OK here the deal: My GT w\ AODE has less than 60K miles, been pretty much maintainted very well and have slowly been adding MODS to it. Unfortunately the AODE is not a very responsive tranny, so I end up doing alot of manual shifting. Bad news is that I just smoked my trans (3rd gear no longer exists). Now Im not the most mechanical person in the world but love my stang (which is why I am here).
I got qouted about $1200-1400 to rebuild the trans back to OEM specs. My though was 'well if im going to be spending that kind of money, maybe I should get something a little more heavy-duty so Im not in the same situation in a year.' The guy at the shop said he could add a shift kit to make the trans more responsive. I dont think this translates into 'heavy-duty' though. I think most of the cost would be labor related at the shop...
Im just a street guy, no racing or anything (maybe someday), but do drive the stang hard. Would this be a good time to upgrade to a performance trans? Are there any good companies that could be recommended? Whats the best bang-for-the-buck: a entirely new trans or getting mine rebuilt + shift kit?
I found a guy on EBAY that deals with remanufacured performance transmissions and it sounds like a better package vs. the orignal tranny rebuild + a shift kit. Seems like a pretty good deal for the $, and would probably require less labor. What do you think?