Making a better automatic.

[inquisitorof240]

Automatics are NOT inferior. Misplaced, but not inferior. Firstly, automatics are for drag racing so the desired effect should be a firm, late shift. This is because firmer means a quicker upshift which is something even manual junkies can relate to. Later mean that more of the engine's power band is being used. But the MOST desired effect of a good automatic transmission is CONSISTENCY. This is where the automatic shines because of preset line pressures that do not change unless something really bad happens.These preset line pressures keep a shift consistency that no human can match and, unless something goes wrong, it doesn't miss a gear.

To make a good auto you must think a build through completely. Things like main line pressure and throttle valve pressure affect how long a trans hold a gear (late upshift). Things like machining the input drum to hold more frictions will increase the amont of power you can put into a transmission without slipping (firmer upshift). Shift kits do not make a great transmissions. They do help though. If you find a good spec to machine the drum to and a good quality shift kit, you have already made a respectable transmission. But if you make yourself familiar with the preferred shift kit, you can then modify the kit itself to gain even further improvement. Using the Chevrolet TH350 transmission as an example, you can reduce governor pressure to force a downshift or delay an upshift (desired). You can drill the shift kit's plate in certain areas to remove the restriction on the fluid. As there is high pressure all the way up to the restriction and low pressure after, Drilling out the restriction will allow high pressure past where the restriction would have been and on to the holding member (band or piston) which will allow you to hold more power. IF you desire the control that a manual gives you then there is the option of a Manual Valve Body which only allows upshift by driver input. These are still consistent because even though you input to the transmission to upshift it will only upshift if the line pressures are correct. It works similar to a manu-matic only better.

Little tricks like these can make a good automatic trans that can hold in excess of 1000 hp and make a consistently fast quarter mile monster. If you are interested in drag racing, I would strongly urge you to give an automatic transmission some serious consideration.

If anyone would like to elaborate further or if anyone sees anything about this post that appears to need correction then feel free.

Good luck and low E/Ts folks!

[nissan_blood]

This sounds like rambling of a guy named Scott that drives an automatic SS camaro in Oklahoma City. He also looses to people with half the money in there cars then hes got and talks alot of crap.If this is one of Scotts friends or even Scott ask him what happended that one night on expressway when a 95 Civic Hatch with a B20 turbo in it licked his ***. SHHHHHHHH . If this is Scott dont say it didnt happen LOL cause i got some footage on my cell phone that will make you crawl in a hole

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

What happened Scott er Scott's friend?

[nissan_blood]

LMAO its got to be one of his friends ive heard these exact words come out of scotts mouth word by word.Then some 17 year old asian kid told him to shut the hell up scott called him out and he lost to a 16 year old that works at wallgreens........And this hatch was detinating the hole time and loosing tracktion. funny stuff i got it all on my cell phone still to this day it was like 9 months ago. Even scott talkin shyt to the kid before they raced funny stuff

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

I gotta see this...

Care to show it to us?

[nissan_blood]

Hell yeah ill show it!! Not a wiz though how do i get footage from cell phone to pc. Ive allready thought about puting on here but wasnt sure how would be awsome to put it on here its like a 10 minute film but its about the funniest thing ive seen all year

[lbrowne]

All jokes aside, if I had an auto what I would is stick in a vlsd, and a higher stall.

Those 2 things will get an auto off the line very quickly - quick enough that most stick drivers won't hang with you out of the hole. (traction traction traction is a must)

Either way, that same auto will suck from a roll against a mod-equal manual

[180fan]

unless you've got a particular reason for running the auto. I've seen a z32 local to me, the guy runs an auto as he says "I can't keep up with the manual. the shifting slows my 1/4 mile time"

The manual is fast only up to a point. lookin at some of these newer gear boxes that can do a shift in milliseconds really makes me say wow.

[pregmantis]

I dont mind using an auto but who has the know how to do all that stuff for our auto transmission's?

[inquisitorof240]

I am from Oklahoma but my name ain't scott. I have no preference for either transmission and it sounds to me like your boy didn't build it right. I will not claim to be an expert on the subject but I do think it is better to keep an open mind to any kind of racing tech. A narrow view hinders advancement of technology.

And BTW,I have been in Houston for the last year and a half so I wouldn't kknow what goes on in street racing on expressway. If you can tell me where to find some I would like that very much.
Modified by inquisitorof240 at 3:26 PM 9/23/2006

[inquisitorof240]

I dont mind using an auto but who has the know how to do all that stuff for our auto transmission's?

I got a guy in houston that can do it but he works mainly on Chevys. Try some place like SGP Performance in houston or MazWorx performance. This mazurowski guy has a 650hp red top SR20DET powered S14 running 9s and he runs an auto trans.His Website is on Google.Type in MazWorx.
Modified by inquisitorof240 at 3:22 PM 9/23/2006

[inquisitorof240]

I would like to see this video too. Sound funny. Don't know anyone named scott tho. I know a guy named ryan who is a mopar nut. But hey if you can send emails with your phone then just email the file via multimedia message to your email address and then DL it from there. Try it and if it works the post it here for us to see.

[inquisitorof240]

All jokes aside, if I had an auto what I would is stick in a vlsd, and a higher stall.

Those 2 things will get an auto off the line very quickly - quick enough that most stick drivers won't hang with you out of the hole. (traction traction traction is a must)

Either way, that same auto will suck from a roll against a mod-equal manual

That is where the manual valve option (shifting manually) or even a manual valve body comes in. retains proper line pressure to hold the desired gear so that you don't have to wait for the transmission to downshift istelf when you give it the boot. Driver skill is still important even with a automatic. Too early an upshift will leave you out of your powerband. Too late can obviously damage components. The biggest reason that most manuals seem to have better acceleration that autos is that they have a higher first gear ratio. This can be remedied by using a smaller diameter torque convertor and lower gear ratio rear end. The smaller torque convertor will give more torque multiplication,similar to a lower gear. The down side is that with smaller convertors you don't get AS high a possible stall speed and because the convertor stays in vortex flow long you have a higher heat buildup. There are ways around that though. A trans-brake will get youi around the lower stall speeds and an external trans-cooler mounted IN FRONT of the radiator rather than INSIDE of it (as with stock tans-coolers) will dissipate more heat and allow you to run that smaller torque convertor. This is how Hoanda Accord Hybrids and the new '06 Toyota Camry acheive their low end capabilities. If you have driven either car you kow that they are by no means slow,especially for stock. This is also how some of the higher end manu-matics such as the new Acura TL and Lexus IS350 (both with more than 300hp) get their good low end performance. It sound like this Scott guy got beat for twso reasons. Number one being that he maybe used JUST a shift kit or chip for the TCU and reason number two being that he didn't know enough about how to get the most out of an automatic (bad driving). I don't care how much money you have in your car,if you don't hook and don't have a good transmission your power will not get to the pavement where it belongs and you will lose. That's how a car with double the money put into it can lose to a car with less. Auto or manual,you still have to hook and get good power flow through the transmission.