that these engines run forever, I just wont spend more than a couple grand on that sort of mileage unless I know where every speck of dust on the engine came from and/or the engine has been rebuilt). So probably my options for getting a manual right now do not include my current car until at least a while of very careful driving to convince the title holder that I'll keep my sanity when a 5spd is swapped in.

So long story made short, if you skipped all that, I just need to find some kind of compromise that my dad will allow, and if I can figure out how to do some slight transmission performance boost to put the car in a position to accept the mods I want to add, which won't do more for it than boost up to 200-210 bhp anyway, and do said adjustments without swapping just yet, then that would be the compromise I could force myself to live with until I can afford to 100% support the car on my own.

Ive read that it is possible to adjust shift points using a transmission linkage that runs to the throttle body? is this true at all?

[HennaE30]

Fiddling With Slushy

I appreciate the feedback, and I know ultimately you're right. I know that the car NEEDS a 5spd swap. That's what I want. I know how horrible the slush box is, I've been driving it long enough to feel how held back the poor car feels. I also know its actually quite easy. Unfortunately, it isn't my name on the title at the moment. Embarrassingly enough, it happens to be the name of my father. And unless I really do some talking, which so far hasn't worked, he won't let me swap the car to a manual while he still owns it.

It would be as simple as dropping him $2500 to claim ownership, however with me being in college and unsure at the moment of where I will sit income wise when I return to college, the car is too expensive for me to own 100% by myself thanks to the insurance from my... excursions into not so legal territory in terms of traffic law. Literally, the closest I can get to a manual at the moment would be to sell my car and buy a car with a manual already installed, which is also a problem considering:
A. I don't want to really let go of my car. It's where all my money goes at the moment when I'm not paying for something that's really essential. I put the entire cooling system with the exception of the water pump all in it and back together and reassembled the entire front end (this sounds like nothing to most on here, but for an 18, now 19, year old kid who had never before worked on a car in that intensive a manner, it seemed big) so I know most of what's in the car.
B. Here in NC, my selection for another E30 with a manual and respectable miles with an M20B25 (because sorry, I'm just not interested in a 318 unless it has a turbo) is pretty nonexistent for under 4 or 5 grand. And really, I'd be REALLY reluctant to drop to even an i-model from my is-model unless suspension work was all properly done with everything from coilovers (or spring and shock setup) down to the sway bars and bushings, something that really isn't likely to happen around here unless you have 7 or 8 grand to drop on a car (unless said car had 200+ on the odometer which while I have 100% faith in the fact that these engines run forever, I just wont spend more than a couple grand on that sort of mileage unless I know where every speck of dust on the engine came from and/or the engine has been rebuilt). So probably my options for getting a manual right now do not include my current car until at least a while of very careful driving to convince the title holder that I'll keep my sanity when a 5spd is swapped in.

So long story made short, if you skipped all that, I just need to find some kind of compromise that my dad will allow, and if I can figure out how to do some slight transmission performance boost to put the car in a position to accept the mods I want to add, which won't do more for it than boost up to 200-210 bhp anyway, and do said adjustments without swapping just yet, then that would be the compromise I could force myself to live with until I can afford to 100% support the car on my own.

Ive read that it is possible to adjust shift points using a transmission linkage that runs to the throttle body? is this true at all?

Can your dad not drive a manual or something?

Don't mod the car with an auto, just save up and buy the car from him, Then do your 5 speed swap (or convince him to let you do the swap) then you can mod to your hearts content. The E30s autotragic transmissions are pieces of crap.

Modding an auto E30 is like French kissing your sister. you could do it, but why would you want to?


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[russc]

The autos aren't that bad, hah! They aren't incredible, but I'd rather drive a slushbox e30 than a manual truck.

I would say just suck it up and live with the slushbox for now, while putting the swap parts together on the side. If you can't own the car, it is what it is.

Another idea would be to just add suspension components for now, so it handles like its on rails.

[MPLFoster]

So pops will let you mod the engine up to 200hp but won't let you do a 5-spd swap?

Weird.

Just do some exhaust, intake and ECU mods and wait till you own it to swap out the trans. Just those will make it slightly more fun for now.