I have a 94 touring automatic. I have down and mid pipe on way now. I am wanting to know is the stick ungodly better than auto ? is there a good HP trans out ? if so please leave a link.

 

And yes, manual is "better" than an automatic.

 

umm search

 

An auto is much slower than a stick. JR just had an auto and went under a lot of surgery to make it a stick.

 

The stock torque converter can handle more than 270rwhp. on an auto. All the rest power turns into heat, therefor you will damage your torque converter which will lead to tranni failure. You have 2 options...you can do level 10 torque converter...and it'll hang with 5 spds...maybe even faster. Or jus do a conversion. I'm looking into both as well...Cant wait to see JR's car...we'll see what happens.

 

from what I understand, the auto tranny they used is the same one from the MPV...obviously not meant to go kick ***...an auto tranny will be nicer for daily use, but has not the low end torque to scream out of a stop. The turbos kick in nicely once the rpm gets to about 2000 and accelleration jumps. But going with auto can save a few grand...and you can go manual later down the road. its what I'm doing...but it depends on your priorities

 

I have both an auto and a manual and my biggest complaint with the auto is that it is sooo slow off the line. Using the hold function and manually shifting helps a little, but still not enough to keep up with a 5sp. After about 3000 rpm, the auto pulls pretty fast and strong. I noticed one benefit of the auto is that you don't loose boost between shifts.

Overall i like the 5sp better, and i'm planning to convert my auto to a 5 sp.

Apparently the Level 10 TC is built stronger and raises the stall speed. Anybody have one installed for comparison?

Dave

 

You are correct, the automatic tranny in a FD is a R4A-EL/RE4R01A.

Which is also used in the Mazda 929, and MPV. It is based upon a Nissan tranny that is used in the Pathfinder and 300ZX.

Like XSeLR8nRX7 said... in stock form its dismal at best.

I would stay away from Level10. They get a bad wrap in the Supra auto tranny world, which I would not take lightly.

If your really serious about upgrading the performance of your tranny (which is probably a smarter move than dumping buku $$ in mods that will get you know where) these are your choices.

1. Upgrade to 4.33 Ring & Pinion gears ($800 with install)

2. Upgraded stall converter with higher stall speed.

3. Shift kit and upgraded valve body.

Based upon a number of auto FD owners ( I being one), its useless to mod your car in hopes of matching 5spd performance WITH the stock auto tranny. You're better off, in my opionion, focusing on tranny first and then the other bolt ons.

Check out these links for tranny work

http://www.phoenixhardparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv

http://www.protechtransmissions.com/index.html

 

I am changing my 3.91 to 4.3 this week. I also added a second tranny fluid cooler, to keep the temp's down (road courses). I dyno'd at 265 RWHP and 262 torque at 6500 RPM in third gear.

DP, Catback, Intake

 

hey cincy, what all is involved in doing the swap? do i just need to by the 4.3 ring and pinion, or is there more to it?, thx brad