Okay, I know this is going to stir the pot a little bit, and I'm totally prepaired to take the heat, but I have a question. The shops that are selling these TC's all recomend that we stay at or around 3000 stall for a mildly modded car. I've had some very knowledgable people tell me that this is mostly logic used in older engines, but my doubts remain.
Does anybody out there run a 2600-2800 TC? And if so, what kind of gains did you see with it? I love the feel of my stocker, I'm just looking to ease my dead spot, and possibly give me 4 tenths in the quarter.
The reason I'm looking to stay so small, is because I'm never going to be putting drag radials on the car. And even the 2800s seem to melt through the tires pretty good.
Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.


**Braces for the impact**..........

 

I have a 2800 stall. I can't say how much it gained because I bought the car with the converter in it. I can say that with bolt on's and a 2800 stall converter that my car ran 12.57 @ 108 on street tires. It is a decent converter if you are never going to race at the track. I am happy with the way my converter drives but I would like to have a higher stall just for the shift extension.

 

Wow, I'm really surprised by the lack of response. Thanks 99-LS1-SS for the input. Let me ask you another question if I may.... What are your other mods, and how diffcult is it to launch your car on regular street tires? Or even, what's it like when you're not really racing, but you give it a decent amount of throttle on take-off.... say like a half throttle take off?

 

You need the extra stall to fully cure the dead spot. If you don't want to roast the tires, keep the STR down. That's why the SY 3500 is good on the street.

BTW, my first converter was a 2800. It was great for about a month, then I wanted more.

A vig 2800 is ok because it is really like having a 3200.

 

Okay, I keep getting different answers on the STR thing. Is the higher nubers tighter, or are the lower number tighter? I like how tight my stock TC is, but when I go WOT, I'd like it to kick up a bit.

 

I have bolt ons headers, ORY, TSP 224R cam, Borla Exhaust.

It can be done with practice. I managed to pull a 1.79 60' time on stock F-1's. Drag radial are MUCH easier. I can pretty much heat them up and stomp the gas.

With stock tires I could floor my car could spin my 275/45/17's up to about 85 mph. At have throttle you can take off with little to no wheel spin. In my opinion, if you want to retain a somewhat stock feel and still see gains in performance then go with a 2800 stall converter. If you are more interested in performance go larger. I will be getting a larger stall as soon as I get my funds lined up. My car gets driven about once every week and a half so the loose feel of the converter won't bother me. I am wanting to get more performance out of my car.

 

I think 2600-2800 is too low for an LS1, maybe an LT1. I would get a minimum 3000, but a 3200 is a good compromise.

 

I have a Y3000 2.0 STR coupled to 3.73's in my 01 Z28. Upon aggressive throttle, my dead spot is gone. My vehicle will shift @ 5400 RPM, and come out in the next gear @ 4300 RPM.

I have SLP subframe connectors, and a full complement of BMR products in the rear along with upgraded sway bars, due to this I hook extreemly well.

I have not run the vehicle at the track, however it is alot quicker than stock since the converter change.

My friend has a 2600 1.8 STR with 3.23's in a 02 Z28. He now regrets purchasing this converter, after driving my vehicle. He told me he feels no difference between his stock unit, and the 2600 stall. He still has a slight dead spot between the 2nd and 3rd shift.

SteveC

 

Why would the engine make a difference?

Again, 99LS1SS thanks for the information. I've talked to soo many people about this, I'm sure you guys age getting sick of seeing me post. But I think you have what I'm looking for in that 2800. I trust everybody else w/ the 3000+ opinions, but I can't stress hard enough how stock I want my car to feel. I want O.E.M. feel, just a little faster. There have been more and more posts comming out with people not being happy w/ the 3k's. If I screw myself, and end up going larger later, I think I'll be okay with that. And I will absolutly post here with a "I should have listend to everybody" post.

Thanks for all the input.

 

Because the LS1 pulls harder up top and really benefits from a higher stall compared to a
standard SBC (stock to stock).

 

What he said. Check out the torque curve of an LT1 vs an LS1 sometimes. They have very nice low end.....LS1 likes to get some healthy revs going and has a much improved top end over the Lt1 though.

As Ragtop 99 threw in.....the SY3500 is good because it has a higher stall to make sure you make it decently into the powerband, yet a low enough STR to get away with street tires. I think it would fit you well. A sub 3k stall is practically nothing and not worth it IMO. I'd get at least the SY3500. It really is not all THAT noticable....really. Get use to it pretty quick. The only thing I notice now (SSF 3500, 2.5 STR) is that my car makes a lot more noise when I give it light-moderate throttle and it is almost embarrasing sometimes when I pass someone at like 2,500 and it sounds like I'm gassing it and hardly moving

 

stall speed has a bigger impact on tightness than STR. for example, a SY 3500 (1.7 str) is much tighter feeling than a YTP 4200 (2.5 Str).

 

tci ssf 3500 is great verter for its size. I recommend it for bolt on-only cars since cam cars and the 5100 shift extension, well thats just too damn low.

i think tci makes a 3000 sf series too. i wouldn't go any lower cause the whole point is racing from a dig, on a strip hopefully, and you need all you can get.

if you are racing from a roll against an m6 you're probably gonna get your *** handed to you anyways, so whats the point

lockup is 40mph on mine, after that its pretty much the same mpg as stock.

I regret not going to a tci 3800 with my cam. Or a 4000-4200. i hope tci will let me upgrade when i wear out the 3500

and i abuse the hell out of the tci, 9 miles, full dead traffic each way to work, locking and unlocking 50 times per direction at least (hills/cops/stops) and she's holding up like a champ when i get her on the freeway she's toight like a tiger.