Venom XR

Do not bank on SII being released Sept '04. BA Falcon is doing very well, and minor updates and things such as the Falcon Classic/SR are the order of the day, rather than a model update.

Most of you probably have seen 'Mandarin'. I believe it's the metallic orange used on the R7 prototype which became Territory.

Guys, Optimax *IS* BP Ultimate or vice versa, depends on whether your state has a BP refinery, or a Shell one. So for VIC, NSW, ACT they are both from Shell, in QLD/WA it's BP. I don't know if each adds anything beyond the refinery but the fuel is generaly the same - any difference you feel could be purely mental, or your particular servo is dodgy or something.

To my knowledge the Hillier boys have not done an BA Coupe, though I might see if I can get an update from Troy. They are fairly snowed under doing their normal jobs - hearse conversions. There was no followup to the Hillier/Autotek Raptor gullwing ute this year due to their work commitments. I was at the motorshow in 2003 when the other BA Coupe was there (which has been said is the product of a Melbourne company), and I know what the Hilliers thought of that effort...

How about UTERUS You could have a big sticker on the rear glass... "Born in the Tray!" or something like that...

Just NOS? NOS is a brand, what about other Nitrous Oxide kits?

Except Brians car isn't factory, and the original post was about a replacement gearbox for factory cars. Ford won't match a gearbox spec to the aftermarket whims of people like Brian. The Brian's of this world are always going to have to look at upgrades to areas such as driveline when making the sort of mods he has to the engine and he's done that, but we're talking factory spec here and I think you've forgotten that whilst arguing the quality of the shift in Brian's car (which no one is doubting). Ford are not going to put an aftermarket gearbox such as the Mal Wood-modified T56 in factory cars, the cost would be prohibitive - full stop. If they did, what would Mal Wood do besides service such gearboxes? It's to his benefit Ford throw in 'on the limit' drivelines into cars such as the XR6T which are undergoing such large performance upgrades. It'll be a factory T56, TR3650 (something that's off the shelf from Tremec as they do several variants of each), or a factory something else like a Getrag. They might decide to stick with the T5 for all we know. FPV are a slightly different story, they might decide mods to an existing gearbox are worth the extra cost.

Just to expand on the Ford-Jet Fighter thing, think about the FPV Turbo's name in full. F6 Typhoon F-14 Tomcat F-15 Eagle FA-18 Hornet If that was intentional on FPV's behalf, then I consider that to be rather clever! As the FPV Territory is (rumoured?) to be called Hurricane, then that theme is being continued. Perhaps the complete name should be FR6/FA6 Hurricane (Ford RWD/AWD 6 ...) Maybe FPV could then do an F4 Spitfire (Turbo Focus!)

FPV can't use the XR branding, as that's a Ford brand. I think the Typhoon pick up was actually made by GMC, not Ford.

You'd have to assume they'd use the Tremec TR-3650 5 speed manual.

More like 1890kg (4024lbs) Hmmm.... I just had to go back and check of course. I am not a close follower of these vehicles but after checking I found the E34 was listed at 1670 kg. Must be the one I had in mind??? I also see that the newer models are around 1800kg - as with all makes and models weights seem to be very vaguely represented BMW M5 Specs Heavy sucker. In any case, the Getrag 6 speed is a great box.

More like 1890kg (4024lbs)

Brian, you feel your requirements are obviously beyond the T5, and you've already committed yourself to a trans conversion. If someone else decides to post a thread about the existing gearbox including a poll then why do you have to dictate the terms in regards to your special needs? Really, this poll is relevant to those with a T5 as 100%'s first post indicated. You're not relevant here, so rather than bury the poll, why don't you post elsewhere on what people's experiences are with a T56 upgrade? But as far as the T5 goes, my experiences have been good. My first T5 survived 292,000 k's without a rebuild and was the best part of the car went it left my hands. My current T5 has been modified with a short-throw SureShift shifter from Herrod Motorsport, and a short shifter shaft from Battens Performance Tuning. The old 2nd to 3rd shift problems are all but gone. I can confidently shift in anger, and do 2nd to 4th, 4th-5th, 5th-to any other gear, etc without any dramas. The position of the gearknob thanks to the shorter shaft is also a big improvement and it feels 100% more comfortable. Slotting into reverse is perhaps the only issue I still have with the gearbox. However, I find if I take it easy, slot into 5th then reverse it's ok.

In NSW/VIC/ACT/TAS your BP Ultimate is Shell Optimax. In WA and QLD Optimax is BP Ultimate. The refineries have a sharing arrangement. I'll use either fuel, as there's no difference. Have never used anything but 98 RON fuel unless I've been forced too by lack of proper fuel.

The XR8 runs a Tremec TR-3650 box, first used in the T3 cars. Their torque handling is rated at 488Nm, though the TR-3650-2 is rated at 528Nm.

Obviously your requirements are a lot different and thus wouldn't apply to you, I'm not sure how many members are planning 700-800NM loads on the gearbox. Perhaps you didn't understand the post though - I said upgrade, not purchase a compete gearbox. The dog box 'upgrade' kit is 1750 pounds, or $4k roughly AUD. That's 4 grand short of the T56 replacement to cover shipping, GST/import duty and a clutch easy. The G-Force set is $1800 for the complete kit which is roughly $2.5k AUD, $5.5k cheaper again than a T56 replacement. Not sure where you got the $3500 figure from. These are of course, just yet another potential option for those with various requirements and wallet sizes.

With T56 etc kits starting at $8K+, has anyone considered upgrading the T5 rather swapping out the box? The T5 is a very common transmission used in a large variety of cars for a number of years, and because of that various companies have developed components for use in racing (strack/strip) to beef up the T5. Do a search, but the following links give you a general idea of what is available. G-Force T5 5 Speed Gear Sets Glebe Borg Warner T5 Dog Box Kit The second URL is all the info I could find on this kit because the Glebe site appears to be out of action. I'm not sure what local development on the T5 has occurred over the years but plenty has occurred overseas someone could exploit here.

If your concern is pad/rotor life, ask DBA about the 4000 series, as they can be supplied without slots.

Avoid the gold drilled/slotted if you plan on giving the brakes a hard time (ie, track work.) Stick with the slotted rotors. Better yet, spend a few more $$ and get the 4000 series slotted rotors.

It wasn't that long ago Martin was extolling the virtues of the 6T to the LS1 boys when he had the red ute (that was the star of the XR6T articles in ZOOM.) Depends what the newest toy in the shed is I s'pose.

Peter, the latest Street Machine mag has a 'news bit' on the increasing XR6T tuning battle, naming yourselves and Nizpro as the chief combatants. They mentioned the ute that ran 11:36 was Phase III with some Phase IV bits and we know how slow the print media is compared to the 'net. The XR6T article in the mag is based on the Nizpro Stage II kit (350kW.) It claims they aiming at 10sec 1/4s and eventually 1000HP so the line has been drawn in the sand, so to speak. The article ends with a reminder of the APS ute mentioned in the news bit which is more good news for APS. I notice the Nizpro article (and ad as well) don't mentioned ADR noise and emissions legality which put you guys even further in front. So, how's about that 10sec APS T, followed by the 1000HP unit.

I assume the test was part of Motor's annual top speed test article so that is an outstanding result. Congrats! I know the guys at Corsa Special Vehicles were keen to have their weapons tested after just missing out last year. Be interesting to read if they did run, and what the reactions were!

I've only been in the Geelong area for a year (Lara...) and other than Rex Gorrells where the car has been twice for warranty stuff (and who didn't do as good a job as Ford dealers I've been to previously,) I'm not up to scratch on the best place to get work done on a modern Ford. I know there a few on the forum in the area, so if anyone can suggest good places for the following type of work it would be greatly appreciated! My car is out of warranty so I'm not intending to return to Gorrells. - General servicing (when I can't be stuffed doing certain things myself) - Diff and driveline (I'm predicting carrier bearing replacement work soon...) - Suspension and steering (ball joints are still an issue, damnit and I need a good wheel alignment now that my pro-sport suspension has settled.) I know Hoppers Stoppers are only up the road for brakes (and when they need servicing I might consider replacing them instead) and I've got wheels and tyres covered already. Thanks!

1000HP?

Peter, I wasn't told it was confidential info when the subject was raised. I did speak directly to the source (he was a friend of a friend guys, but I was discussing the packages with him myself - my friend is a Expensive Daewoo fan and doesn't give a rats about the XR6T) and he was very enthusiastic about what was possible after explaining about the Phase 3 and 4 kits. He said the target was achievable based on what was rumoured to have been found by Ford during the cars initial development (about which we've all heard varying rumours...) I hope he doesn't get into any trouble if this was meant to be kept private. However, I know there will be 1000HP XR6Ts in the future and if APS are one such producer of them then that would be great.