VE SSV Transmission - Reprogramming to mod Active Select?

[RustyCardores]

Has anybody found someone who can reprogram the 6spd auto in an AFM SSV Sportwagon?

I have two things I would like to change....

1: Add a "2nd gear start" setting. Just like in my Landcruiser, I would like to push a button and have 1st gear ignored while the button stays depressed. 1st is quite low and "off the line" throttle control needs to be controlled or the thing launches itself.

Using active select for second gear starts makes it a lot nicer for casual driving around the burbs. This brings me to my second wish.....

2: Make active select stay in the gear selected. It bugs the living crap out of me that the auto changes down even when I don't tell it too. Having a "pseudo" manual option should be just that... "manual". ie it should stay in the gear that I put it and not go back to 1st just because I have pulled up at the lights ....and if I am silly enough to try and take off in 4th gear and it stalls, then so be it.

It's a pain while on the move too, as quite often I have been having a play and just moments before I downshift, the transmission does it own downshift and all of a sudden I am down two gears. This totally wrecks the "drive" and also makes me look like a right twit to others. lol

I know you can watch the gears on the dash display, but I don't want to be looking there all the time during "play", plus I can't see the stupid red lights they have used anyway. (A common complaint for those of us over 40 here.... I wish there was a green or white option, but I digress)

Cheers

Rusty

 

[`redoctober]

They're not world class gearboxes and it doesn't have a world class driveline by any stretch, therefore if you did the aforementioned mods you'd find yourself in some strife with way too much load being put on the engine, transmission and all running components.

If you find someone to do it, by all means do it if you wish, but I recommend not to.

PS- You can purchase VE HSV/Calais/Berlina dash clusters to replace the SSV one, which will give you white lights instead of red.

 

[davey g-force]

Where abouts are you located? Take it to a decent tuner and they'll probably be able to sort something out for you.

The transmission drops back only when holding the gear means that the engine would stall. Other than that, it will hold whatever gear you select, so I'm not sure why you'd want to get rid of that feature but anyway...

I agree these transmissions are far from world class. Mine misbehaves quite a bit. If I could do it all again, I'd get the manual.

 

[RustyCardores]

Agreed they are far from the best autos they could have put in. 5 Billion developing the VE and they still plug these autos behind great donks.... (and until this month, even worse 6 cyl combinations)

As far as load... I don't think a 2nd gear start would place any undue load on it. As it is it effortlessly gets off the line in 2nd and does so with out the "launch factor" of 1st if you happen to be a little heavy (unintentionally so) on the right foot.

During sport driving the downshift load is placed on it anyway, I just don't want it second guessing me, resulting in a double down by accident. If anything is gunna place extra load on the system, it will be these accidental double downs.

As for stalling.... I see your point. But it has the mechanism now to prevent stalling, buy denying shifts above 3rd when stationary. So limiting the auto-downshift to 2nd (by way of a 2nd gear start button) should not invoke a stalling problem.

"it will hold whatever gear you select" ...nah it doesn't, as mentioned above, it second guesses downshifts quite often when cornering/braking.

I guess what I really want is it to behave like a manual when in active select and allow me to worry about stall speeds and load.... so I should have just bought a manual but the wife wanted the auto and it's her main drive car so I had to give in, as the dog house is dark and cramped at night here. lol

Thanks guys.

 

[davey g-force]

"it will hold whatever gear you select" ...nah it doesn't, as mentioned above, it second guesses downshifts quite often when cornering/braking.

In active select mode? Mine doesn't do that. It will only change down from 2nd to 1st for me when I'm slowing right down (almost stopped) to avoid the engine stalling.

 

[RustyCardores]

yeah 2nd to 1st is really only a pulling up at the lights thing, so thats ok (even though I would rather the option to lock out fist as I have mentioned)

It's 3rd to 2nd that is more the issue for me when it second guesses. Like when hooking into a tight roundabout, just as I am going for second, it shifts to 2nd automagically, which means my downshift becomes 2nd to 1st.... and that ain't nice. lol