schmendog

iTrader: (10)

Ive been doing some digging and it seems that for a turbo car, an auto is the best choice for an all out drag car. That said, there are those of us that think three pedals are just more fun, and then there are guys that have great results with a stick... so its a tuff choice when doing a new build. Ive heard people say they went from a stick to an auto and shaved a full second off their ET... what kind of results have you guys had after making the switch?

stmz28

iTrader: (9)

I had a all motor setup and went from a t56 to a th400 and did not pick up any et and mph

quicksilverado

iTrader: (8)

Apples to oranges. Turbo set up is completely different animal than N.A.

3pedals

iTrader: (3)

I'm a stick guy through and through. My thoughts are this: auto is way easier, stick is way harder. Lots more work to get a higher power car to work with the clutch.

schmendog

iTrader: (10)

Care to shed some light on this? Im not disagreeing, just looking for knowledge.


That makes sense. Auto definately sounds like the easier of the two, no doubt about that.


Really looking for back to back results from people who have done the swap, let us know guys.

3pedals

iTrader: (3)

I think that a stick will be faster than the auto BUT, ONLY after it is fully sorted out. An auto with a reasonably decent converter will get you most of the way there on the first attempt.

quicksilverado

iTrader: (8)

Every time you shift the turbo has to spool up again. With an auto the turbo stays spooled between shifts.

chiaj144

iTrader: (4)

On a turbo setup with a proper converter a stick will never touch it. No loosing boost between shifts, auto shifts faster keeping the car under load and pulling the entire pass. Not too mention torque multiplication of the converter and the gear set in any auto is better suited to a turbo . My old set up went 12.70's @ 112 with the stick and 12.10's with an auto both with crappy 60'. I never had either set up dialed in but this was with the same set up and tune just a trans change.

Tally TransAm

iTrader: (17)

negative. unless your shifting is off



mine runs decent and im confident it would be a little quicker with an auto. much easier to 60'. not changing over yet though

schmendog

iTrader: (10)

So you were able to drop .60 with the switch, would you attrribute that to an easier launch or something else?

chiaj144

iTrader: (4)

I'm no expert just giving my experience. I only shift gears twice instead of three times, the car would drop off some boost between shifts, better gear ratio's in the auto, car was less violent and easier to hook between shifts. With the auto the car would really pull hard in second. I wish I had a trans brake on that set up to see what it would really do.

js2fst

iTrader: (12)

I am a stick person. Auto is faster. And f body hydraulics suck. But if you do stay manual do a torque arm relocator

Nitroused383

iTrader: (10)

I will let you guys know in a few months. Throwing an auto in my car while I rebuild the 6 speed. Need that 9 second pass

25thhawk

iTrader: (3)

auto will be quicker if both combos are sorted out
stick will run more mph due to less power lost
auto is way easier on parts and will 60ft better
only way a stick is gonna be faster is with a slipper clutch
On a turbo, an auto will be faster due to less shifts and no boost drop off between shifts

But I'd still rather race a stick,lol.

T/ALT1

iTrader: (3)

The quickest drag cars are normally standard, now this is a whole next level but if you throw enough time money and patience a standard works great with turbo. Most don't have the money or time to make it work. Look at Larry Larson, winner of HR dragweek 4 yrs now with a standard and twin turbo BBC. I could name a few more but it's alot easier to go fast with an auto.

Twin turbo c5

If you make plenty of power you don't need the stick. there fun to drive but I see guys at the track all the time missing gears and fighting them. Auto is the way to go if you want to be consistent and win some races. But its just advice. A majority of the fast turbo cars on here are auto.

Blackpanther99

iTrader: (8)

N/A on a M6 is a great combo anyday. On boost depending the power you put down AUTO is the way to go anyday. If you are good at shifting and know your thing than M6 on boost wont be a bad idea, pretty big debate in whats better since a lot of boosted M6/standard guys have done amazing things.

ninetres

iTrader: (35)

There is no debate on which trans can be quicker, it's Auto. Look at any record holder, or even anyone competitive in heads up racing. All autos. If a stick offered better ETs, everyone would run them.

/thread

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

I would think a liberty or lenco trans would have an advantage over the T56, being able to shift under power.

HexenLord

The high-end standards are probably the fastest transmission out there, but you can't really call them standards. Most of them are clutchless and air shifted. A lenco is about as far from a standard as an auto is.

To sum all of this up, there's one very important thing to remember. When using an OEM transmission, autos will be faster in the quarter on a given high power setup. N/A doesn't always apply here for power band reasons. Forced induction of any kind, and auto will be faster. When you get into aftermarket based transmissions that are designed and built solely for drag racing, things like the lencos and liberties have an advantage.