ETS Drift Ute – Straight out of the box

Before I replace the broken RB25 box with another one I decided to sit down and go through my upgrade options. Its something that I have been on top of since day one, I remember 7 years ago I was dreaming about upgrading to a Z32 gearbox to replace my busted S14 5 speed.

I researched for months and made my own conversion plate and in that 7 years I have never broken a Z32/RB25 gearbox until now.

So now Im at that point where I was 7 years ago but stepped to the next level, Ive broken an RB25 box and its time to research upgrades.

Being the driver of an extremely twitchy and fast car makes me yearn for a sequential, to have more room and time in the cabin with a simple forward and back shifting motion is an attractive option, to spend $7,000 on an upgraded gearset is out of the question, if any decent sum of money is being spent on upgrading then its sequential or nothing.

But what options are there

Theres the Quaife QBE69G from the UK, “depending on your power output we have two gearboxes ideal for your application. We have the QBE60G Heavy Duty 6-Speed In-Line Dog Engagement Sequential Gearbox and the QBE69G Extra Heavy Duty 6-Speed In-Line Dog Engagement Sequential Gearbox. The QBE69G is the uprated version of the QBE60G with thicker shafts and bigger gears the main effect of these differences between them is the power rating: the QBE60G is rated to 375bhp and the QBE69G is rated to 750bhp“

With a stack of different ratios and shifter positions the QBE69G is an attractive option. At around $12,000 not including taxes you also pay for what you get.

The other nice option is Tractive gearbox form Sweden

With its anodized billet aluminium housing and dog engagement six speed its a nice setup. Jack Monkhouse is using on in his ARC Rally S15 with brilliant results and feedback, the Australian drift debut of this gearbox will be Beau Yates in his new AE86, im keen to see how Beau goes with the new box and how it takes to drifting. His car setup isnt unlike my Hilux and with very similar power output I’ll be keeping an eye on the gearbox’s duribilty under drifting conditions.

Its shifter design is simply stunning aswell. An amazing piece of engineering all round and again you pay for it $15,000 roughly will get one of these.

Going up in the price range is a Holinger box from the Australian manufacturer.

This is a serious gearbox with a serious price tag, its quality and strength is renowned world wide as one of the best in the business. I would have to say thats its overkill for my application and its size will struggle to fit in the tunnel I have.

So what else is there?

Theres also the Gforce GSR option, These are a nice gearbox and used by heaps of drifters mainly behind V8s and High HP 6 cylinders with a broad powerband. Im looking for a 6 speed that way I can have close ratios and still achieve high top speeds required for circuit racing.

Not to mention the successful HKS Sequential gearbox although spare parts and assistance with these makes me a little worried.

Then theres a TTI Sequential 6 speed Gearbox that uses a 2 lever (one for up and down shifts and one for reverse) and by all accounts seems to be the best option as far as no fuss, compact, strong, bang for your buck sequential gearboxs go. Another plus is that they are produced in New Zealand, that makes servicing and parts a lot easier to get. As the Hilux will be spending quiet some time in NZ next year I would love to learn more about the TT Industries gearboxs and maybe take you for an inside look into what makes them.

Until then Ill put my spare RB25 gearbox in, downgrade the rubber on the rear wheels and keep testing. Id love to upgrade one day and hopefully next year I can make something happen as I dont want to be stuck having a static display at a drift event ever again!