HELP! Who knows how to race an A4?

[conan]

I now have a bum left knee so I HAD to go with an A4. Whats the best way to get this beast off the line faster? :banghead: I dont have a lot of experience with Automatics, all my muscle cars were standards. Should I shift manually? Im sick of watching the lighter cars pull out in front of me off the line (including a Mustage 4.7L this afternoon). Sure I eventually catch and pass them, but I dont ever want to see their back bumbers again. :eek2:

[Dbluegoat]

I now have a bum left knee so I HAD to go with an A4. Whats the best way to get this beast off the line faster? :banghead: I dont have a lot of experience with Automatics, all my muscle cars were standards. Should I shift manually? Im sick of watching the lighter cars pull out in front of me off the line (including a Mustage 4.7L this afternoon). Sure I eventually catch and pass them, but I dont ever want to see their back bumbers again. :eek2:
I have been to the track only once in mine and I do think it would be better to shift it yourself.

[PadreGTO]

A higher stall torque converter will help on the launches when drag-racing. You might also consider changing out the gears to 3.73's. It'll be much more responsive.

For road racing, a good tune on the shift-points might help. Stock, it only kicks-down at WOT. Tweak it a bit and you can get it to kick down at partial-throttle like a manual.

More later if you're interested.

Padre

[Dark]

with the right mods and the right converter, A4's can kick M6's A$$.
I agree with Padre , didnt leave anythin to say here hehe

[whipplegto]

3.73, 3500 stall (getting high for street - max 3000 if your car is a daily driver), LS1 Edit to change shift points and line pressure in power mode, traction control off, don't manual shift. (try starting in both 3 and D and see if it makes a difference)

[phobos512]

What is the effect of changing the torque converter and how is it that it affects daily drivability?

[whiffer]

What is the effect of changing the torque converter and how is it that it affects daily drivability?

And whats a rough estimate on how much the stuff costs if i may ask?

[GTOdriver7]

What is the effect of changing the torque converter and how is it that it affects daily drivability?

a high stall torque converter raises the RPMs at which the transmission engages. this means for drag racing that as soon as the transmission engages you are right in the power band imeddiatly.

however a HSTC will kill your gas mileage in city driving b/c any RPM below the stall point, and the car will barely move. thing about it like driving with the clutch just barely engaged.
think about it this way. if you are in bumper to bumper traffic and you need to move fowards just a few feet. you might have to rev it up to 2000 or 25000 RPMs, just to start creeping. you can imagine what that does to MPG

[PadreGTO]

And whats a rough estimate on how much the stuff costs if i may ask?
About $600 for the torque converter and roughly $250 on the install. ProTorque, Vigilante, Yank all sell them (check with TByrne, sponsor on the left). GTOdriver7 describes its daily driveability well.

Padre

[GTOsoon]

I now have a bum left knee so I HAD to go with an A4. Whats the best way to get this beast off the line faster? :banghead: I dont have a lot of experience with Automatics, all my muscle cars were standards. Should I shift manually? Im sick of watching the lighter cars pull out in front of me off the line (including a Mustage 4.7L this afternoon). Sure I eventually catch and pass them, but I dont ever want to see their back bumbers again. :eek2:

Just let it shift itself.

[Jodi]

Padre or GTOdriver,
What is the stall speed of our stock converter? I've never seen this # before. Thanks.

[Dark]

3.73, 3500 stall (getting high for street - max 3000 if your car is a daily driver), LS1 Edit to change shift points and line pressure in power mode, traction control off, don't manual shift. (try starting in both 3 and D and see if it makes a difference)
I dont know but.. i guess D didnt do much to me. the best 0-60 i got with a D was 6.4 lol while i got 5.7 shifting manualy.

[slick50]

Whether you have TC and shift point mods or not you need to determine the rpm just prior to wheel spin. I have an M6 so I can't say for sure.

I did have a highly modified 96 Impala SS with an A4. Launched at 1800 rpm and 60' times were around 1.8 - 1.9. Ran 13.2 @ 101. Not to shabby for a 4300 lb car. Unless you have a shift light I would let it shift itself.

The more passes you do, the better you'll get.

slick50

[conan]

Whether you have TC and shift point mods or not you need to determine the rpm just prior to wheel spin. I have an M6 so I can't say for sure.

I did have a highly modified 96 Impala SS with an A4. Launched at 1800 rpm and 60' times were around 1.8 - 1.9. Ran 13.2 @ 101. Not to shabby for a 4300 lb car. Unless you have a shift light I would let it shift itself.

The more passes you do, the better you'll get.

slick50

Thanks, the more info the better. My puter has been down since hurricane Chuck so I havent had the opportunity to get online. I appreciate all your comments. It seems like it shifts into 2nd, 3rd then 4th way too soon and not getting any use of this 350 horses.
Converter will void the warranty, correct? Maybe I should try a tune first? :banghead:

[phobos512]

Thanks, the more info the better. My puter has been down since hurricane Chuck so I havent had the opportunity to get online. I appreciate all your comments. It seems like it shifts into 2nd, 3rd then 4th way too soon and not getting any use of this 350 horses.
Converter will void the warranty, correct? Maybe I should try a tune first? :banghead:

It will of course always shift at low-RPM with part throttle driving - at WOT though it should shift at redline or a little past. Is yours not doing that?

[zbaron]

start in 3rd -when your at the light step on the brake holding the brake step on gas till u feel the car wanting to go hold there till light gose green then puch it remeber theres like a second delay when u shift from 3rd to D once u shift u should avoid wot kick down

if u notice when u just puch it in drive it will kick down gear and has that delay then it lunches ,thats what can hurt ya in a race

few races from light to light just stay in 3rd but watch the rpm"S
over time you will get use to the sound of the car and u can shift with out looking at rpm"s

when im around town and just doing light to light races i just stay in 3rd, uses little more gas but will jump much better at lights in the auto u can hit 90 in 3rd easy.corse on longer run shift to D then punch it a soon as u feel it go to D gear

[conan]

It will of course always shift at low-RPM with part throttle driving - at WOT though it should shift at redline or a little past. Is yours not doing that?
No its not, thats why Im baffeled. I had it punched today from a dead stop and the car still shifted way too soon in all gears leaving me with too low RPMs and not enough H.P. :eek2:

[redgtosamurai]

No its not, thats why Im baffeled. I had it punched today from a dead stop and the car still shifted way too soon in all gears leaving me with too low RPMs and not enough H.P. :eek2:

Shift it manually.

Kill the TC and drop it into first.

Punch it hard (it can take it) and shift into second at 5500 rpm.
Hold the acceleration steady (don't let off the beast!) and shift
into third at 5500 rpm.

If the race isn't over by then, maintain the acceleration until you hit 5500 rpm and slide into Drive.

Watch your launch as you will spin the tires. Learn the rpm's where it just breaks traction and keep it under that mark until she's moving.

Practice, practice, practice! :secret:

[csvt98]

forced induction is the only way to go with the A4s, generally there not fast cars(minus the s4) try an intake and exuast, even with the right launch ur not going to take to much cars off the line, try some minor mods at the least.
but a turbo or turbo swap REALLY wakes those A4s up.

[BurninFuel20]

wouldnt one of those computer tuner things be good, my cousin has one for his 5.3L truck and he can adjust shifts and other stuff within the computer....his was like $500 bucks. just an idea

[2edybrd]

My only experiance racing an auto was with my "99 Trans Am.Playing around with the shifter, I found that Start with the shifter in first. As soon as you floor it, move up to 2nd. I found that the 1-2 shifts at a higher rpm and shifts a bit harder. Then, for the rest of the gears, follow the same formula, as soon as the car shifts move up to the next gear.

O.K., That's drag racing.

The only experience I have had with road racing has been running down other cars on the back roads where I live. I had an SY3500 with a low (1.67) STR that was perfect for the street. As far as running throught the gears when on the twisties, I found that I started to get in the habit of either shifting the gears manually, or making the car downshift before I got to the turn, and then rolling into the gas as I went through. It's pretty scary the first time the car downshifts in the middle of a turn, so you learn very quickly to anticipate where and how the auto likes to shift.

Before I got rid of the Trans Am, I put the stock converter back in, and to be honest, I thought it was better for the twisties than the Yank. Crisper shifts that pulled immediately instead of waiting for the converter to stall.

If I ever do it again, I would get a Yank Torque Thruster around 2800 with a 2.7 or 3.0 STR. It will hit real hard off the line and at the initial downshift and is tight.

You could just go to a tranny shop and have them put in a shift kit. You can set it so the tires chirp on every shift or tone it down to a nice smooth surge of torque.

Just IMHO.