How good are autos...convert to 5 spd??
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Austin,TX.
How good are autos...convert to 5 spd??
Looking to buy an RX-7, this will be my first. Would it be hard to convert an auto to a 5 speed? If too hard and costly how good are the autos? Are they strong enough for big horsepower are there any upgrades for the autos?
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2001
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If you want a 5 spd, don't bother converting an auto to a 5 spd. It will be more costly than waiting for a 5 spd to come along.
I think the auto is pretty good. 0-60 time is about .7 sec slower. The auto will handle quite a few mods okay. If you go crazy with single turbo (330-500 HP) and other things, you'll probably want to get the 5 spd though. The auto will handle basic mods like downpipe, cat back, mid pipe, intake (with ECU upgrade of course).
Autos tend to be in better shape and less molested with mods. Drive one and compare to a 5 spd yourself.
I think the auto is pretty good. 0-60 time is about .7 sec slower. The auto will handle quite a few mods okay. If you go crazy with single turbo (330-500 HP) and other things, you'll probably want to get the 5 spd though. The auto will handle basic mods like downpipe, cat back, mid pipe, intake (with ECU upgrade of course).
Autos tend to be in better shape and less molested with mods. Drive one and compare to a 5 spd yourself.
I had a 93 Touring automatic project car for about 2-3 months. I also had my R1 at the same time.
The auto was really cool for driving in traffic, easy, etc.
On the launch the auto would/could spin the tires by powerbraking it, boost would come up and the tires would start spinning with the brakes on. Releasing the brakes wouldn't give a good launch though, as soon as the car started moving the tires would stop spinning and you'd be sitting at ~2800rpm, not in the powercurve. If it had a higher rpm stall converter and maybe a shorter diff (auto has 3.9, 5spd has a 4.10, 4.375 cost about $500) it could launch much harder. My auto would turn 14.9's with the g-tech, I wasn't shifting it right though, I let it shift itself and it was shifting around 6200 rpm, with the 3.9 gears the rpm would be about 4000rpm turning off the second turbo. If I would have shifted it at 7000 then it probably would have cut 1/2 sec off the 1/4 time.
Bottom line though, the auto's aren't going to be as fast as a 5spd given the same HP. It costs a lot to do a swap, buy a 5spd if you want one.
Jeff
The auto was really cool for driving in traffic, easy, etc.
On the launch the auto would/could spin the tires by powerbraking it, boost would come up and the tires would start spinning with the brakes on. Releasing the brakes wouldn't give a good launch though, as soon as the car started moving the tires would stop spinning and you'd be sitting at ~2800rpm, not in the powercurve. If it had a higher rpm stall converter and maybe a shorter diff (auto has 3.9, 5spd has a 4.10, 4.375 cost about $500) it could launch much harder. My auto would turn 14.9's with the g-tech, I wasn't shifting it right though, I let it shift itself and it was shifting around 6200 rpm, with the 3.9 gears the rpm would be about 4000rpm turning off the second turbo. If I would have shifted it at 7000 then it probably would have cut 1/2 sec off the 1/4 time.
Bottom line though, the auto's aren't going to be as fast as a 5spd given the same HP. It costs a lot to do a swap, buy a 5spd if you want one.
Jeff
Resident Retard
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,918
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From: Cockaigne
I have an auto. With my mods 5-speeds are putting 300 to the rear wheels. I'm putting 250. Oh yeah, at least I was. Now I don't have a 3rd gear anymore. I don't think the auto can handle that kind of power. Get a 5-speed.
