Alright... I've always wondered how everyone with automatic transmissions does anything at the strip. I mean... obviously with the manual you can rev it to the drop in point. But with automatics... is it the same? Wouldn't your transmission blow up (exaggeration, i know :grin: ) if you revved in neutral and then lobbed it into drive? HOW DO YOU GUYS DO IT?
Stall converter and line lock. Turn the line lock on, (I have a 2600 rpm stall) rev to approx 2500 RPM (gets your motor into the power band) last yellow, click the line lock off, feather the pedal, and go. Easier to keep traction than a manual trans in my opinion.
Very Carefully I race on 235R14 radials and stock street suspension. My car's reaction time is pretty slow. I stage pretty shallow and leave at the start of the last yellow. By the time the car gets the message and starts to move it's just about right. I just leave off idle and roll on the power as quickly as I can without blowing the tires away. I'm severely traction limited, but I'll probably never break any driveline parts this way. My reaction times on a good day are .55 to .6. 60' times are 2.0 at best. Quarter mile (with good air) has been as good as 13.22 @ 103. Hitting the tires hard on your average automatic equipped street GS is not productive - you'll get a lot of tire smoke and not good ET's.
If you use a line lock to hold your car at the line, at the track, you'll never get that close to your stall speed without spinning the rear tires.(unless your converter is very inefficient, or you have very sticky tires) Better to try to foot brake it to about 1800-2000 RPM(with a 2600 converter), then pop your foot off the brake, and punch it. Matching the correct stall speed converter to your combination is very important to dragstrip performance, it lets the engine freewheel into it's power band as the car leaves the line. Of course high stall converters slip more once you get going, so they make more trans heat, and give worse gas mileage. The really fast guys use trans-brakes. The trans brake is a special valvebody that allows you to apply reverse, at the same time you are in drive, by holding a switch in the drivers compartment. You can reach stall speed this way because the trans is locked solid. Then when you let go of the switch, you remove reverse, and away you go(if you have the traction) I have a switch pitch trans, I launch at high stall for the first 60-100', and then switch to low stall for the balance of the run. The ultimate street/strip trans IMHO. A properly set up automatic car will out perform a manual eqipped car(and is more durable). Unless a guy is very good with a stick, the automatic with proper converter is the way to go. You can't outshift an automatic in most cases.
This is what my buddy does with his 71 Z28. 5500 stall, transbrake and rev limiter. it the transbrake, stomp the gas to the wood, motor holds at 5000, until the transbrake is released, then he goes wheels up, laughing all the way to the bank, or atleast the finish line....:bglasses:
if you powerbrake a automatic no mater the stall you have all that power bound up like a rubber band on those wooden airplanes we had as kids.droping it into gear would be applying all the power at once, thats how you break stuff fast!! in my experience, its when you shift a auto at high rpm, that it puts the most stress on the drive train, at least thats when i have broke things such as u joints.
