Is it OK to drive a big stalled A3 on the street?
10-11-2007, 07:44 PM
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Is it OK to drive a big stalled A3 on the street? I'm having a hard time deciding which tranny I'm gonna run next season with my new 383 motor.. I'm leaning towards a TH400 with a brake and a good converter. But my buddy says it will suck on the street and wear it out fast with a big stall.
I was thinking of a pro shifted T56. But after talking with Amber from T56 rebuilds, she says it's not a very street-able set up. And it's pricey also.
I was also thinking of a 4l60 with a brake but those are around 2K + a high dollar converter and a tranny module.
Or keeping my unreliable T56 and up grading to a twin disc clutch. But I'm tired of the hydraulic problems and not shifting right every time.
My car only see's about 4K miles on the street and about 20 track days a year.
Which tranny would better suit my needs??? Please, give me some advice!!
I was thinking of a pro shifted T56. But after talking with Amber from T56 rebuilds, she says it's not a very street-able set up. And it's pricey also.
I was also thinking of a 4l60 with a brake but those are around 2K + a high dollar converter and a tranny module.
Or keeping my unreliable T56 and up grading to a twin disc clutch. But I'm tired of the hydraulic problems and not shifting right every time.
My car only see's about 4K miles on the street and about 20 track days a year.
Which tranny would better suit my needs??? Please, give me some advice!!
10-11-2007, 08:14 PM
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I run a th400 with a 3800 converter and transbrake. Its tough to keep cool on the street in the summer. I just added a second cooler and fan which seems to have helped, but I haven't driven it in real hot weather since I put that on. It was getting to about 200 degrees in 80-90 degree weather. The last time I drove it was 75 degrees and the tranny didn't get above 170 (this was a 45 min. drive to the track) I only drive mine about 500 miles a year now.
10-11-2007, 08:16 PM
#3
my TH400 car drives great on the street. i only have a 3.73 gear and 28" radial on it. if your TH400 is getting hot, you are probably driving a lot of stop and go traffic or the tranny cooler isnt getting the job done.
question is, do you want to get serious about drag racing or not. remember, guys drove th400 for millions of miles before the "need" for over drive and lock up.
question is, do you want to get serious about drag racing or not. remember, guys drove th400 for millions of miles before the "need" for over drive and lock up.
10-11-2007, 08:22 PM
#4
I drove my th400 with a loose n/a converter (stalls to 5400 on the brake) with 4.10 gears and a 28 inch radial this spring and a bunch last year, and never had the tranny get over 180 even on a hotter day. It's not all that great on the highway I won't lie, cruising at 55 and spinnign 3300 rpm gets a little obnoxious after about 20 miles LOL, but other then that it's tolerable.
I'm running a 21 x 7 x 3/4 flexalite tranny cooler mounted right to the radiator and it seems to get the job done. If I were going to do it again, I would have mounted it right to the triangular support that goes up to the hood latch to get the cooler off the radiator so that it wouldn't get the heat from the radiator to it, but other then that it's worked out good so far.
If I try to hotlap it at the track on a hot (90+ degree day) the tranny will get up to 230, but I've never seen it get any higher then that.
Key is if you are running at the track, don't put the car on the transbrake any longer then you absolutely have to, and it won't get too hot.
Hope this helps.
I'm running a 21 x 7 x 3/4 flexalite tranny cooler mounted right to the radiator and it seems to get the job done. If I were going to do it again, I would have mounted it right to the triangular support that goes up to the hood latch to get the cooler off the radiator so that it wouldn't get the heat from the radiator to it, but other then that it's worked out good so far.
If I try to hotlap it at the track on a hot (90+ degree day) the tranny will get up to 230, but I've never seen it get any higher then that.
Key is if you are running at the track, don't put the car on the transbrake any longer then you absolutely have to, and it won't get too hot.
Hope this helps.
10-11-2007, 11:08 PM
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my TH400 car drives great on the street. i only have a 3.73 gear and 28" radial on it. if your TH400 is getting hot, you are probably driving a lot of stop and go traffic or the tranny cooler isnt getting the job done.
question is, do you want to get serious about drag racing or not. remember, guys drove th400 for millions of miles before the "need" for over drive and lock up.
question is, do you want to get serious about drag racing or not. remember, guys drove th400 for millions of miles before the "need" for over drive and lock up.
Gator, that gear/tire combo seams to be the ticket. What size vert do you have? What RPM's at 55 or 60 do you see? And do you drive it around town in stop and go traffic??
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10-11-2007, 11:17 PM
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I drove my th400 with a loose n/a converter (stalls to 5400 on the brake) with 4.10 gears and a 28 inch radial this spring and a bunch last year, and never had the tranny get over 180 even on a hotter day. It's not all that great on the highway I won't lie, cruising at 55 and spinnign 3300 rpm gets a little obnoxious after about 20 miles LOL, but other then that it's tolerable.
I'm running a 21 x 7 x 3/4 flexalite tranny cooler mounted right to the radiator and it seems to get the job done. If I were going to do it again, I would have mounted it right to the triangular support that goes up to the hood latch to get the cooler off the radiator so that it wouldn't get the heat from the radiator to it, but other then that it's worked out good so far.
If I try to hotlap it at the track on a hot (90+ degree day) the tranny will get up to 230, but I've never seen it get any higher then that.
Key is if you are running at the track, don't put the car on the trans brake any longer then you absolutely have to, and it won't get too hot.
Hope this helps.
I'm running a 21 x 7 x 3/4 flexalite tranny cooler mounted right to the radiator and it seems to get the job done. If I were going to do it again, I would have mounted it right to the triangular support that goes up to the hood latch to get the cooler off the radiator so that it wouldn't get the heat from the radiator to it, but other then that it's worked out good so far.
If I try to hotlap it at the track on a hot (90+ degree day) the tranny will get up to 230, but I've never seen it get any higher then that.
Key is if you are running at the track, don't put the car on the trans brake any longer then you absolutely have to, and it won't get too hot.
Hope this helps.
I think the key to long life is getting a good cooler on it with a fan and temp gauge. I will get all of that if I go this route.
10-12-2007, 04:46 AM
#9
Just because the converter stalls that high, doesn't mean the motor has to go that high to move the car. It still moves and will get up to speed without going over 3000 rpm, just takes a little longer then you'd think.
It's fun as hell on the street. People look @ ya as you're driving by in 2nd say goign 30 mph... and you can punch it and flash the converter up and smoke, literally look like you're in the burnout box smoke the tires from a roll at will, especially on a street tire, say like stock f1's or the like.
Imagine rolling down the road at about 35, someone looks at your car, you look back, smile and then proceed to blow the tires off for 100 or so feet just by punching it for 2 ot 3 seconds, then go back to normal like nothing happened, the look on people's faces is great, some run in fear, some point and go wow, some give you the finger LOL.
It's fun as hell on the street. People look @ ya as you're driving by in 2nd say goign 30 mph... and you can punch it and flash the converter up and smoke, literally look like you're in the burnout box smoke the tires from a roll at will, especially on a street tire, say like stock f1's or the like.
Imagine rolling down the road at about 35, someone looks at your car, you look back, smile and then proceed to blow the tires off for 100 or so feet just by punching it for 2 ot 3 seconds, then go back to normal like nothing happened, the look on people's faces is great, some run in fear, some point and go wow, some give you the finger LOL.
10-12-2007, 08:23 AM
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That is some funny ****. The way my buddy talkks, is like it will not grab until that RPM. So it's not exactly like that? He also says it slips until the stall RPM is reached, causing them to build a lot of heat. Which is hard on the tranny. Is this true?
10-12-2007, 10:43 AM
#12
i can take my foot off the gas and the car will roll forward at idle, flashes 3800-ish on motor. When taking off the engine will rev to 1800 or so while doing a mild acceleration, and hold 2200 during the shifts without the rpms changing but the gears do.
10-12-2007, 11:04 AM
#13
mine stalls to 5400 on motor, and I put it in gear and the car wil move foreward.
If you put a tranny cooler on like what I'm running it doesn't seem to get that hot.
It does drive like it's really loose, but like I said, it's a ton of fun around town. Especially with open headers and a 13.5 to 1 402ci huffing under the hood. Scares the life out of old people, children, hell everyone
If you put a tranny cooler on like what I'm running it doesn't seem to get that hot.
It does drive like it's really loose, but like I said, it's a ton of fun around town. Especially with open headers and a 13.5 to 1 402ci huffing under the hood. Scares the life out of old people, children, hell everyone
10-12-2007, 01:53 PM
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I ran a TH400 RMVB T/B with a 4,500 stall with 4.86 gears and a 33x16.5S on the street and raced it at the track and had no trans problems after the 3 years I drove and raced it.
I just ran a large trans cooler right in front of the radiator and never had a single issue.
I got about 6-7 mpg, and that was a little expensive on race gas.
I just ran a large trans cooler right in front of the radiator and never had a single issue.
I got about 6-7 mpg, and that was a little expensive on race gas.
10-13-2007, 02:14 AM
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The point isn't about the stall, you just have to keep the trans temp down, buy a big *** good quality cooler and run a temp gauge. Also adding more capacity to hold trans fluid helps keep it down.
10-13-2007, 03:26 AM
#17
I have a COAN 3800 in front of my TH-400 with a 28 inch tall tire and what calculates to be a 3.73 (nitrous car). On the foot brake with manual brakes its pretty easy to stall it up to 2500ish.
From a stop the car starts moving at like 1500RPM.
I don't mind it at all honestly. At 60mph I am at 2800RPM.
It could be even looser and I would not care. Its all about how serious you want to get.
Keep in mind my old Z saw a 1,000 miles a year, this one will be about the same or a tad less.
Tire size is based off your trap RPM, stall size is based off of engine combo (cam more then anything) and gears and they all get matched together.
From a stop the car starts moving at like 1500RPM.
I don't mind it at all honestly. At 60mph I am at 2800RPM.
It could be even looser and I would not care. Its all about how serious you want to get.
Keep in mind my old Z saw a 1,000 miles a year, this one will be about the same or a tad less.
Tire size is based off your trap RPM, stall size is based off of engine combo (cam more then anything) and gears and they all get matched together.
10-13-2007, 03:33 AM
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if you want to know how many RPM's you'll be turning with an A3 vs an A4... put your 4L60 in 3rd and drive around like that to get an idea.... then add a few more RPM's due to your upcoming setup not having a locking converter.... if you have tuning software, keep it unlocked in 3rd. this will give you an very close idea of how it will act... all you M6 guys thinking of an A3 swap.... cruise in 4th to find your approximate RPM's...
its all 1:1
its all 1:1
10-13-2007, 06:59 AM
#19
Just be ready for teh tranny to overflow when it gets hot the first comput times, I've found the dipstick is only about 75% accurate, and the only way I've been able to get the tranny full to the right level is to run it and add a little fluid until it comes out the overflow, when the tranny goes in, do one thing I did not, put a hose on teh overflow tube and route it so that it won't hit the exhaust, or people will think your car is on fire, which I guess could happen if it were to overflow enough. Mine smoked like a **** the first time I drove it, overflow was hitting the Y pipe.
Put a hose on it or a catch can on it, and just monitor it at the start, you will figure out where the level needs to be on the tranny dipstick quick enough.