alright guys, i just wanna say "HI", my names john and this is my first thread. I just bought a 99 gs300 and this is my first lexus. I have had 2 Na-T supras and am a moderator on clubna-t.com. I know the non VVT-I 2jz very well but this is the first time im dealing with a VVT-I. So i just wanna say hi to the comunity and i hope i can help some people out as well as you guys get me up to speed on the lexus stuff. so heres my first thoughts about my first project:


ok guys, this is something ive been thinking of and not sure how to go about it of if its even attainable. i just bought a 99 gs300 and am going na-t and going to be shimming the tranny and turning up the line pressure to be able to handle alittle more HP than the stock auto. but heres my thoughts on what id like to do, so if you know if its possible without any new programming or something, help me out.

i want to take the auto, and kinda turn it into auto manual. like id have one of the settings like "L" as in low that you can put the shifter in, and have that trip a switch to turn the car into an auto manual, so i would be able to control the shifts and it would never shift without me controling it. so i could make like paddle shifters or something and have that as my fun boost setting.

i dont know how the tranny knows to shift, like if its just coming from the computer and its a line i could splice off so in that setting it wouldnt get that signal to shift and just have those signals on the paddles or something. i hope you guys get what im saying buy this but thats my idea and i think it would be awsome for us auto guys so we didnt have to worry about it up shifting under higher boost and ****ing things up.

and just another point, the 99 gs300 doesnt have a auto manual mode, its just got "D,4,3,2,L" and its not a easy thing to shift between and wouldnt be practacle to try and shift that way.

 

anybody? i was looking at the suprastick but it is not compatable with our ecu's

 

Welcome to Club Lexus!

There's quite a few knowledgeable folks on here, hopefully one of them will come in chime in on the topic.

 

Hey man welcome to Club Lexus!
On to your question about the trans in your 99 gs300. the trans code is A650E. this trans uses at least 5 if not more solenoids to control shifting as well as line pressure. The real crappy part about this trans compared to the Supra trans is that it uses 3 gears and a overdrive gear. I know that it uses a combination of overdrive and another gear for 3rd making this the weak point in the trans. The only company to have success with built A650E's is IPT transmissions. They also have a manual shift box that can be installed in the car to actuate the solenoids(although I've never seen their setup on a GS).I'm actually going with there built auto in my TTGS400. Also I think there is another member going with same trans in his GS400. his screen name is HI98GS.
Hope this helps with the project!
Allen

 

lol, yea good info but that doesnt help me really. I am planning on doing a r154 or a v160 swap in the future but wanted to find a cheap way to make my tranny handle alittle more boost. im just going to turn up the line pressure and shim the actuators to handle like 12psi or so. than when i do the swap i can turn that **** up to 30psi ;-) lol.

 

if you want your tranny to last. For 12psi you only need to get a tranny cooler and the valvebody. At 400+ rwhp you will have to get that sprag gear. After 500rwhp you should consider clutch packs. Since you are talking about 30psi later down the road, I suggest getting all of these things done at one time. Also, lets not forget a Torque convertor. Building boost off the line take care off all those all wheel drive cars and those torque moster cars. Cost is roughly $2000 to $3000. Although, a manual tranny is great nothing beats a Auto when it comes to racing. I've raced and beating faster cars than mine because the driver shifting skills were suspect.

Later, Jose