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Will a high-performance trans build last longer under mostly normal driving?
If a trans has had a competent performance build, does that generally translate to longer life assuming regular fluid changes and almost exclusively street driving (sometimes spirited) or not necessarily? I say almost exclusively - it may or may not ever see a day at the track depending on if I lower the seat enough so that I can fit in it with a helmet on. The main thing is it's not going to be frequently getting beat on from a dead stop.
When I got it I don't think it had 200 miles on it since the trans was built, it's runs fine.
I've been driving since 1959 and have never had auto tranny problems with any car I've ever owned. Some of my cars I've logged over 250k on the OEM trannies. The key I believe is keeping the fluid fresh. I've used Mobil 1 synthetic once it was available and change the fluid and filter every 50k or so. One important thing is that if the engine is ever over heated, change the fluid as there's a good chance it was cooked lessening its lubricating ability. This is with normal driving with periodic running it thru the gears so to speak.
Assuming a quality rebuild, the only real threat with the driving conditions you describe is heat. It is the number one cause of automatic transmission failure.
With a good quality stall converter you won't give up anything. If you go with a cheap one it may generate a lot more heat. I don't know if you are using a hi stall converter or not ,but that is the place you will most likely lose service life due to heat.
NOT Vette related but proves the point:
We had a 2002 Grand Caravan AWD with the towing package (separate trans & PS coolers). Many AWD Caravan owners were going thru trans every 60K and tried a Class-Action lawsuit for it.
I drove/beat ours for 170K miles (towing/hauling overloaded, etc) changing trans fluids regularly on the original trans that still shifted like new when i sold it.
Cool fluids and regular swaps keep em alive.
Will a high-performance trans build last longer under mostly normal driving?
