BGB Motorsports

I agree with Matt on this one; the R&P longevity can be made or broken by the install tech. We found out the hard way that you want someone willing to take the time and the effort to do it right. Matt can attest to the fact that we have seen even the 100% OE virgin R&Ps begin to pit and deteriorate after race miles began to add up.

mooty

YES

GTgears

Just a heads up to people that I've got someone who is seriously considering having us do a complete gear package for an OEM usage on a low production vehicle. If that comes to pass, they will cover the development cost of a new mainshaft, making it a product that becomes available to you guys. It is something I should have worked out in the next 30 days or so.

Regards,

Matt Monson
Guard Transmission LLC

GrantG

Very interesting, Matt! I am a big proponent of closer gears, not just lower (something not addressed by Ring & Pinion). And a new mainshaft is needed to change the ratio of 2nd gear (3rd and higher gears already available for a tight stack). This could be a real boon to GT4 owners!

I would love the opportunity to have stock (or nearly) 1st and 6th gears with low & close 2nd through 5th. This is something Pete Stout has mentioned too...

jphughan

Nice! What does "OEM usage" mean? Is this an aftermarket company that wants to offer a low production variant of an OEM car and their package assumes OEM components as a starting point, or is this an actual OEM automaker reaching out to you for an official low production model? If it's the latter, I'd be surprised that the mainshaft development effort would be transferrable to the GT4, unless of course that OEM automaker is Porsche, in which case cue rampant speculation on the low production model being developed.

Definitely looking forward to more updates on this!

GrantG

Matt wouldn't have mentioned it here "available to you guys", if it wasn't applicable to our cars...

I think it's great news...

jphughan

I know. That's why I didn't say, "I'd be surprised if" to question this; I said, "I'd be surprised that" in that I'm, well, surprised that that's possible. But considering how little I know about transmissions, the bar for surprising me isn't all that high.

GTgears

No, not Porsche. If it was, I sure as hell wouldn't be talking about it without a signed contract in my hands. We were OEM for Porsche a decade ago on the 997 Cup gearbox. We were also OEM for Ruf, 9FF and Mosler over the years for various components.

Many don't realize this gearbox has existed for a decade. It's been used in thousands of vehicles both in the Audi and Porsche product lines. It is originally an Audi gearbox. There are plenty of crate gearboxes in warehouses in Germany to be purchased for a small manufacturer to buy and use as part of an all new vehicle. Putting my parts inside of one is what I am talking about, just like we used to do for the above named manufacturers.

Alan C.

Good news. Thanks.

leifp

Any news on the OEM package development? Just curious.

GTgears

Deal didn't happen. They weren't willing to pay what it cost. They expected the sort of production efficiencies and price breaks on a 50 unit run that one would see on a 5000 unit run...

Beantown Kman

Per Matt's (GTgears) request, let's try to pull the discussion about gearing options back to this thread so we don't hijack the one recently started by Stout.

Lots of people have weighed in with their personal preferences for different gearing and final drives. I am very much in GrantG's camp as he stated above: "I would love the opportunity to have stock (or nearly) 1st and 6th gears with low & close 2nd through 5th. This is something Pete Stout has mentioned too..."

I do not plan to drive my GT4 on the track very often. I enjoy it on the street and, like Stout has said, with such a fabulous shift linkage it's a shame we don't get to shift more often.

GTgears has been kind and generous in providing answers to many of our questions on this topic. Yes, I understand it's his business and he stands to gain if this results in more business for him. But with the small production run he is anticipating from us I think he has been very patient and forthcoming. That said, I'd like to hear his opinion as to what he thinks would be the best option (sarcasm aside) for solving the transmission issues many of us here have complained about, along with the approximate cost and timing. I know that some of this has been covered by him already. But it would be helpful to bring everyone up to date on where we currently stand.

Alan C.

Subscribed

okie981

Subscribed.

GTgears

Thank Ken. As I insinuated in the other thread it's not a matter of needing someone else's money. And as a business I am sure as hell not going to do a project like this to a break even point and give the profits to someone else. I think I said it elsewhere earlier in this thread but when I did ring and pinions with Ricardo I was selling fewer than 25 per year. That was for a Cup Car ring and pinion. A part on a racecar that is being replaced every 80-100 hours. They guys who think that something as little as 18 units is nothing really don't have a clue what the real market is. The internet is a false magnifying glass. I'm skeptical that anyone could sell even 18 GT4 mainshaft kits in a year.

I've had GT4 3rd-6th gears available for 2 years. I'm not going to tell you how many sets I made in the first run, but what I will tell you is that I still have not sold through the first production run, 2 years later. If I ever feel that the mainshaft is a financially viable product I will make it. As I said earlier in this thread, if someone wants to take point on trying to organize 10 units, with cash on the table, I would seriously listen to you. However, as I've said before, I am not a vendor here. I am not interested in managing a group buy. I've got other things to do with my time. You guys sort out the $$$ among yourselves and if there's really cash on the table, I'll have a serious conversation with the "leader" from among you all.