Is a auto tranny worth the money?

[xbomb]

I understand that most people drag with manual transmission, but I have a automatic, is it worth it to do performance upgrades when standard is always better? Can I do something to the transmission to make the shifts seem like the standard shifts...like pcm, dhp, ect.

PS: Basically im saying, can a automatic be modded to act like a standard without shifting?

[loud2kse]

an auto is fine. It'll actually shift more accurately since there's no chance of human error. If you want to improve your shifts with the auto, check out the autorans interceptor or the B&M Shiftplus.

[b2089]

Alot of the profesionals use automatic transmissions for drag racing. With drag racing you can set the tranny up to consistently shift in the red line and it will give you perfect shifts faster than you could have done while freeing your hands up to keep the car straight. Depending on the power you have under the hood I think the tranny would be further down the line of things to mod. It should shift from factory near redline, and a PCM upgrade to get more horsepower often includes a tranny tweak.

[voyager]

well, some of us with the 2.97FDR 4t60 just suffer from terrible gearing, and for us the choice is obvious. =)

your auto tranny will last longer and be much more consistent, but it's limitted by it's longer gears and preset shiftpoints ( even if you reset them, they're still preset ). a 5spd would be more prone to failure, and you'd have the ability to mis-shift it, shortening the life of it and introducing alot of variance in your car's performance.. but you'd have better overall control, and if you learned to use it well, you could be a full second faster than another auto-trannied 3400 GA with that one mod alone.

guess it depends on what's most important to you.

EDIT:
your automatic is never going to act completely like a manual transmission. you don't have the same number of gears, you can't decide to downshift at anything less than WOT or some preset fraction of it, you can't hold just any certain gear for coasting, you can't roll-start it with a dead battery, etc.. what you can do is change the preset RPM at which the thing shifts at WOT, and you can have it rebuilt with different gear ratios. from the factory it's probably less than optimum for the fastest acceleration you can get out of it's gearset, and the FDR is a compromise between driveability, economy, and performance... there's room for improvement. a shift-kit isn't going to make it do anything more than shift faster via higher pressure, and isn't worth the $$ IMO as it'll also put more strain on your transmission by doing so. ther's just not much to be gained thereby. there isn't a lot to be gained by reprogramming and changing gear ratios either, maybe 2 or 3 tenths. compared to what a manual can pull off mated to the same 3400, i don't think it's worth trying to rebuild the tranny unless you're just dead-set on having an automatic. for the same amount of money or less ( granted, probably quite a bit more actual work ). you'd see 3 times the results.

redline is not neccessarily the best time to shift, btw, it may be a little more or a little less than redline, depending on the ratio of the gears, so that in the next gear you are taking better advantage of the powerband. for that you have to look at the dynosheet and the gear ratios and do some math.

i'm all pro-5spd swap, if you didn't gather that. . . =D

[b2089]

You can push start an auto, it's just hard to do and probably damages them. You have to nuetral drop it into 3rd when it's moving pretty good, as in down a hill.

There's a reason the pros use automatics. Drag racing is about consistency and building the best times period. Learn your shift points on the dyno and program them into tranny. There is no reason to guess on the fly where to shift when you can do all the paperwork before hand.

In my opinion manaul transmissions are fun to drive on the weekend but don't belong on the dragstrip.

[juicecustoms]

the closest you can get to shifting like a manual is to start in 1st gear and bump the shifter up into 2nd and 3rd.

[SilverGA2001]

Originally posted by juicecustoms
the closest you can get to shifting like a manual is to start in 1st gear and bump the shifter up into 2nd and 3rd.

If you do this, remember that there is a little lag in there. As in if your in first and running at 6,000 rpm's already and push to second, it's still going to take a second or two before it shifts. Out toying with that before I've accidently hit the rev limiter, which can really scare you if you weren't paying attention, or you can make a real ass of yourself in front of others. I think with mine, it takes about 400 RPM's to shift, so if I shift out at 5600 and I stay in the gas, it's shifting at 6,000. Plan ahead and don't embarass yourself. :)

*PS; A few of us were at the track once, and for the hell of it all of us ran in manual mode, handling our own shifts. None of us ran better times.

[grn97gagt]

automatics are good for one thing

road head

[grn97gagt]

and in my truck were i want a little power like barely off idle

[SilverGA2001]

Originally posted by grn97gagt
automatics are good for one thing

road head

The GA's damn center console makes it a bitch for her though. Not that I would engage in such unsafe activities.

[loud2kse]

Originally posted by grn97gagt
automatics are good for one thing

road head

LMFAO

[VanishingImage]

I had the B&M Shiftplus kit and I did not notice any better times with it "on" and with it off. When I am at the track I usually have the car in 3rd gear. Also, you want the car to be shifting at its peak rpm,for example..... Lets say my max hp is at 5,500 rpm then thats the point in which you should shift to get maximum power to the wheels. If you shift before or after your going to lose to someone who knows their shift points. There are shift lights tha you can get that you can set(only for manuals) which rpm you want it to come on at and you shift when it lights up. I think manual trannies are best for heads up racing in cars that are over 10second 1/4 mile racing. Anything faster its best to have auto tranny because its mostly braket racing and you want the same thing over and over again.

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by xbomb
I understand that most people drag with manual transmission, but I have a automatic, is it worth it to do performance upgrades when standard is always better? Can I do something to the transmission to make the shifts seem like the standard shifts...like pcm, dhp, ect.

PS: Basically im saying, can a automatic be modded to act like a standard without shifting?
Actually you are incorrect.

Most professional and bracket racers drag race with Automatic transmissions.

The ricer - err- four banger crowd prefers manual in a drag race because the can rev the snot out of it and dump the clutch to get the car off the line in a hurry near it's peak hp since they don't make much real power, IE torque.

Also standard isn't always better. It may have less parastic loss than a automatic but there is a much greater chance of missed shifts, and other things caused by driver error like bogged launches and shifting too soon or too late in your power band.

With a decent automatic transmission you cna install a torque converter with selected stall speeds for your application and style of driving, install a shift kit or different/better valve bodies for firmer and quicker shifting, installed a transbrake for more accurate launches, or ever a manual valve body for those that want to shift it like a manual but without the clutch action. And the most important thing as B2089 has mentioned... consistency.

People who claim manual transmissions are better for drag racing either own low torque pocket rockets or simply do not know what they are talking about.

[92CamaroRS]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Actually you are incorrect.

Most professional and bracket racers drag race with Automatic transmissions.

The ricer - err- four banger crowd prefers manual in a drag race because the can rev the snot out of it and dump the clutch to get the car off the line in a hurry near it's peak hp since they don't make much real power, IE torque.

Also standard isn't always better. It may have less parastic loss than a automatic but there is a much greater chance of missed shifts, and other things caused by driver error like bogged launches and shifting too soon or too late in your power band.

With a decent automatic transmission you cna install a torque converter with selected stall speeds for your application and style of driving, install a shift kit or different/better valve bodies for firmer and quicker shifting, installed a transbrake for more accurate launches, or ever a manual valve body for those that want to shift it like a manual but without the clutch action. And the most important thing as B2089 has mentioned... consistency.

People who claim manual transmissions are better for drag racing either own low torque pocket rockets or simply do not know what they are talking about.

Exactly what i woul dhave said, if I would have found this thread before you!

Do want to add, Ideally for bracket racing and consistancy, you want as few gears as possible, thats why the Powerglide is so damn popular, that and it weights like 40 lbs.

[VanishingImage]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Actually you are incorrect.

Most professional and bracket racers drag race with Automatic transmissions.

The ricer - err- four banger crowd prefers manual in a drag race because the can rev the snot out of it and dump the clutch to get the car off the line in a hurry near it's peak hp since they don't make much real power, IE torque.

Also standard isn't always better. It may have less parastic loss than a automatic but there is a much greater chance of missed shifts, and other things caused by driver error like bogged launches and shifting too soon or too late in your power band.

With a decent automatic transmission you cna install a torque converter with selected stall speeds for your application and style of driving, install a shift kit or different/better valve bodies for firmer and quicker shifting, installed a transbrake for more accurate launches, or ever a manual valve body for those that want to shift it like a manual but without the clutch action. And the most important thing as B2089 has mentioned... consistency.

People who claim manual transmissions are better for drag racing either own low torque pocket rockets or simply do not know what they are talking about.

Hey John,your saying I can install a manual valve body to make it so I can shift like a manual with my automatic? Would it be possible for me to install one on my 97 GA then? Just wondering :-)

[92CamaroRS]

Originally posted by VanishingImage
Hey John,your saying I can install a manual valve body to make it so I can shift like a manual with my automatic? Would it be possible for me to install one on my 97 GA then? Just wondering :-)


I'm not aware of pre made manual valve body for a FWD GA(RWD trannies are my thing) but a tranny shop MIGHT be able to modify yours to work as such.

[jayhawk]

Originally posted by b2089
You can push start an auto, it's just hard to do and probably damages them. You have to nuetral drop it into 3rd when it's moving pretty good, as in down a hill.

There's a reason the pros use automatics. Drag racing is about consistency and building the best times period. Learn your shift points on the dyno and program them into tranny. There is no reason to guess on the fly where to shift when you can do all the paperwork before hand.

In my opinion manaul transmissions are fun to drive on the weekend but don't belong on the dragstrip.

:agree: Since im a road racing man, a manual tranny gives me the control I want and need.

[xbomb]

Ok, im 99% sure my transmission is stock automatic, does it shift for fuel economy, or does it shift to go fast. And where do i go to in order to make the transmission shift in the red?

[b2089]

It shifts near or in redline and that's probably about right for your engine.

Alot of places that do PCM mods say that it changes the transmission. The interecepter unit metioned above is also something to look into. Check at some of the performance links from here to see some info.