Let's face it... Drag racing competitively on a synchronized transmission is not only painfully expensive, but also extremely frustrating. Some might even say it's a waste of time! I have been locked out of gears at high rpm, had gear failures, mis-shifts, and multiple ruined synchronizer rings over the past 2 years while running the V160 under extreme horsepower.

Not only is broken parts a problem, but the speed at which you can shift is limited by the synchronizers. Trying to go fast with a giant turbo, and still using a synchro box is a battle I have been losing. I have always ran nitrous to combat the car coming out of power between shifts... but nitrous has also caused me failures. I have cracked the intake manifold more than once due to backfires.

While I have not had any issues with my synchro GR1000 transmission since I made the change, I have been watching videos of the Honda guys running faceplated/dogbox transmissions. These guys use a strain gauge to interrupt power, which make the shifts lightning fast. This allows full throttle shifting. Not only that, but I saw Len Bacon's orange RX7 pick up massive ET (a half second!!!) by switching from a factory transmission to a g-force. So basically it's time to quit playing around... I know I am loosing tons of ET continuing with these synchro boxes.

You could faceplate a V160... but now that parts are impossible to find that would be a waste of time. One broken trans and you would be screwed... This is one of the reasons I swapped to the Tremec T56 Magnum. There is so much more aftermarket support available for the magnum. Sequential shifters, faceplating, gear ratios, etc etc! And when you need to do a rebuild... parts are readily available! I have seen so many people gouging others selling discontinued V160 parts.

From Left: synchronized gear, Pro-shifted gear, Faceplated gear

 

So, about 3 months ago I placed an order for a faceplated transmission. It has billet shift forks, is fully cryogenically treated, and has everything the GR1000 has but then add on faceplated 1st-4th gears. It is the ULTIMATE 6-speed transmission.

The transmission has been sitting in my garage for about a month, waiting for me to install. An opportunity came up to run a 1/2 mile event locally and I figured what better time than now to throw this box in and give it a test.

I do not want to run nitrous at the 1/2 mile, so shifting speed is of utmost importance. To me, it was a no brainer to try this transmission and see how much faster it could be shifted... and how much better it can keep me in power on shifts. 

Here is an example of a faceplated gear. Notice the synchros only have about 5-6 teeth

 

I did some street testing on the transmission, and the video below is the first time I ever drove the car on the GR1000F. First impressions are that this thing is amazing! I need to adjust the clutch a bit, as its engaging way too far up off the floor, so gear changes are still a bit slower than they could be. I am anxious to really push this box to the limit.

So am I completely done with synchronized boxes? Hell no, I am still going to chase that record! I will be back, but this is gonna be used at the 1/2 mile and I might do some 1/4 mile testing with it as well.