Converting a manual gearbox to an iMT: Is it worth the risk?

All these thoughts come to mind as you are crawling in the traffic during morning/evening office hours and your left leg is begging for relief from MT.

BHPian m8002? recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Was just wondering if it is possible to convert a manual transmission to IMT by adding the actuator? it would be a great if its a plug and play module.

Just as an example, Creta comes with MT and IMT. Can an existing Creta MT customer add the actuator to make the car IMT.

All these thoughts come to mind as you are crawling in the traffic during morning/evening office hours and your left leg is begging for relief from MT.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

With money & time, anything is possible, but this is really one of those things that is best done at the factory-level (along with turbocharging etc.). Factory fit is factory fit.

If you absolutely want a change with lesser financial impact, sell your used MT car and buy a used IMT / AMT / AT car. Sell used & buy used to make the depreciation impact minimal.

Do note there are AT conversion kits like AutoClutch (search on Team-BHP for reviews).

Here's what BHPian stantheman had to say on the matter:

Hi, I remembered speaking with someone when I was trying to get the indicator stalk on my Duster to the right side, he mentioned he does manual to i-MT conversion. (turns out to be too much hassle). A little google search and turns out that gentleman is the CEO of automateindia. I have no idea if it works well but he mentioned that he has a demo car/center in Bengaluru, near electronic city.Check that out if you are interested.

Here's what BHPian condor had to say on the matter:

What you have asked is an old question. The answer is No, and well explained by GTO.

People do some engine swaps etc, but changing the type of transmission is a head ache best not even thought about. Get a different car, and drive with peace-of-mind.

Here's what BHPian Aritra had to say on the matter:

Technically & theoretically - YES! (Provided time and money is not a constraint and you have a technically experienced and sound person with required skills and equipment at your disposal).

However, legal norms governing automobiles in India is at a completely different level and I do not think RTO and traffic police folks would appreciate the conversion if they ever come across it. A few years (5-6yr) back, one of my friends wanted to do the same at Karnataka and RTO was dead against it.

Another long-term challenge would be the maintenance since neither the ASS guys or other FNGs will not be accustomed to the wiring and component orientation of this modification.

To cut it short, if you are keen to have an IMT, go for a factory fitted IMT if you want peace of mind.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.