Greywolf

Well when I say he babied it I mean it is a preproduction car and he probably wasn't suppose to go to the track. Therefore he didn't want to break anything and have to call a wrecker. I can see it now "No Mr. HTT I was just driving down the road minding my own business and whamo it just blew up."

Purple Hayz

"Funny thing was I don't even know how I got on that road....had real strange looking stoplights and those cool automatic cop radar guns...."

Knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque :bang:

ZERO

lol. a likey story.

FrankBullitt05

Umm, I might have heard wrong, but Auto trannys are faster on the drag strip...the chip can select a gear much faster than a human can shift. For races with turns, the manual is faster, as the car is easier to control...

The car did not have a hard take-off, basically a roll through...not the way most would launch it.

My Jetta can hit 15.5 and its an auto...and let me tell ya, it would have been squeling if it was on the track...this was definetly a soft touch run. It was most definetly a mule...probably a V8, but mighta been a V6. I imagine mid 13s are more realistic considering how most people would drag...with a diet, touching low 13s...

Not really an issue with me, as I like to jump hills, not drive in a straight line

TomServo92

I'm not a drag racer so someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think auto trannies aren't faster but they are more consistent at the drag strip. A manual tranny throws in a certain amount of human error that you don't have with an auto. A perfectly driven manual will beat an auto.

Greywolf

:yes: Tom you would be correct. But you can modify an auto to shift faster but it is really rough on the street.

conv_stang

yeah, im not worried about the times. i mean my old 4 cylinder mustang hit harder off the line then that person left! maybe a little exaggeration there but oh well. and to me, it sounded like a V6 there was no rumble there. and the car beside it was an 03-04 cobra. could hear the blower moan when the blue car hit full power. auto's shift faster, but w/o a good loose converter it will never touch a stick off the line. thats where the auto loses the race. and im sur ethe humididty was horrible, and it was probably 90 degrees. have we even seen a white GT running around? i cant remeber, i know there were pics of a white V6. now, imagine if the V6 ran 14.2's???? what would you be saying then???

USA-Adam

There was a white GT on some picture at the track I believe.

Linkoln

I'm not a drag racer so someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think auto trannies aren't faster but they are more consistent at the drag strip. A manual tranny throws in a certain amount of human error that you don't have with an auto. A perfectly driven manual will beat an auto. [/b][/quote]
Well I find this rather amusing. From BlueOvalNews I asked a long time ago which is better off the line. Most agreed with the auto if I recall correctly.

Given an auto can pop into first (even if is fractions of second) faster than a manual because a manual you control the clutch so if you let go to slowly or fast you can either stallout or get a crappy launch. The auto engages automatically (by usage of spinning fluid) no feel for the right moment type crap. With a manual you have to engage properly and THEN slam on the gas.....auto just slam on the gas.

Note: I'm not a professional at trannies.....to be frank I could careless about trannies....I'm more focused on motors.

Also this is a somewhat smartass-cynical question but why is it then that top fuel dragsters have autos/autolike transmissions?

dallasw77

Actually I think the top fuel dragsters use the best of both worlds. It's like an automatic with clutches. Correct me if I am wrong!

Kluski

Like the mercedes (not a dragster). They have that auto-shift thing. I drove a couple at a drive event. You can shift without a clutch or leave it in drive. Seemed like a good idea for those who drive lots of rush hours traffic, but still like to control the car.

Not sure what I think about it. Liked the idea of being able to shift. But felt like I was missing something without a clutch.

TomServo92

Well I find this rather amusing. From BlueOvalNews I asked a long time ago which is better off the line. Most agreed with the auto if I recall correctly.

Given an auto can pop into first (even if is fractions of second) faster than a manual because a manual you control the clutch so if you let go to slowly or fast you can either stallout or get a crappy launch. The auto engages automatically (by usage of spinning fluid) no feel for the right moment type crap. With a manual you have to engage properly and THEN slam on the gas.....auto just slam on the gas.

Note: I'm not a professional at trannies.....to be frank I could careless about trannies....I'm more focused on motors.

Also this is a somewhat smartass-cynical question but why is it then that top fuel dragsters have autos/autolike transmissions? [/b][/quote]
Isn't that what I said? Everything you mention about the manual tranny relates to the human element (stallout at launch, proper engagement into first gear, etc). As for top fuel dragsters, most have a direct drive transmission (top gear only). Check out some specs here.

Here's my smartass-cynical comment: they don't shift them because they only have one gear!

Greywolf

Top Fuelers have ONE gear they use a multiplate clutch that is set to engage ahead of time. The rule book will not let them use computer controll for the clutch engagement timming. Or traction control etc.

bob

Yep, I believe top fule cars use a clutch and something to connect to the rear wheels, transmisison chores are handled by clutch engagement and the rear tires spinning up and getting all skinny.

Other than going insanely fast and making a "heck's coming with me" amount of noise, I dont pay to much attention to TF cars. Like an indy car there isn't to much in the way of regular car guy tech there, so maybe they have a reduction gear bewtween the clutch and the rear end?

tangs3

Drag automatics have stall converters so you can rev them up like a manual, they dont hardly move until stall rpm is reached, and alot of racing autos are still manually shifted,in that instance they will still shift faster but when racing two stock identical cars a manual will be quicker, due to the fact a higher rpm takeoff.

montreal ponies

That's really goon news if it's an automatic, can't wait for the GT.....

Must_stang

Nice video! Now, just everybody promise to scan in their slips. We should have a prize for the fastest stock time.

dallasw77

That would be nice! But track conditions, weather and track altitude alone will make some times better than others. And of course if you know how to race it!! B)

Shea

Also, no one has mentioned the simple fact that if you are racing an auto, you are ALWAYS losing some HP simply because the engine's RPMs are not directly correlated to how fast the wheels turn.

Much of this can be overcome by shift kits and stall converters, but the autos will still waste HP.

WaveMan2k3

Okay that time and speed doesn't seem right at all for the GT. Plus I just watched it and used the timer on my watch and I recorded a time up to the screechs right before you hear the mustangs rev up again (because they are turning down the side road to head back) of 13.45 seconds. So that guy with the camra IMO pulled that speed and time out of his hiney because that wasn't ever close to the right time. I got a mid-13 number like Ford has been saying the GT's will get. Also that guy in the '05 had a horrible launch.