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PRI 2011: Hughes Performance Introduces New Pro Series 4L80E

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With this new transmission, a guy can essentially have his cake and eat it too.

General Motors’ 4L80E transmission was developed in 1991 and combined the attributes of the famed Turbo 400 and 700R4 into an attractive, strong, and flexible package. It has been popular with performance enthusiasts for years, and served as platform for aftermarket manufacturers to apply their own tweaks to, as the team at Hughes Performance [2]has done.

A new take on a transmission in the Hughes catalog, the Pro Series Extreme Duty 4L80E is a hardcore racing unit that’s rated for 1,500-plus flywheel horsepower out of the box, thanks to several new enhancements, including a custom billet steel alloy input shaft and intermediate shaft, billet steel forward clutch hub, custom direct drum with Extreme Duty Pro Mod 36-element intermediate sprag and races, premium heavy duty frictions, kevlar intermediate band, static rear band, heavy duty servo and accumulators, deep cast aluminum pan that holds four extra quarts of fluid, and an automatic valve body with transbrake option for use with aftermarket electronic controller.

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A number of different bell housing options makes the new Pro Series Extreme Duty 4L80E compatible with a number of engine makes and sizes, including those for Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, Buick, and Oldsmobile.

Perhaps the greatest feature of this new transmission from Hughes, however, are the custom bell housings, making this 4L80E compatible with a number of engines, including Chevrolet, 4.6/5.4L Modular, small and big block Ford (429, 460). small and big block Chrysler, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Cadillac. The transmission and bell housing combination on display at PRI is that of a 4.6/5.4 Modular for the Ford crowd. “The overdrive transmissions from Ford just aren’t up to the task, but this basically a bulletproof transmission,” says Hughes’ Pete Nichols.

Turn key packages are available with a custom electronic unit, wiring harness, billet lock-up torque converter, SFI-certified flexplate, hardware, transmission mount, locking dipstick, slip yoke, tranny cooler, and custom cooler hose and fitting kit.

“With this new transmission, a guy can essentially have his cake and eat it too,” says Nichols.