Explain a 2 speed transmission
 

Was reading an advertisement for a boat and they said it had a 2 speed transmission and TRS drives. Can someone give me the explananation in a nut shell of what that is?

A 2 speed trnamission allows you to "down shift" in the corners for better thrtottle control and accleration like you would in a car, then "upshift" when reaching higher speeds. It also allows you to keep the boat in it's peak power band RPM range for better fuel economy. Not running in to high of a gear and have the motor lug and using un needed fuel.

Thats what I thought
 

Now is this a bad thing? How come I don't see more set ups like this?

We used the 2 speed trans from B&M on my race boat Mr Technology.

At the first race, one trans stuck in first gear. They got sent back and rebuilt. At the second race, one got stuck in first gear during testing. We put on huge wheels and tore ass down the beach until one trans blew.

B&M was no help at all. They wouldn't help in any way, so out they came and Hubers went in. Never another trans problem.

Even Dragon Lady who was thier poster child used the B&M 2 speed trans but had 1st gear disabled becuase of this potential problem.

It was a good lite weight trans as long as you never used 1st gear.

Thanks for the dirt
 

All you have to do to is ask and this board knows

I have B&M two speeds on a cat with blower motors. They are automatic transmissions (Powerglide). They should not be shifted with a heavy throttle. The shift is done electrically with a button switch. My goal was to have a tremendous hole shot. The idle and no wake quality with the low gear is fantastic. The first gear is a low speed however, 60 mph is all there is in first and 130 in second on my cat. I am looking into transmissions with 4 or more gears for even more flexiblity. Multi-speed transmissions are (or were) used in offshore raicing in Europe. I am also surprised this has not caught on. Price might be an issue.

Dont forget you will need to move the engine 12"+ forward to fit it in between the engine and transom

Hyper baja brings up a good point about the extra room needed. I remember reading somewhere about that issue alone is why those transmissions are not more popular.

ahead 12 inches more ,even on a trs set-up? or bravo.

I would think that moving the engines 12" forward would change the center of gravity of the boat. This can be a problem if the boat was never intended for that C/G or its design is not flexible enough for this move.

Running a transmission with a bravo is nuts. It is soo weak it will not handle the increase in torque.

We can make transmissions for anyone. How many speeds do you want? We have run up to 6-speeds in europe. It was 10 inches long with rev and handled 980 hp. Full throttle push the button just like F1.

Most automotive transmissions were made for 300 hp max and then people try to use them with 800 hp and wonder why it pops.

Trs is not in production anymore and the parts are getting costly( they want you to buy the new stuff and stop fixing the old crap) The 2-speed is probably a b&m maybe a powerglide. The TRS needs a transmission because it is direct drive so they already had the cg set in the boat. Most companys did not buy into the moving of the engine part because they would have to re-tool their molds and seats ect..

This does not mean that people might be working on soulutions to this kind of question.
pat W:D

borg warner Trans.
 

I had a Borg Warner velvet Drive Trans in a 25 Baja with 330hp 454.

From what I've learned it automatically kicked into higher gear when you banged the sticks up, but was a nice slow Idle around the docks - the boat was very easy to handle in tight areas, but in the open water it kicked into the higher gear (I guess - I'm still learning about this boat that I don't own anymore...)
I also had the TRS drive on it, - the drive was pretty tough, I beat it up pretty well and didn't have any problems.

I do believe that the added weight of the Trans slowed me down a bit and considered going to a Bravo Drive, Parts are alot easier to find for a Bravo - TRS parts are hard to find, and anyone that has one and knows what it is will probably rape you ($$$) for the parts you need.

Probably not the best info, - just conveying personal experience..

Bouy