C3 Transmission Swap - Grabbin' New Gears, Part 2

Dick McCord, the principle design engineer of the Borg Warner T-56 and now Keisler's chief engineer, demonstrated shifting of the T45-RS on the Test Stand machine. The Test Stand is one of the original machines from Muncie Transmission plant used in the '90s. It has a large servo motor that runs the transmission as high as 6000 rpm. Notice the safety shield. The Test Stand also has a full computer control and data collection system, and the machine is designed to run 24/7 and record the shift quality and transmission performance.

T45-RS as it is packed up. Special dunnage was developed to support the transmission. Each unit is painted either argent silver (GM) or electric blue (Ford shown), or left natural for the customer to paint or polish.

Now we were ready for the test drive in the C3.

When you are testing a transmission, you need to drive the car in a multitude of driving conditions to really get a feel for the car and how that transmission is performing.

As we got out on the road, the first thing I noticed about the T45-RS was how similar the shift gate feel was to the original Muncie in contrast to the Tremec TKO.

While I was on the 2-lane roads, I kept the car in 3rd and 4th gear most of the time and the car responded instantaneously to every shift with ease.

A TKO typically feels somwhat "notchy" when you shift from one gear to the next where the T45-RS feels very much like a new Muncie transmission felt back when they were brand new.

Out on the expressway, the T45-RS performed very well with no complaints. Whether at low or high speeds, I could hear absolutely no gear whine whatsoever.

The T45-RS shifts very easily and can actually be shifted with one finger if you like, even with the optional C3 replica shift handle that we used on this install.

Even at high speed at 75-80 MPH, there still was no indication of any vibration through the shifter. Most cars have some drivetrain vibration at some point in their power curve (especially manually-equipped cars) but I never found it with the T45-RS.

This transmission is one of the quietest transmissions I have ever driven in any vehicle...ever. I drove the car for about an hour and I enjoyed every minute of it.