my mom drives a 93' honda accord EX a/t...anyways...when gunning it...after it goes to 2nd gear...i let go of the gas for half a second then gun it again....this makes it go much faster that if you were to just gun it all the way through...you just gatta know that peak spot....this is what i do to go faster...try it...

 

ummm ok

 

:?:

 

wow....

 

For you to have a theory you need to set up a way to prove this. So test out a few cars. Get a stop watch or something that can start timing the moment you step on the gas, so you can see what way is really faster. It just might feel faster when its not. So you are stating: Push in gas until car down shift, let off the gas some then gun it. If you do this in theory you would lose speed because you are not keeping it at WOT. Now my theory is just punch the damn gas down & keep the thing there until you dont need to gain more speed. I know in my current auto car if I was to let off the gas some the thing would just up shift again which would kill off my speed & I would need to wait for the thing to down shift again. So unless you can prove this theory of yours to me I will stick to the gun it & go way

 

naw dogg whatca gots ta do ids puwd ids in neutral, n flow da gas den slam id it intoo dirves all hard yo

 

This is why automatics get a bad reputation, cuz people don't know how to drive them right. It's not a Go-Kart with STOP and GO pedals. It's an electronically controlled 4-speed.

Instead of just mashing the pedal down, get a feel for the levels of pressure you can give it. The auto is very predictable. You can control whether it shifts or not with how much gas you give it. You still have control over it, it's not auto-pilot.

 

thats what im talking about TheScionicMan...people think autos are just stop and go....people would be surprised to see what letting off the gas for hald a second would do....i kinda drive my autos like a manual...cept i dont have a clutch to press....so much better

 

i know what frank is talking about.. but it's actually just an illusion. i used to do that to my 98 honda accord thinking that extra umph right before it was supposed to shift made it faster, but it doesn't. another friend with the same accord mashed his pedal when at a stop light (this wasn't a test or anything... just wanted to race) and he beat me... when i asked what he did (like manually go through 1, 2, D3, then D4) he said "what? i did nothing... just mashed the pedal"

it just seems like you are going faster, but you're really just playing catch up for the half second you are slowing down while the other guy is accelerating during that same half second. the reason why autos get a bad rep is because if you look at the transmission, there's no direct mechanical connection from the engine to the transmission itself. everything is floating in a hydraulic fluid (auto tranny fluid) and hence the nickname "slushbox". now, i'm not hating against anyone who can only drive autos... not everyone has the opportunity or the gutsy initiative to learn stick... but anyone who says that autos are better than manuals performance wise are kidding themselves. the only exceptions i'd make to that would be the SMGII tranny on the M3 and similar ones... but they are REAL manual transmissions anyway that are just electronically controlled, not like a steptronic which is still a slushbox just manually controlled, and MAYBE the Dragon torque convertors which are race tuned.

 

Actually, I used to do that in my old auto. . . . hahaha but there is a better way to do that. It REALLY helps to have a tranny cooler too, but power braking (I think that's what it's called) helps a lot. Floor the brake, give it lots of gas, release the brake. You can sometimes get a better launch than a manual. A better torque convertor also helps a lot.
DOn't go burning your tranny fluid now!

 

the above mentioned brake launch REALLY wrecks your tranny... the clutch drop in manuals doesn't really hurt anything except the clutch. much rather wear out the clutch than wear out the tranny. =p

 

I agree, it does wreck it hardcore. . . however in a tuned tranny, it is fine to do (with caution and discretion). Stock trannies are ok, assuming you don't give it too much throttle, and don't hold it too long. It really helps a launch. . . talkin 2-3k RPM max for 1-2 seconds or less. But this method sure as hell beats a neutral drop. . . the only part of the tranny damaged is your fluid, which should last a few seconds. In stock tranny, I'd give it 2 seconds, and once that fluid boils and burns, you are in for a heap of trouble and wear. But the T/C does not lock up at that point, so no parts are actually connected, and nothing should be wearing (at least to my knowledge I may be wrong). It is a bad idea and not recommended to amateaurs, or anyone for that fact. . . that's why I have a manual :twisted: I had to change my tranny fluid myself about once a month in my old car cuz I was a moron. Racing an auto in general is not a very good idea, or any car that wasn't designed for it. . . brakes, suspension, transmission, engine, you'd be asking for trouble. That's why I try to never buy used hahahaha!

 

i WILL say this however...

my last car was a 5spd IS300. I know someone who has an auto IS300 and turbo charged it to HELL. (ISMAN on IS300.net forums... he was featured in a few articles for his Stage 4 SRT turbo good for 560+hp BEFORE NOS... that guy is nuts)

anyway, he had his auto tranny blueprinted and put in a dragon torque convertor and he gets boost ALL the way through acceleration, whereas in a manual you might lose a bit of boost while shifting. Peter Farrell Supercars (http://www.pfsupercars.com/) actually preferred auto tranny IS300s for his applications. so djct_watt is right in saying that a properly tuned auto tranny can be a force to be reckoned with and i'm not arguing that... but for this thread's purposes, NO ONE has done that to their tC yet and the let-go-half-second-before-shifting theory really doesn't work, and brake launching is a bad idea for stock auto trannys. AND lastly... i can tell you that i shift my 5spd MUCH faster than my friend's auto tC shifts, disregarding the gear ratios. i've driven both.

 

The wiseman has spoken

 

brake tourqing does not hurt the entire tranny.

it will jack up your motor mounts and tourqe converter. really bad.

no one shouldEVER hold the brake and floor the gas- quieckest way to jack your converter up and motor mounts. the correct way to do it is by braking and then giving a small amount of gas usually till your rpms are at around 2k. then there is very little wear on anything.

nuetral drops will make your tranny drop.


autos when modded ARE faster than manuals. a computer will %100 always be able to shift faster than ANY human ever could. as long as gear ratios and number of gears are matched well to the power of the car. AUTOS when modded can handle more power also well that is mechanical AUTOS that is.

all old muscle cars are 3spd mech AUTOS-

 

Yeah, flooring is NOT a good idea. . .
wow another auto vs manual debate hahahaha

Auto's can rock too, but there is a higher loss of power to the wheels from an auto due to more rotation mass/inertia. A conventional auto will never be as fast as an equally geared manual, no exceptions.

There are such things as hydrollically controlled manuals which are in essence auto-manuals (not your regular manumatic found in a Caravan or even a Porsche). There are stupid manumatics that allow you to shift a regular ol automatic (like moving the shifter to L, 2, or 3. Even Porsche's Tiptronic is nothing more than a regular auto tranny. And then there are SMG's, paddle shifters, and the like which ARE manual transmissions, shifted by a computer or human, via hydrollically controlled components and clutches. These, by far, outperform conventual manuals. An even more promising transmission, is currently being producted and engineered by (Audi?) which actually preselects the next gear (using an intelligent computer) and allows for a fast, seamless engagment, without the jerkiness of the hydrolic versions. But thinking that an equally matched auto is faster or even a good match for an identically powered, identically geared manual transmision is extremely wishful thinking. This doesn't mean auto's have no potential, or can't be fast or even faster than manuals, it just means that manuals will always have a small advantage over the conventional auto. . . and this doesn't even start to deal with stock, production vehicles, as the difference can be night and day. But if you really don't care about that 10-15% difference, than auto's make a lot more practical sense.
Me? I only got 108hp. . . I need as much of that to get to the wheels as possible. Others? Your choice is your happiness, and nobody can tell you that you made a bad choice, just don't fool yourself into thinking you are better/smarter than the rest.

 

a auto and many equally matched... the auto would win because of sheer shifting time and loos of power between shifts in a many.

like i said a auto can shift faster than any human possibly could. which means FAR less rpm drop which means FAR less loss of power which means slower run. so a highly modded auto WILL beat equal MANY because of human reaction time and gear engagement.

i am only reffering to seriously modded autos however. stock autos are horrible and eat power like crazy and drive ratios are all jacked.

audis systems is supposed to be straight up nuts. even their current auto shifting tranny is waaaaayyy better than any and gets very close numbers to a many.

 

I think I see your point about TUNED auto's. . . and I think I'm going to have to say you are right. But it does take a lot of work to get that auto to be able to match and/or beat a manual. You'll have to agree that's it's not easy or just a matter of bolt ons, but you are talking serious amounts of cash and work just to match a relatively inexpensively untuned manual (not a whole lot you can do, besides changing ratios, clutches and flywheel). There is still slightly more power loss through an auto, although when they are tuned, the difference is greatly diminished. Not to mention that it's not really an even match anymore if you've tuned the hell out of an auto, but there's no rule that says you can't. So what you said is right. Of course, OEM auto's are a different story. . . although it really doesn't make that much sense to get a manual nowadays, unless you want to be able to hold gears etc etc. . .

 

I had a 93 Accord before my TC. Never actually tried doing what you said, I actually think its a good way to waste gas and real mess up your tranny. And by no means you should be racing a 93 Accord. It wasn't built for that especially if its stock. But if you want to f<beep>k your car up by all means go ahead.

 

Um, you guys DO realize that:
1) ONLY auto's such as BMW's SMG system shift faster than humans... and the tC, for example, def. does NOT have an SMG system.
2) There is a significant power loss from the motor to the wheels in automatics in comparison to manuals
3) If you raced the EXACT same cars, except one being an auto, and the other a manual, the manual (with proper shifting, will always win, SMG is an exception)
4) Automatic transmissions usually have 2 clutches (look it up if you dont believe me)
5) Automatic transmissions weigh more than manuals
6) Buy a manual, learn how to drive it right, and love it... its the true enthusiast's way to go