V1 jpr's City Goblin - 07/08 LT donor

[jpr]

Will it do a money shift? Not that you'd ever want it to. Just curious.

Ha, we actually pushed up to that. And no, turns out the torque converter seems to limit how much damage you can actually do. It'll still rev like crazy but RPM's do stop short of redline when you try it.

 

[Lonny]

If you are at the engine rpm redline and accidently hit the down shift button does it allow the transmission to downshift? I am wondering if you are able to mechanically over rev the engine.

I am very interested in using one of these, sounds cool.

 

[jpr]

If you are at the engine rpm redline and accidently hit the down shift button does it allow the transmission to downshift? I am wondering if you are able to mechanically over rev the engine.

I am very interested in using one of these, sounds cool.

You can downshift at any time, but the torque converter seems to slip and prevent you from doing any actual harm to the engine. We only tested it at full send once though, so data's a little incomplete. I'm satisfied that it's safe, but reluctant to rigorously test that conclusion =)

 

[Briann1177]

If you are at the engine rpm redline and accidently hit the down shift button does it allow the transmission to downshift? I am wondering if you are able to mechanically over rev the engine.

I am very interested in using one of these, sounds cool.

That's what a money shift is.

 

[JSATX]

I never ever thought I’d say this but **** I kinda wish I had an auto now.

I really just need to get a second goblin I guess.

 

[jpr]

I never ever thought I’d say this but **** I kinda wish I had an auto now.

I really just need to get a second goblin I guess.

Here, I'll just save you a bunch of work: let's trade =D

 

[jpr]

Notes from autocrossing this weekend!

First and most importantly - great fun was had and nothing got broken. Having not done much performance driving, and never really having driven a RWD or MR car before, it was sure an educational experience. Braking in turns = bad. My brain knew that, but my foot had to learn. Oops.

Car-specific stuff:
-Knocked my knee against the key on my first pass through the slalom, turning it to ACC. May be going through the pushbutton start thread for inspiration later - moving my foot farther forward was a fine solution for the day though.
-After a couple hot laps Friday night, I tightened up the front springs several turns and clicked in about half the shocks. That seemed to work great during Sunday's autocross.
-The "manumatic" worked great. Definitely the weak point of the system is the hard 1-2 shift. So after the first run, I ended up just starting in 2nd and leaving it alone for the whole course. On the last run of the day, I turned on the TCC and lopped about 3s off my time. Made the acceleration feel a lot more immediate, so I don't think it was all attributable to improving technique. There's a line pressure adjustment input for the system that I'm not currently using, and that may be something to explore in the future, along with steering wheel-mounted shift inputs.
-Countersteering is a real challenge with a little over 3 turns lock-to-lock on the Cobalt rack. Once the rear end lets loose, it's pretty difficult to pull yourself back together. If anyone can suggest a quicker rack that would work, I'm all ears. A friend drives a Focus ST that has something like 2 turns lock-to-lock, but that seems like it'd require quite a bit of machining to make it work. Will be researching this for sure though.
-That said, tires were definitely the weak point on this particular car. Dates are longer ago than I'd care to admit (just using the tires that were on the RPF1's when I bought them) and my Rival-S's won't be here for a couple weeks yet. Looking forward to getting more grip though.
-Since it's so small, finding the car in grid could be a challenge. Fortunately, I was generally able to locate it by looking near small crowds.

All in all, my only regret is that the next local autocross I'll be able to actually make isn't until July. I guess that just means I have more time to tinker and tune until then.

 

[JSATX]

Notes from autocrossing this weekend!

-The "manumatic" worked great. Definitely the weak point of the system is the hard 1-2 shift. So after the first run, I ended up just starting in 2nd and leaving it alone for the whole course. On the last run of the day, I turned on the TCC and lopped about 3s off my time. Made the acceleration feel a lot more immediate, so I don't think it was all attributable to improving technique. There's a line pressure adjustment input for the system that I'm not currently using, and that may be something to explore in the future, along with steering wheel-mounted shift inputs.

-Countersteering is a real challenge with a little over 3 turns lock-to-lock on the Cobalt rack. Once the rear end lets loose, it's pretty difficult to pull yourself back together. If anyone can suggest a quicker rack that would work, I'm all ears.

What do you mean by TCC?

There are several universal steering quickeners out there in 1.5:1 and 2:1 ratios. I’ve often considered adding one it’s just not that high on the list

 

[Ross]

If you want faster steering, move the rack's ball joint forward to the red star. The blue line is the king pin pivot for the steering. The closer the red star gets to the blue line, the faster the steering is.
Since the ball joint is a tapered hole, maybe this could be an new part offered by Doyle Fabrication Inc. Somebody here has already done this... I remember reading about it.

Update: It is easier to redrill the 2 bolt holes in the billet aluminum steering arm to the billet aluminum uprights. These holes are not tapered,
and result in the tapered hole being located where the red star is.

 

[k.rollin]

What do you mean by TCC?

Torque converter clutch

 

[JSATX]

So the aftermarket trans controller has a way to select if the TCC is engaged or not? Or is that an OEM function?

I wonder if HP tuners could control that. Like it’s automatically locked if wheel speed is above 5mph or something. Makes sense that it increases performance, I’m not sure why you would not want it locked any time you’re moving.

 

[jpr]

So the aftermarket trans controller has a way to select if the TCC is engaged or not? Or is that an OEM function?

Yep, the aftermarket trans controller has a momentary switch that toggles it on or off. When you shift, it automatically disengages.

Good for about a 1k RPM drop in 4th on the highway too.

eta: you're right that you'd generally want it engaged when you're moving. The OEM trans controller pretty much does exactly that. The aftermarket one doesn't know how fast you're going, so it'll happily keep it engaged right down to 0 MPH and 0 RPM. I've had that happen a couple of times.

 

[JSATX]

Yep, the aftermarket trans controller has a momentary switch that toggles it on or off. When you shift, it automatically disengages.

Good for about a 1k RPM drop in 4th on the highway too.

eta: you're right that you'd generally want it engaged when you're moving. The OEM trans controller pretty much does exactly that. The aftermarket one doesn't know how fast you're going, so it'll happily keep it engaged right down to 0 MPH and 0 RPM. I've had that happen a couple of times.

Oh so with your flappy paddles you could also have a fake clutch pedal that activates the TCC switch for coming to a stop haha. Because race car.

 

[JSATX]

JPR can we get another update on the trans controller? Friend with an Auto is considering it and I'm still on the fence.

 

[jpr]

JPR can we get another update on the trans controller? Friend with an Auto is considering it and I'm still on the fence.

I'd get it if you do any performance driving whatsoever with the car. If you get a 2P4T switch you can still use automatic mode when you want.

Mine's performing flawlessly, ~3000 miles since install. If I don't SS swap my power train this winter I'll be fabbing some paddles to go behind the steering wheel.

 

[LotusAM]

JPR,

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I have some questions regarding the e-TransControl unit. I bought an automatic Goblin from someone and was thinking of either doing the e-TransControl or a F23 manual swap. I think the manual swap might be too involved.

1. How's the shifting working out a year later? Has it burned up the torque converter yet?
2. How fast is the shifting once you click the button/paddle? A lot of paddle shifters take a second or two to respond before they actually change gears which is why most people still like manuals.
3. Did you ever do paddle shifters or are you still using the buttons?

Thanks for any help you can give,
Adam

 

[jpr]

Hi Adam,

The controller is still working great a year on. I haven't done a ton of driving lately (probably have 4k on it since install), but it's done a season and change worth of autocross in those miles. I was lazy this winter (and/or working on other projects) and I'm still on buttons. I've gotten used to them though and it's not significantly different muscle memory than operating a stick.

The controller is *reasonably* responsive, but it's still probably half a second from button press to shifter actuation. You also have to lift momentarily for the 1-2 shift, otherwise the engine controller gets confused and limits you to very minimal power. I don't think it's any slower than a stick shift from decision point to shift actuation, but it's a little less connected.

If I had to do it again, I'd build as a manual. One of these winters I'm gonna stick swap it. I installed an automatic switch so my wife would be comfortable driving it, but I never drive it in automatic mode and for all that effort, I'm also the only one who drives it. Oops.

The hard part is that the transmission controller is a couple hundred bucks - same as pulling a stick shift. It's just a question of what kind of work you'd rather do - mostly electrical or mostly mechanical.

 

[LotusAM]

JPR,

Thanks for the quick response! I might look more into doing a manual swap, but pretty much all forum posts suggest not doing one or that you would basically need a donor because of all of the parts needed. I might just leave my current one alone and, if I really like the platform, I'll just wait to build the turbocharged manual that I want. Sourcing a nice set of paddle shifters and a new steering wheel on top of the controller will get expensive. The Switchblade that they have looks appealing. It's kind of like a poor man's Powerglide shifter.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[jpr]

Couple photos from the most recent autocross event. I've added 1.5 degrees of camber on the rears and that helped substantially with cornering grip. Still on the BFG Rival S's. A friend stuck Hoosiers on his Exocet for this event and spanked me - cracking into the 59's while my best time was a 63.995.

 

[benjy]

Have any pics with a bike on it?