Dual Clutch Gearbox Into A Skyline?

[V28VX37]

Ok this is a flight of fancy more than anything else but does anyone know of a successful dual clutch gearbox transplant into a Skyline? It would be a major undertaking with a lot of custom work (read: cost prohibitive) but would be very interesting to see nonetheless.

I had a quick look at eBay and you can get some second hand Porsche PDK units from around $5k in the US. Used DSG boxes from VW seem to start at around $3k - not that those would take 300rwkw without some serious work.

But yeah 200ms shift times would be sweet

[GTSBoy]

This will eventually have to get to the aftermarket (ie, some sort of semi-universal programmable control system for 2nd hand DSGs). But I don't think it is here yet.

But, there are very very few DSG type gearboxen that you would consider taking on board after someone else has used it. There is no way on God's green earth that I would ever own a VAG DSG out of warranty (in fact, I wouldn't buy any VW or Audi type vehicle at all, let alone a DSG one). Most other manufacturers dual clutchers have shocking histories of random and expensive failures. The only ones that would be desirable, from the lack of sudden death viewpoint, would probably stay expensive.

[89CAL]

It would be good to see, but I think it would be hard to get an adapter or custom bellhousing made to bolt to the RB block. I'm not sure how the gearbox splits the input to the 2 shafts, so might be a bit busy in the front of the gearbox. I'm sure its doable, but you might have trouble with boxes that are rear mounted and get drive from the engine through a prop shaft.

WIthout having ever seen one out of a car, sitting there available to have a bit of a look at, its hard to say. Would probably end up costing a bit if you were the first to try it, but if an adapter or modification to an existing box was mass produced it might bring the price down to something which would make people think twice

As above, I would be a bit sketchy about using a VW dual clutch. My girlfriends VW Polo is on its second DSG after a re-call and it shudders in 2nd on a slow takeoff which I think was half the reason they were recalled (not sure if it was the cause of that girl whose dsg failed on a motorway and was killed, but the shudder is a common problem)

Maybe the Nissan GT-R box would be good but it wouldnt be cheap and has the prop shaft input.

Edited January 18, 2014 by 89CAL

[sonicz]

It would be good to see, but I think it would be hard to get an adapter or custom bellhousing made to bolt to the RB block. I'm not sure how the gearbox splits the input to the 2 shafts, so might be a bit busy in the front of the gearbox. I'm sure its doable, but you might have trouble with boxes that are rear mounted and get drive from the engine through a prop shaft.

WIthout having ever seen one out of a car, sitting there available to have a bit of a look at, its hard to say. Would probably end up costing a bit if you were the first to try it, but if an adapter or modification to an existing box was mass produced it might bring the price down to something which would make people think twice

As above, I would be a bit sketchy about using a VW dual clutch. My girlfriends VW Polo is on its second DSG after a re-call and it shudders in 2nd on a slow takeoff which I think was half the reason they were recalled (not sure if it was the cause of that girl whose dsg failed on a motorway and was killed, but the shudder is a common problem)

Maybe the Nissan GT-R box would be good but it wouldnt be cheap and has the prop shaft input.

I remember watching a doco on the GTR, and they said stress test every DSG box that they fit on a car on a special machine to make sure it works perfectly, on top of the strangest handbuild production methods. They stated they are the only manufacture in the world to do so. The only ones I have heard of breaking are the early model ones that were incorrectly "launch" controlled, and new ones that have to put up with over 1000hp of abusive driving. Aside from that, I have never heard of one ever breaking on a unmodified car.

Though how would you even get it to work with the RB? The design is completely different from every perceptive.

[V28VX37]

Thanks for your input everyone. It pretty much confirms what I thought - would be neat but way to exxy to be feasible at the moment.

I think there's some hope though, if you look at the dual clutch gearbox supplier list on Wikipedia there's heaps in production. No doubt in a few years there will be more to choose from. There's something in the idea of mating a 15-20 year old RB to the latest in gearbox tech