4+3 Transmission
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Instructor
Joined: Aug 2001
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From: Millington Mi
4+3 Transmission
I've seen on this forum that some older cars have a "4+3" Transmission. I'm just curious as to what this transmission is exactly? As near as I can tell it's a 7 speed manual???? But I don't really know what I'm talking about.
Just curious
thanks
Just curious
thanks
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,468
Likes: 147
From: Conway, SC
Re: 4+3 Transmission (Bradley33)
The 4+3 is a 4 speed manual transmission with overdrive in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. It's a very different transmission (my 88 has it) and is not one of my favorites! I'd much prefer a 6 speed, but that's what the 88 has so I've got used to the strangeness of it! The 4+3 has developed a reputation of possibly becoming a problem and that in itself can be a problem as not too many people know how to work on them, or so I've heard, but so far I've been lucky. Since I'm not super mechanically inclined, I can't give you the specifics, but I'm sure others will jump in with an explanation of how it works!
Lemon Peel aka Elaine
Lemon Peel aka Elaine
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2000
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Re: 4+3 Transmission (LemonPeel)
Not many know how to work on them but I know of 2 guys who most certainly do ;)
The 4+3 was Doug Nash's passive aggressive cruel joke on the world :lol:
It consists of a 4-speed manual transmition (essentially a borg-warner super T-10) mated to a 2-speed automatic. The automatic's 1st gear is your normal range and its 2nd gear is your OD range. This is not incredibly usefull unless in 4th gear because the ratio of a gear when in OD is almost identical to the next higher gear (2nd OD is almost exactly the same ratio as 3rd normal. 4th OD would be like 5th gear if there were one...).
The 4-speed unit is not bad, infact a 4-speed gate is a bit less confusing than a 6-speed gate, the thing that gives the 4+3 a bad name is its poorly designed OD unit (the 2-speed auto). Most of the bugs were worked out by '87 and '88. It's kindof a screwy idea to add that much complication when it really isn't necesary... but it's what I got and it's not bad.
The 4+3 was Doug Nash's passive aggressive cruel joke on the world :lol:
It consists of a 4-speed manual transmition (essentially a borg-warner super T-10) mated to a 2-speed automatic. The automatic's 1st gear is your normal range and its 2nd gear is your OD range. This is not incredibly usefull unless in 4th gear because the ratio of a gear when in OD is almost identical to the next higher gear (2nd OD is almost exactly the same ratio as 3rd normal. 4th OD would be like 5th gear if there were one...).
The 4-speed unit is not bad, infact a 4-speed gate is a bit less confusing than a 6-speed gate, the thing that gives the 4+3 a bad name is its poorly designed OD unit (the 2-speed auto). Most of the bugs were worked out by '87 and '88. It's kindof a screwy idea to add that much complication when it really isn't necesary... but it's what I got and it's not bad.
