Tony.. i never miss a shift in my A4

Where i race its all bracket racing.. Consistant times are a must. If i was running pro modified heads up racing , it would be a different setup.I challenge you to go to your local track and keep count of how may rev limiters get hit and missed shift's. You may be surprised.. If i miss a shift its broke..

 

From what Ive learned if drag racing is more your thing go with an A4. Otherwise the M6 is a more all around fun car.

 

Calm down nine ball, I WASNT THE ONE THAT SAID, Sure, you can buy cheaper converters, but you can also buy cheaper rearends (spooled), cheaper clutches (keep stock flywheel), and cheaper driveshafts. I was calculating "normal" prices for very good quality stuff. Those words were from your mouth. ALL THAT WAS SAID AFTER I MENTIONED MIDWEST , TCI, TCS. I do agree with you that it is gonna be his choice and he will decide.

 

I am definitely concerned about the 'fun factor' but I am also very fearful of automatics. My current vehicles tranny started going at 22,000 miles. Fortunately it was replaced under warranty and extended to 7yrs/70,000 miles. The car I had before my M5 Camaro started losing its auto at 90,000. My wifes last car started losing its auto at 37,000. I had my last Camaro for 76,000 miles and the tranny felt as good the day I got rid of it as the day I bought it.

I have images of 300hp destroying an auto tranny. Now I hear all this talk about destroying rear ends. What exactly is happening when these rear ends are destroyed? And is that something I have to worry about with a stock car or only after I start modifying it?

Chad.

 

They are grenading, broken carriers, braken teeth off the ring and pinion. But no mater what you choose A4 of M6 I wouldnt worry about that until something happens to break. Dont fix what isnt broken.Plenty of guys running 11s and 10s on stock rearends .All I can say is that once you start doing mods on any car there are no guarantee. Some of us get lucky and some of us dont.

 

ApacheDrill (hi!)
If you want to go the easy route for bracket racing, by all means install an auto trans. Some of us actually prefer the challenge of driving our cars, not just the challenge of watching a tree and nailing the throttle. I won many bracket race events with my M6, including 5 consecutive 1st places at Houston Raceway at their main bracket events. I also placed 2nd at last years Thunder Shootout. Owning a manual transmission doesn't automatically mean you can't be consistent, it just means that it takes more driver skill. Cars typically are very consistent by themselves, its up to the driver to do the same thing over and over. I typically run within 0.02 of my dial-in all day long. The key to bracket racing a manual is to use slightly conservative launches to guarantee traction (1.5s instead of 1.4s) and to watch/react to that shift-lite. Thats FUN to me.

Here is a video of the Finals at last years Thunder Shootout. The guy I was racing was a professional bracket racer in an Automatic and he beat me by 0.003 seconds:

http://users.ev1.net/~ynot_dv8/10_70Tony.mpg



If I don't win, I still had fun. I don't make a living off of bracket racing anyways.

Tony

 

Bottom line for me is .....every time I go to the dragstrip , I wish I had an A4 with a stall. The rest of the time I'd rather have the M-6.

 

Im just stroking you a little Tony to get you fired up. If you had a A4 you would have won that race and still had fun. I see this is a sensitive issue with you..

Btw, i am planning on making the trip to Bristol. Let me know where you are planning to stay..

 

I just like putting the "Manuals are not consistent" myth to rest. Are automatics more consistent? Sure, if both drivers are inexperienced. Its a no brainer to stab-n-steer, it is more challenging to have to control the launch rpm, clutch engagement, and shift points. Some prefer challenges, some do not. Its all a matter of choice.

BTW, I've also won a bracket event in my GMC. That was boring as hell, and I won! Yawn.

Tony

 

M6! The only way to go!

 

I've owned a '99 M6 and I currently own a '02 A4.

I guess I'm the oddball because I find my A4 with a stall much more fun than my M6 ever was. I keep hearing about the fun factor with the M6 and I have to disagree.

I've always driven stick and would be the first in line to bash the auto crowd but my feelings have changed after owning my '02 A4. I've never had this much fun with a car.

 

Don't worry about it until something breaks?
I think prevention is a better plan.
Typical mistakes are;
putting 4:10s in a M6 and dumping the clutch at the track with slicks, can you say BOOM! But if you have the stock clutch, you may get lucky and just fry your clutch. A M6 shock loads the rear end and gears when dumping the clutch, whereas a A4 has a torque converter that is the equivalent of slipping your clutch. So the load the rear end sees with a A4 is linear. Anyone in engineering (like Tony) will understand my point. Shock loading is very violent and most parts aren't designed to take that on a regular basis. Although a 12 bolt rearend is designed for that and should hold up. The A4s have an advantage in drag racing when using the stock 10 bolt rear end. If you don't plan on getting slicks and a heavy duty clutch and drag racing on a regular basis, then the stock rearend will be fine. In fact you can put 3:73s in the 10 bolt with a M6 and it will be very reliable, until you do the slicks and clutch at the track.

Dean

 

Like Nine Ball stated b4: Drive them both and you be the judge. You can't go wrong either way. Just enjoy the car.......remember................. Life is Short, PLay Hard.

 

Just buy one of each so we can end this thread!!

 

M6, much nore fun to drive IMO.

 

Well I like my a4....and I have fun with it!....especially after installing the 3.73's......but can't wait to install a TC!!....just my 02 cents!!