anyone regret adding a converter to their car?
Originally Posted by ohsofast
When I first got in my car with the ST3500 I was like OMG this sucks, Then my brother said punch it, after that I had a smile on my face the whole day. Love it ever since.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,524
Likes: 1
From: The South
Every once in a while I wonder.
I've been through two transmissions and with gas at $3.20/gallon for premium and rising.....yeah it makes me wonder.
From a peformance standpoint there is NOTHING like a big converter, and I love the lope of my cam which requires a converter. I will be much, much happier when I get another vehicle and do not have to continue using the Z28 as a daily driver.
All told I would probably do it all over again. The trannies crapping out on me are the only real sore spot. When (not if) this one goes out I will be installing a god damn TH400. JMO
Edit: I don't know what's up with the guys who have 3,500 and above converters and say they don't even realize it is there after awhile. To not knwo it's there you must not do much city driving, ignore gas mileage and have a quiet exhaust.
I've been through two transmissions and with gas at $3.20/gallon for premium and rising.....yeah it makes me wonder.
From a peformance standpoint there is NOTHING like a big converter, and I love the lope of my cam which requires a converter. I will be much, much happier when I get another vehicle and do not have to continue using the Z28 as a daily driver.
All told I would probably do it all over again. The trannies crapping out on me are the only real sore spot. When (not if) this one goes out I will be installing a god damn TH400. JMO
Edit: I don't know what's up with the guys who have 3,500 and above converters and say they don't even realize it is there after awhile. To not knwo it's there you must not do much city driving, ignore gas mileage and have a quiet exhaust.
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Ive got an SS3600 on the way. If i feel the exhaust is too loud ill just put the borla plate back in.
Because of my 2.73's & the stock converter i spend alot of time in the low rpm range and rarely see 6k. Actually the only time i see 6k is at 35mph or 85mph. Thats sad...but not for long! I wanna take the stock converter and SMASH it with a sledge hammer for causing me years of aggrevation but ill probibley sell it on ebay.
Because of my 2.73's & the stock converter i spend alot of time in the low rpm range and rarely see 6k. Actually the only time i see 6k is at 35mph or 85mph. Thats sad...but not for long! I wanna take the stock converter and SMASH it with a sledge hammer for causing me years of aggrevation but ill probibley sell it on ebay.
Originally Posted by blkZ28spt
Edit: I don't know what's up with the guys who have 3,500 and above converters and say they don't even realize it is there after awhile. To not knwo it's there you must not do much city driving, ignore gas mileage and have a quiet exhaust.
You just get used to it after a while, to accelerate faster than most traffic, i'm at 2500 rpms) converter will lock up at 25mph, after that it's tighter than it was stock. I barely even remember what the stock one felt like, most cars don't feel as tight as the stock one does on f-bodies.
Once I put on a ported TB, the change in response was amazing, it may not have made the car any faster, the it felt like the converter was much tighter.
My city gas mileage went down maybe 1mpg, if that, just don't haul *** everywhere and it's easy. And I have a cutout, but it's open all the time, never really bothered me, but I'm used to much louder cars, so maybe someone else might be annoyed by it.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 580
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From: Manhattan, NY
Originally Posted by blkZ28spt
Edit: I don't know what's up with the guys who have 3,500 and above converters and say they don't even realize it is there after awhile. To not knwo it's there you must not do much city driving, ignore gas mileage and have a quiet exhaust.
my exhaust is pretty loud. and everywhere you go in NJ - it is city driving. even highway driving, with the amount of traffic, is really city driving.
i do ignore gas mileage, though...
I don't understand why people say your MPG is gonna go down with a stall. I am under the impression that you don't need to hold the brake and stall it up just because you have a stall, you can drive it normally without stalling it.
Originally Posted by blind527
I don't understand why people say your MPG is gonna go down with a stall. I am under the impression that you don't need to hold the brake and stall it up just because you have a stall, you can drive it normally without stalling it.
Originally Posted by Jassick
with a stall it's going to slip more at lower rpms, thus requiring more pedal to get it moving. More pedal means more rpms, means worse gas milage
I think I am lucky to get 12 miles to the gallon.
Its a TH400 with a Coan 4k stall though.
I drive it on the street with no power steering and no heat or AC, its a reverse manual valve body which means I am shifting all the time.
I love everything about the setup and the stall is the best part.
No more cross country driving but then again thats not what I built it for.
I believe you can go too big with a stall (for street driving anyway) but as long as its an efficient converter 4k is no problem.
Its a TH400 with a Coan 4k stall though.
I drive it on the street with no power steering and no heat or AC, its a reverse manual valve body which means I am shifting all the time.
I love everything about the setup and the stall is the best part.
No more cross country driving but then again thats not what I built it for.
I believe you can go too big with a stall (for street driving anyway) but as long as its an efficient converter 4k is no problem.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,524
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From: The South
If not for the converter, I wouldn't have been "able" to do this tonight at the track....
I've had the tranny open to be upgraded/replaced three times the past year, once the converter's fault twice the trannies. Finally got it all working right, went back to the track, heated the crap out of hte ET Streets hoping to see a high 1.5 60's and boom, didn't go more than 6-10 feet.
I've had the tranny open to be upgraded/replaced three times the past year, once the converter's fault twice the trannies. Finally got it all working right, went back to the track, heated the crap out of hte ET Streets hoping to see a high 1.5 60's and boom, didn't go more than 6-10 feet.