Mauals

[vt_maverick]

No the VX was never offered with a manual transmission. I don't think we have any way to know whether the race VX's were built with 5-speeds at the factory or at an Isuzu Motorsports facility, but frankly I don't think it makes sense to do it on the same factory assembly line that's producing production VX's. You'd have to train your workers to make sure they knew the manual transmission installation procedures, stock the correct parts for exactly 5 variations, take time off of normal production, etc. I think it's far more likely that the factory provided either 5 auto VX's or 5 VX "shells" without a transmission yet installed to Isuzu Motorsports, who then finished the job in their own facility. If Isuzu had sold an "IM" variant of the VX with a manual you could say it was "offered" but otherwise I return to my previous analogy: Ford enthusiasts can't claim the Taurus was "offered" with a 1000 HP engine just because their NASCAR teams run them that way.

[blacksambo]

No the VX was never offered with a manual transmission. I don't think we have any way to know whether the race VX's were built with 5-speeds at the factory or at an Isuzu Motorsports facility, but frankly I don't think it makes sense to do it on the same factory assembly line that's producing production VX's. You'd have to train your workers to make sure they knew the manual transmission installation procedures, stock the correct parts for exactly 5 variations, take time off of normal production, etc. I think it's far more likely that the factory provided either 5 auto VX's or 5 VX "shells" without a transmission yet installed to Isuzu Motorsports, who then finished the job in their own facility. If Isuzu had sold an "IM" variant of the VX with a manual you could say it was "offered" but otherwise I return to my previous analogy: Ford enthusiasts can't claim the Taurus was "offered" with a 1000 HP engine just because their NASCAR teams run them that way.

I don't think we are saying" offered" for sale, but rather that the VX was designed from the outset to handle this transmission variation for factory racing purposes, only. Also, the parts catalog had to include those manual transmission pages to accomodate this intention because of other shared parts with the factory race cars.

[tom4bren]

ROFL

Y'all are making it far more complicated than it is.

Due to comonality of parts (primarily the firewall), the conversion is fairly straight forward to drop in a 5 speed. The biggest problems are with the computer & wiring, not with the mechanical linkages.

Manual transmissions were not offered to the consumer market for whatever reason that Isuzu had at the time. The VX is similar enough though to Troopers & Amigos that the manual transmission swap is feasible.

[blacksambo]

ROFL

Y'all are making it far more complicated than it is.

Due to comonality of parts (primarily the firewall), the conversion is fairly straight forward to drop in a 5 speed. The biggest problems are with the computer & wiring, not with the mechanical linkages.

Manual transmissions were not offered to the consumer market for whatever reason that Isuzu had at the time. The VX is similar enough though to Troopers & Amigos that the manual transmission swap is feasible.

I think they wanted to own" only full-time computer-controlled four wheel drive" for the VX. That was the marketing concept to enhance SUV handling.

[tom4bren]

That & they probably figured that their target audience would prefer an auto.

[vt_maverick]

I don't think we are saying" offered" for sale, but rather that the VX was designed from the outset to handle this transmission variation for factory racing purposes, only. Also, the parts catalog had to include those manual transmission pages to accomodate this intention because of other shared parts with the factory race cars.

He said "offered" you said "technically yes" so I'm saying "for sure, no" on the OP's initial question. As for the "designed from the outset..." argument, the VX was built on a Trooper chassis with a Rodeo dash to save $$$. Both of those vehicles had manual transmission options, so unless Isuzu was going to design a brand new auto-only firewall the VX couldn't help but be compatible with a manual transmission. It's like Tom said, the ability to swap to a manual was a side benefit of recycling existing components, not by some grand design.

[blacksambo]

He said "offered" you said "technically yes" so I'm saying "for sure, no" on the OP's initial question. As for the "designed from the outset..." argument, the VX was built on a Trooper chassis with a Rodeo dash to save $$$. Both of those vehicles had manual transmission options, so unless Isuzu was going to design a brand new auto-only firewall the VX couldn't help but be compatible with a manual transmission. It's like Tom said, the ability to swap to a manual was a side benefit of recycling existing components, not by some grand design.

Nobody ever said by"Grand Design", merely that the factory had the option to offer it for their rally-racing promotional cars. Also, I think the fact that manual transmission info found its way into the VX parts catalog demostrates that the factory probably did install those five manuals. They had the where withall to do it best, especially the electrical part that Tom mentions.

[JoFotoz]

SEMANTICS.......

How about...

Never "offered'..but doable.




Jo

[tom4bren]

Nobody ever said by"Grand Design", merely that the factory had the option to offer it for their rally-racing promotional cars. Also, I think the fact that manual transmission info found its way into the VX parts catalog demostrates that the factory probably did install those five manuals. They had the where withall to do it best, especially the electrical part that Tom mentions.

Then how do you 'splain the convertable VX and the 4 door VX??? There's one each of those.

Just rattlin yer cage Dude.

[blacksambo]

Then how do you 'splain the convertable VX and the 4 door VX??? There's one each of those.

Just rattlin yer cage Dude.

VX02 and VX 04 were done by ITAL Design out of Italy, that's why they never made it into the standard VX part's book. They were definitely a farm-out job unlike the race cars.

[tom4bren]

VX02 and VX 04 were done by ITAL Design out of Italy, that's why they never made it into the standard VX part's book. They were definitely a farm-out job unlike the race cars.

There ya go ... taking me entirely too seriously. What were you thinkin???