I own a 2001 Z28 A4 with 3.73 gears.

I am strongly considering changing my torque converter to a Vigilante 2800 with a 2.5 STR.

From reading other posts, the general consensis is that if "I stay under a 3200 RPM stall, I will not have to delete the Torque Management".

I this statement true?

If the TM was a problem, What would I notice in the drivability of the vehicle?

Thanks in advance.

SteveC

 

I believe it is important to remove torque management as soon as you begin modifying the car with any converter/shift kit. Torque managment controls RPM and torque during shifts. If the car is making more torque than the computer allows, it will begin to pull timing and fuel. This will decrease the power of your vehicle (which you will notice). Sometimes your car will not shift at WOT with the torque management still active, depending on your RPM's. The TM is there for protective measures to make sure that the tranny doesn't overheat. It controls the lock up of the converter to help the transmission and it also regulates your shift points. In other words, the system is there to make sure that you don't over work the transmission. You will need to pick either reliability or performance but if you are going to race the car, I suggest turning off the TM.

 

DOES THE PREDATOR PROGRAMMER DELETE TM???

 

Zangel;

Thank you so much for the explination of TM, at least now I know what I am up against. A question though:

If the "TM controls the lock up of the converter, and it also regulates your shift points", by deleting the TM does the TC still lock up, and does the transmission still shift correctly?

Please excuse my ignorance in this matter.

SteveC

 

Torque management doesn't lock up the converter...your PCM does that at a certain RPM/Load level per gear. With LS1 Edit, My trans won't lock up except in 4th gear above 43mph...that's the best place I've found for drivability and such.

I turned off the torque management except for under 30% throttle..under 30% throttle it's 1/2 of what stock would be...above 30% it's turned off all the way. When you turn it off all the way your trans will SLAM the next gear...it's not hurting anything but it can be a lil annoying on a daily that's why I did the below 30%.

Torque management really is there for "Smoothness" what it does is slip the clutches, pull timing, and fuel...it does this so you have a nice smooth gear change...now when is the last time you raced you "Smoothly" shifted a manual...um...never...why? Cause you want to shift quick and hard to get back on the gas..that is what taking torque management out of ur pcm will do to ur auto.

 

I am sorry but I don't know much about the Predator programmer. We use the LS1edit program to do all of the tuning on my car.

As for the torque management, I should have used different wording. The torque management does not "control" the lock up, but rather regulates it to maintain the transmission. The computer has settings that show at what RPM the verter should lock up and when to shift. If the computer senses that you are out of this range, that is when torque management will come into play. The computer also has a setting of how much torque to allow. I can not remember the exact number at this time but I believe it is around 350. If the computer senses that you are going over that certain RPM/torque limit, it will cut the timing and fuel to keep it stable so the transmission will not heat up past a certain point. With a converter, you are already raising those limits. You will have to adjust your shift tables and limiter afterwards to allow the most gains. The transmission will shift just the same as well as the lock up unless you change the specs with the programmer. The only thing that will change is the regulation. You will be able to push the transmission further without having the torque management to pull it back. The only use for torque management is reliability issues and to help the transmission last longer.

Not ignorance at all... everyone has to start somewhere! Feel free to ask more questions and I will do my best to answer them!

 

Ok, got it now, on my last dyno run, I was putting out 350 RWTQ at 5400 RPM, after the initial spike into 2nd, I know I would be way over that figure with a 2.5 STR.

Believe it or not, I do not plan to race the car, I just want to have it more response, and fun to drive.

For street driving and an occasional romp, I wonder if I could live through the TM?

SteveC

 

Don't live through it get rid of it. Send your PCM to a shop and have them get rid of it its cheap and worth it.

 

Agree, get rid of it if you can. It was one of the first things to go on my car when I got it. I can't stand the way the car shifts with TM.

Jordan

 

.. go with at least a Vig 3200. Don't let TM keep you from getting the converter you want. There are many ways to program around it now.

TM in most cars "grows" with time. My car was driven for nearly a year without any TM issues.

 

Thank you all for the input, I appreciate it very much, hopfully early next year I will have all my ducks in a row, and make the correct decision.

SteveC