I'll have to differ with ya Randy on several counts of that post.
Automatics are awful on turbocharged cars. They "waste" all of the turbos
boost in a slushy transmission. They don't shift at the correct points for
the turbocharger (yes, when turbo'd your shift points change from a normally
aspirated engine) to be maximally effective. Any real race car that has a
turbo is a manual transmission, this is so the driver controls the boost of
the turbo and thus remains in total control of the car.
Having driven (for 7 years) a manual tranny of one of the most powerful 4
cyl. turbos ever made by an American car company, I learned all about those
little spinning beasts. I drove the automatic version of the same engine and
it felt like molasses compared to my manual Getrag transmission. I used to
beat up on Mustang 5.0's, Tran-Ams and even a Syclone with that little VNT
'Stealth' Shadow. Any Dakota would have a hard time beating that little car.
Which brings me to my next point:
Cars and trucks may be fun to race against each other but the race is
meaningless. It's like racing a NASCAR against an Indy car. They are totally
different vehicles and have different purposes. A lot of people may talk
about the "spanks" they rack up here, but until it's done on a quarter mile
track when all things are equal, it doesn't mean anything. The truth is, no
truck with equal horsies, torque and driver will be able to beat a car. It's
impressive when a truck does beat a car, but it's always done with a more
powerful engine, or better driver, or lucky breaks.
Losing my VNT Shadow was very depressing. I'd have put that car up against
any vehicle even 5 years newer. I certainly wouldn't have wanted an auto on
it, it would've tried to kill me when racing it and would've been slower.
When you learn how to shift a turbo with a manual transmission, you know how
to keep the boost from dropping and the shift points drop the RPM's right back
into your maximum power band peak so you launch again and again with each
gear. I could (with bad shifting technique) smoke the tires of that car into
third gear. I've never driven another car that could do that and certainly no
automatic could, they just don't have the power transfer ability.
I'll stay with Race drivers that frequently offer the advice: If you drive
a turbo, drive a stick. They put auto's on turbos for ease of driving for
inexperienced drivers. They are less likely to launch their heads with a bad
shift than on a manual tranny. Speed and levels of boost likely had zlitch to
do with the decision to make the GNX an auto. Whatever they gained in
"constant" boost, they lost in power transfer.
Shaun H.
---original message---
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 23:34:57 -0500
From: Randy Fox <foxra@nad.adventist.org>
Subject: DML: (no subject)
WRONG! The Syclone/Typhoons had automatic tranny's because turbo
charged
engines lose boost every time you push the clutch in to shift. Less
boost is lost with
the automatic...same with the Grand National. If a 5 speed were faster,
the GNX
would have had a 5 speed.
I hate to tell you this, but you're dreaming if you think you can beat a
Syclone with
your 318 powered Dakota (even if it's a rolling start) unless the truck
isn't tuned properly. If he rides the brake the truck will launch
nearly as hard as from a dead
stop. My '87 Grand National was much faster than my R/T and the
Syclones are quicker than my GN. I once beat an '87 GN with my '87
Dodge Shelby Daytona
(which was slower than my R/T) and thougtht I was hot _ _ _ _. But what
I didn't know is the car wasn't tuned right. Those turbo V-6 vehicles
are very sensitive and
can really be dogs if everything isn't just right. But when they're
running right, they
trash most V-8's.
Randy
'98 FR CC R/T
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