4T65E manual solenoid control?

[Pilot of the Murdersofa]

My car pulls double duty as a daily driver and as a track car, and I've found that an automatic transmission is pretty *shoot* at adapting to those two roles. When cruising on the highway, I want it to hold onto the highest gear possible for fuel economy and to keep my revs from bumping too high (my exhaust isn't exactly inconspicuous), but when tracking I want it to kick down at the slightest hint of throttle, or better yet anticipate my moves.

The thing is, it's impossible for any automatic transmission to know whether to shift down into 2nd so I can power through a corner, or stay in 4th with the TC locked up so I can get from 55mph to 65mph after getting out from behind a slow person without unlocking the TC or dropping down a gear and going BRAAAAAAAAP in traffic.

The solution? Manual control of the solenoids! There are three solenoids in the 4T65e as far as I can tell: TC lockup, 1-2 solenoid, and 3-4 solenoid. Shifting from 1-2-3-4 with the two shift solenoids is a binary pattern counting from 0-3 (00, 01, 10, 11). My thought is, instead of paying out the ass for an expensive shift controller I could just rig something up with an Arduino and some relays (big clicky ones make a more impressive noise because "it's a manual, dammit") to control the solenoids. I could have a shift lever mounted to the right of the steering wheel (pull back to shift up push forward to shift down) with a Push-on-push-off-type button on the top for TC lockup and possibly two more buttons to change trans line pressure for firmer/smoother shifts depending on how much I hate my transmission at the time.

My question to the transmission gurus of this thread: How will this actually *work* on a daily basis? If I unplug the trans from the computer (I can tune the PCM to understand there is no trans so it doesn't freak out too badly) and hook up relays to the pins corresponding to the various solenoids, will I get *fully* manual control over my gears without any automatic kickdown, upshift at redline, etc. since those seem to be handled in to tuning tables? How will the "D-3-2-1" positions on the physical shift lever work with this setup hooked up? If I just unplug the trans from the engine, I only have access to 3rd and 2nd gear, unlocked TC. My aim is for 100% manual control of what gear I'm in and if the TC is locked up or not. This might be a bit more technical, but will my relays be connecting the pins for the solenoids to ground or to positive to actually engage the solenoid of choice? I've been pouring over wiring diagrams and this is very different from what I'm learning at university (computer engineering major).

And yes, I've seen the video of the guy with the 4t80e in a Chevy truck shifting with light switches. I still don't fully understand it. Apologies for typos or awful grammar. It's 1am here and I'm in a caffeine-induced automotive stupor and my soldering iron is giving me bedroom eyes.

[2003 SSEi]

actually the easier thing to add a "performance shift" button. Every 3800 PCM has this option and just needs turned on.

There are also performance shift tables in all the PCM's also. you will need someone with a DHP tuner to turn on the option, and then just add a PIN to the PCM connector and a switch in the inside.

you can have different shifting times, speeds, firmness, and also TC lockup, from your Street tune

[nos4blood70]

Pat nailed it on the head, it's basically like a sport mode. You can keep your cruisy boaty fuel economy settings in normal shift, and then turn the trans into an animal in performance shift.

[Pilot of the Murdersofa]

Full manual control would still be preferred but... that's pretty cool. How does one go about adding this switch and enabling it? This sounds a lot like my friend's Chevy Sonic where the tune can be reverted back to stock by hitting the Cruise Control button.

[2003 SSEi]

first you need someone with a DHP tuner to turn on the option.

Second you need to add the wire into the PCM

Third would be playing with the tables to get them where you want them

[Pilot of the Murdersofa]

Exactly what pin is this wire going to? Is it labeled in any wiring diagrams or pinouts?