My take is the M6 assuming nothing goes wrong for him. The main reasons being are that 3rd gear will pull so much harder than us A4 guys could imagin. My previous owner lost in the same situation your in to a M6 SS form 01. Are camaro's lighter?(Yes pending on the driver and features) Are A4's more efficient? (Yes assuming there is no slippage and shifts are good) Will A4's win the launch? (If stalled to the same speed the A4 will launch harder and hook better than the M6 mainly because of wheel hop from M6's.) its really a hit or miss race. There's too much give/take going on however the M6 has the advantage wit the gearing. if you have 3.23's (WS6 or the GU5 code) youll have a much better chance even if he's a fairly good driver. if you have 2.73's or GU2 code then its lights out for you. take him on the launch and DONT look back and make sure you have it in 3 not D

 

The A4 will run quicker in D than in 3.

 

if you check the automatic transmission thread...puting an F-bod in 3 (T/A's) or D (Camaros) is better than using D(T/A OVERDRIVE) or OD (Camaros) the PCM Adjusts the gearing somehow...it pulls harder i guess due to the 3 gears rather than 4. Even the owners manual has something on that.

for instance which pulls harder putting the A4 in 1st? or putting the A4 in OD. Garanteed you can make longer tracks with it in 1st from a dead stop. i wish i knew more aobut A4's but i don't unfortunately. You'd haveta ask one of the guru's for more technical info

 

D or OD, doesn't matter.

 

i've always heard the opposite of that...
and this makes absolutly no sense to me...when racing the 1/4 you don't ever get into 4th gear...with a stock car at least

 

You get slightly quicker shifts when you leave it in D. Quicker shifts equal quicker times.

 

Shift times are preset in the computer. It makes no difference weather it is in 3rd or drive. If you saw the tranny tables in the computer you would see how it works. I always leave it in drive.

 

i have an m6 and i have blown the launch against a4 drivers and still pulled them hard by the end

i fully believe that if you have a guy that can really drive a stick and can shift very fast.... the m6 will win hands down everytime

i can shift very fast and im not talking about powershifting because i dont do that
an auto trans may shift faster then me but not buy much

 

A good driver in a m6 will spank an a4 especially from a roll. As far as the launch go, if you have a good rear end, clutch and pray that the tranny don't give out a m6 with a good driver can also run with a a4 at the track.

 

I see a few stock F-body's at the track on occasion, but, it seems the A4 guys usually win. It seems to be because the M6 folks try to launch too hard and end up boiling the tires. By the time they recover from the burnout, it's too late to catch the A4 before hitting the traps. With identically comparable good drivers, I think it would be awfully close ... no matter which transmission you have. I'm talking 3.23's versus 3.42's. Of course 2.73's won't have much of a chance if the M6 gets even a halfway decent launch.

 

M6 or A4 ..!!!

 

I think this is in correct, mostly from a tuning point of view.....How can you prove this?

 

I always leave my car in D when i race and it seems to do fairly well. I don't see how putting it in 3rd instead of D would make any difference. The computer would still shift at the same speed.

 

there is a difference believe it or not, ive seen it done several different times...and have done it myself and find better results...having the 4th gear available for soem reason makes the difference...like the best way to burn the rubber is using 1st gear ONLY....cant explain why it accelerates quicker through the gears....i dont have technical info but if you really wanna see
TRY BOTH

 

I've found that the 2-3 shift at least feels quicker when the car is left in D. I found that when doing a highway run, if the car was in 3 there would be a noticable hesitation on the 2-3 shift, this hesitation was gone when the car was left in D. Colonel says the same, but what does he know....

 

But why, I have shifted both and they feel no different to me. Maybe Colonel will chime in and tell us why....

 

Well, as the thread began, I can't speak stock-for-stock because no matter what anyone tries, most replying here don't have anywhere near stock cars. Of course, mine is not stock, either, but here's what works best for me. With my shift points all being set to 6500 rpm, I launch my A4 in 1st. The second I take off, I immediately shift to second and the ECM seems to really love it, shifting at EXACTLY the pricise shift point that is set. It hits 6500 rpm and shifts while I still have it floored. Third does the same to Drive ... only difference is that from 1st-2nd gear, it burns the tires just enough to heat them a little and it sticks like glue and throws my *** into the back of the seat. When I start out in 3rd OR Drive it seems to shift inconsistently and shifts anywhere from 6300-6700 rpm.

Now .... I have no stall converter and I drive my A4 like a stick ALL the time ... seldom ever starting out in 3rd or Drive ... SOOOO, maybe this is why my A4 likes to start out in 1st. The ECM might just be thinking it's 4-speed. I've tried launching in 3rd and in Drive. It just isn't nearly as good on my particular application/setup.

Has anyone else found this to be effective?

NOTE: When I launch in 1st, if I don't immediately shift to 2nd as soon as I come off the line, it seems to screw the whole concept up and confuses the ECM/PCM. Just emphasizing that if you try it, just make sure you shift to 2nd the second you launch.

 

I have raced stock for stock a SS camaro, 00 model. I was in a 1999 trans am m6. There was no contest for that race. I pulled on him so bad on the start and on a moving start. He asked if mine was an auto, and i was said nope. And another time i raced a A4 with macs and a cut out. I was stock other than a flowmaster muffler that came with it, i was right next to him, then pulled about 10 feet at around 110mph. Just depends on drivers if you ask me.

 

You manually shift your A4?

Also, you say that if you don't shift it manually that it shifts inconsistantly...are you basing that off the reading from the stock tach? Cause you do know it's not accurate, right?

 

I'll answer the best I can BlueSix. Then, let's steer this thing back on topic.

I manually shifted my 2000 Trans Am for 55,000 miles. Noone can drive their F-Body any harder than I do. I have manually shifted this 1999 for 33000+ miles ... so, please tell me one proven reason this will hurt the transmission. Some have said that it causes the PCM to build too much line pressure and it will damage the tranny. It doesn't.

As for your question about the accuracy of the tachometer, well, I'm basing it on the scans that were done while driving the vehicle with my tuner's laptop connected to my PCM and him recording while I was driving. The tach is correct. Even it if wasn't, when manually shifting, it still would not change the fact that it shifts at the same exact shift point that was tuned into my PCM ... every time. When I launch in 3rd OR drive, sometimes, it will shift at 6300 ... next time it might shift at 6600. Manually shifting it's consistently shifting at what it's set to shift at.

Let's move it over to the thread that discusses the differences in shifting.