you'll get better times revving it a little higher than factory normally, but a semi-auto is very different to an auto with paddle shift etc. I still think semi-auto conversion is possible, but would take a fair bit of work. I'd still be interested in trying it out if anyone has a spare gearbox? hehe
I've been thinking about this for a while, to build it myself (still studying comp-eng/comp-sci) I reckon it'd be about 2-3k + lots of time setting up the system. By far the most complicated part is the software. I'm pretty sure I could make a fast race one but I have no idea how smooth it'd be