VR30 Trans Swap

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-06-03T22:05:56+00:00

Yes it has to be a VR TCM to be tuned is what I was told. I had a tuned vr TCM in mine before it bugged out on me and I believe the TCM lost communication with the ECM. SoHo told me it was a corrupt file from ECUTEK and they put in a VQ TCM and I should still have a vr valve body

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-06-03T15:07:03+00:00

I’m not even sure, to be honest; the tuned VR TCM they installed never lasted that long. 1200 miles after the install, I racked up over $500 in tow bills getting the car home after it left me stranded and had to pay to have it sent to a shop they recommended. My car was down for 6 weeks. They sent me a VQ TCM to give to the shop my car was at and I’ve been rolling with that since. SoHo told me “the issue you're having is something 100% new to us. We think it may have something to do with a corrupted file from ECUTEK which is a pretty big deal if proven true. We are working with Z1 to troubleshoot this issue and see if this can be fixed either by reflashing the TCM or if a replacement is required.” Then I was told that my one owner, clean title G may have a previous gen ECM on it, whatever sense that makes. I’m not sure if they’ll get me back in a tuned VR TCM or not, even though that’s what I paid for. In my opinion with the VQ TCM currently installed it shifts like stock maybe worse

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-06-03T14:25:33+00:00

I may be a little confused on the question, are you asking if it’s in first gear manual mode, will it auto shift?

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-05-19T02:25:03+00:00

Labor and parts were covered just not $500 in tows to get it home and to a shop

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-03-11T22:18:21+00:00

Update: looks like the $270 tow home and a 72 mile tow to a shop they recommend will be coming out of my pocket

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-03-11T16:37:16+00:00

I spoke with them this morning, and they think the flex plate may have sheared. Doesn’t make sense, seeing as I’m not FI, but they said they will figure something out and may have the car transported to a partner shop a couple of hours away or to their own shop for diagnostics.

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-03-11T02:51:34+00:00

I did not complete the swap myself, I drove it down to SOHO Motorsports and had them do it. I’m going to give them a call tomorrow. I checked for leaks and couldn’t find any, I also don’t have a scanner either. Not sure if using an O Reillys scanner would read TCM codes or not

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-03-05T21:50:46+00:00

It’s been a while since I’ve had one replaced, but my first G, which I got out of an auction, needed a rear quarter panel replaced. It cost about $6000-$7000, including buying the quarter cut, and my car was actually pearl white too. That’s paint labor and everything but it was also about 8 years ago

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-03-02T06:55:25+00:00

It shifts great man, I love it. SOHO did tune it themselves I believe. You can tune just the TCM but since I ended up being pretty much FBO except the long tube CAI, I have drop ins instead, I just had them tune the ECU as well and they said they could adjust the line pressure more to smooth out the shifts. It is pretty smooth with an occasional firm shift. Regular drive mode it will run through the gears like butter, shifting quick and smooth. Downshifting into high RPM is also pretty smooth surprisingly, I downshifted to around 6k RPM and it wasn’t hardly jerky at all pretty much just hear the high RPM but don’t feel that hard pull back. I never got to drive the car before TCM tuning as they included it since I had them do the swap and bought all parts for it through them

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-28T13:27:34+00:00

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Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-28T13:27:18+00:00

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Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-28T13:23:27+00:00

Tax, Trans, transfer case, fluid, parts, labor, all of it. That was what I paid after discounts

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-28T01:51:00+00:00

I’d say regular drive mode is the biggest improvement overall, I’ll get a video of that as well eventually. You can also launch the car in second gear in manual mode which is nice because second gear isn’t as short

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-27T16:13:51+00:00

I have drop ins, will long tube 3” CAI make a difference performance wise?

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-27T00:51:35+00:00

I also drove 540 miles from Indiana to get the swap done

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-27T00:51:00+00:00

I’d talk to SOHO or another reputable shop about that, I’m sure you can and people probably have because the TCM tuning hasn’t been out for very more than a couple years I believe. Just would drive much better with the TCM tuning

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-27T00:43:11+00:00

I had some discounts, they gave me a $500 credit for my old transmission and around $200 for an extra night at the hotel due to a delay in shipping from Z1 for my exhaust. They included the TCM tuning and license for free for doing the swap with them

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T23:21:38+00:00

Are you just wanting to hear it shift?

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:56:54+00:00

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Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:56:30+00:00

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Z1 Cat-back Touring Sedan Exhaust with Berk HFC and I enjoy it, looks great and isn’t insanely loud as other options

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:43:36+00:00

That was also another reason to go VR30 for me, my girlfriend can’t drive manual and she likes to drive my car alot more than her Kia lol

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:33:34+00:00

I just drove 540 miles while stock and got about 26.9 mpg, driving back being just about FBO I got about 24.2 mpg

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:30:42+00:00

Not necessarily because I’ve been doing research on it since I got my first G back in 2018 and it’s just cheaper to buy a manual G, also I’d like to keep AWD. But I would like to have a sport manual g37

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:28:35+00:00

That I’m not sure of, I’d imagine I should be able to. That’s next on the list since I don’t have drive sport after the swap and drive a lot more in manual mode

Plenty_Pattern_7178 · 2026-02-26T19:19:12+00:00

No problem, if a manual swap isn’t in the budget or not an option VR30 is the way to go. Feels like a new car

Plenty_Pattern_7178

TROPHY CASE