V1 All terrain height with 5 spd box

[SHRanch]

This is my first post so feel free to redirect me to another thread if I am out of place.

I like the all terrain goblin height but don't want to give up the 5 spd tranny. The automatic is not built to handle 300+ hp and torque. Is there a compromise?

 

[Ark :D]

The Goblin A/T is designed based on an automatic donor because of the torque loss incurred by increasing the tire size on a manual gearbox. You'd likely eat through clutches like they're on the menu.

Here's a thread: https://dfkitcar.com/forum/index.php?threads/turbo-goblin-a-t.2061/

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Welcome to the forum. There is lots of discussions on the forum about the AT and wanting to use the LNF or LSJ engine and the 5 speed. To find these (if you haven't figured this out already) use the Search button in the green header in the right-hand top corner of the page. Search AT and most of them should pop up.
As Ark indicated, going with the taller tires, versus stock diameter tires, has a significant loss of torque - somewhere north of 20 percent and likely closer to 25 percent. Being an off-road leaning vehicle, this loss would make the Goblin feel 'weak' at the low speeds it would normally be used at. A turbo wouldn't help much at the low rpm, but the supercharger may have better performance.
It should be noted that the LNF, or better the LSF, mated to the auto would be a better setup - just my opinion - and there is at least one other AT builder going that route. If you have serious questions about the AT and what your options are, call Lonny or Adam at DF. They will talk to you and give you the straight answers - and find out what will work best for Goblin.

 

[Tinkles]

You'd likely eat through clutches like they're on the menu.

Not necessarily. The lighter weight of the Goblins puts less stress on the clutch to begin with. I don't know the math to figure it out exactly, but since the Goblin is around half the weight of a Cobalt I would guess that there would still be less stress even with larger tires.

I personally do not care about rock crawling. So if I built an A/T I would build a boosted one with a manual transmission without a 2nd thought.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Lighter weight withstanding, with 31 inch tires at less than 10 mph the engine rpm is below 1100 rpm and the clutch would have to be feathered the whole time to drive it in many off-road situations - not rock crawling. Unless you can get your hands on differential gears over 4.5:1 the manual will not be fun to drive or maintain. This factor doesn't matter if the vehicle is light or not - gearing is gearing.

 

[Ross]

If you used portal hubs you could lower the gear ratios... they make smaller ones for the ATV market, or big ones from a hummer like this guy did.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Yep, there are many ways to get a gear reduction into a vehicle if you have the money to spend - it's your Goblin and it can be built anyway you like. I was looking at this from the standpoint of one donor, one Goblin AT kit, and the tools and time to build it - without going overboard on the mods. Certainly special parts can be added and made to work to get a viable turbo or supercharged manual drivetrain to perform correctly.
Not certain how a new forum member will view that the AT can require extensive mods to build up with a SS drivetrain. Just trying to keep it simple before jumping into the expensive stuff. It's all good.

 

[Tinkles]

I am thinking more of pre-reunner setup if I build one. Everything is better with speed.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

But at this point we have hijacked SHRanch's first post asking his relatively simple question about building an AT. Maybe we should let him tell us what he wants and where he would like to go with his potential build? On behalf of the forum, I apologize for this sidetracked discussion.

 

[Cmonster]

This is my first post so feel free to redirect me to another thread if I am out of place.

I like the all terrain goblin height but don't want to give up the 5 spd tranny. The automatic is not built to handle 300+ hp and torque. Is there a compromise?

SHRanch,
Same, Same. Wanted manual in the AT and also have a turbo. Instead we are going to get the AT kit and use the HHR SS to get a turbo in the AT with the automatic based on all the feedback we received like what DS mentioned earlier. We specifically want the off road capability and it will be what we do most of the time. Planning for this to be the toy for my toy hauler. If that's not your main intent, to go off road mudding then, I'd just lift the regular Goblin a little bit. That might be the easiest way to get what you want but it depends on what you intend to use it for. Road / off road.