How much would it cost to develop a manual transmission?

"F40LM" (mclarenf1gtr)
05/31/2016 at 16:09 • Filed to: None

Or suppose you were some rich billionaire, walked into Ferrari/McLaren and said I want X car but with a manual. What do you think that would cost?

OR

How much do you reckon Porsche spent developing the 7-speed manual?

I know at least one of you will know the answer.

DISCUSSION (25)

crowmolly > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:14

Just the trans? Or all the gear as well (clutch, flywheel, hydraulics, etc)?

F40LM > crowmolly
05/31/2016 at 16:15

All of it.

Cherry_man1 > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:15

if someone did that with McLaren they might do it because MSO is insane

E90M3 > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:16

Kinja'd!!!

(someone had to say it)

ChooChooMotherFudger > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:16

Wild guess: 50-200 grand to develop if you include the cost of integrating into the car.

For a manufacture to make a custom one for their car: 1 million. Mostly because why would they?

F40LM > Cherry_man1
05/31/2016 at 16:17

I have this reoccurring dream where I get MSO to build me a slightly modified bodied 570S with a gated 6 speed. I can’t stop thinking about it until I’ve analyzed every aspect (I’m a bit OCD). Hence this question.

For Sweden > ChooChooMotherFudger
05/31/2016 at 16:18

Only $50,000?

F40LM > ChooChooMotherFudger
05/31/2016 at 16:18

50-200K seems ridiculously cheap. I was expecting several million.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:19

Didn’t Horacio Pagani once say he would do this, if the customer paid fully for the development?

F40LM > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/31/2016 at 16:22

I remember an interview with Pagani where he said he would build anything for a customer if they paid for it. The question was whether he would still be selling the Zonda.

Lewis Hamilton had a manual put into the 760 (760LH now).

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:23

Heah, that’s probably the one. I don’t think the 760H gearbox can handle the torque of the Huayra though.

ChooChooMotherFudger > For Sweden
05/31/2016 at 16:23

Depends on how much it has in common with any other transmission, and how you account for development cost. Or if you include the cost of setting up for production. I wasn’t including wages or anything to do with production. Also pretty wild guess

tromoly > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:26

You’re talking about from scratch, where all the gears, shafts, linkages, cases, fluid passages, and everything are designed new? And then there’s the prototyping, manufacturing, re-designing, many thousands of miles of testing, and several years of development?

Probably several tens of millions of USD.

Future next gen S2000 owner > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:27

Eleventy billion.

Are we talking one off custom for one car or setting up the whole line for accepting a manual for all future customers?

F40LM > Future next gen S2000 owner
05/31/2016 at 16:30

One car

gawdzillla > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:42

the OEM will probably “borrow” one from another car (911)

just-a-scratch > ChooChooMotherFudger
05/31/2016 at 16:42

$50k-$200k seems reasonable if all of the following are true:

There exists a production transmission of reasonable price that’s will meet the performance requirements (weight, torque, power).

Liability on the part of the transmission provider is limited (by negation of warranty or other means).

Testing is limited to a few units for a short duration, a few days of use or less.

Packaging the transmission has acceptable effects on the existing structure of the vehicle.

Modifications to the interior/driver interface are reasonably cheap.
————————————————-
The above describes basically taking an existing trans, putting in a vehicle with a custom bell housing and shafts, then getting the vehicle interior modified.

I expect a clean sheet design for production would be quite a lot more.

Future next gen S2000 owner > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 16:46

That would be less, as you wouldn’t have to get it certified. It would be sold as an automatic and retrofitted by a customer post sale. I would think in the 100's of thousand of dollars, that is assuming you can use an existing off the shelf trans.

Designing one from the ground up could run into the millions. It could be done though. It would just take time and money.

F40LM > Future next gen S2000 owner
05/31/2016 at 17:22

Kinja'd!!!

Cé hé sin > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 17:36

“How much do you reckon Porsche spent developing the 7-speed manual?”

They buy the box from ZF so I suppose nothing! Also it shares some bits with the PDK.

nermal > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 18:31

Aston Martin will do it, and practically anything else you want done, to any car they’ve made.

http://www.astonmartinworks.com/heritage-servi…

Did they have a feature on Ye Olde Top Gear?

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 18:50

You might be able to do it less than eleventy billion... and a similar thing has been discussed and possibly done before:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/360-430-…

Basically you start with the automated manual the car comes with and you remove the automated shit. Then what you need to add is the gear shifter and linkage.

And you also need to add a clutch pedal and the linkage to connect it to the clutch.

And then you’ll have to get a programmer to make the necessary changes to the ECU.

So it’s not so much that you need to develop an entirely new transmission.

You just need to modify what’s already there.

F40LM > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/31/2016 at 20:19

Yes Aston Martin used to convert cars from the Auto-Manual to Stick Shift.
However, It cannot be the same process for modern DCTs.

Also in the case you posted, the 360 Modena had a manual option, so they had all that to start with for the stradale.

MarquetteLa > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 21:09

Not a dollar number for you, but you could always email Mr. Pagani and ask.

http://jalopnik.com/pagani-will-bu…

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > F40LM
05/31/2016 at 22:31

Now that you mention it, I recall watching or reading something about converting an Aston from flappy paddle to a manual.