upgrades for 4L30E?

[WyrreJ]

Of course you do. You'll burn out the clutch, frequently stall the engine and occasionally roll into the guy behind you if you don't.

[kpaske]

Hmm... I very, very, very rarely stall out or roll backwards, but you're right, i'm probably not being too kind to my clutch. And then again, I've never driven a stick in SF! Heck, I've worried that my automatic was going to roll backwards on some of those hills. I just never thought about using my parking brake.

[colmhd]

I was reared on the sticks and believe it or not the first decent automatic was the VX.
It's a different driving method, you can throw it down gears and roar round corners, get past the dreamy little compact in a flash by ripping along in 3 at high revs.
Engine breaking, I don't mean the lump hammer kind, down hills as a brake instead of standing on the pads.
Bunp starts there's another good reason for stick shifts. Dead batteries wont stop you.