Torque Converters

[thenuge876]

What would be the benefits of installing a new torque converter? Also what are the stall ratings, etc.? Just basically some general info about them.

[Joe 1320]

Basically, a torque converter is a fluid clutch. The Stall speed rating refers to the engine speed at which the converter is applying full power to the transmission. With an 1800 stall speed, when you hit the gas the motor will hit 1800 rpm and the car moves foreward. The torque the engine makes at 1800 rpm will be multiplied by the design of the converter and the car moves foreward. Once the driveline speed catches up with the motor speed, the engine starts to climb into it's powerband, the car accelerates like what you are familiar with. By changing the stall speed of the converter to a higher speed, the engine torque available at that higher rpm will be greater so the vehicle will accelerate up to the engine's torque peak quicker. Change the converter from 1800 to 2800 on a typical V8, the car launches much harder but does slip in the lower rpms until driveline speed catches up. There is a tradeoff, but modern lockup converters really help in when cruising at steady speed. Modern converters use an internal clutch to make a direct 1:1 lockup like a manual transmission for increased fuel economy and reduced heat.

That's pretty much the basic idea.

[thenuge876]

Thanks

Thanks for the info, I haven't really modded any cars before so thats why i keep asking all these questions, but the input has really helped out a lot. I'll post how everything went once it gets installed.

[fastTa]

There have a couple other threads with some good info discussing torque converters:

http://www.f-body.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10597

Here is a pretty comprehensive write up on torque converters 101.

http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/tor..._explained.htm

[thenuge876]

awesome

this should be a lot of help, my biggest concern was that I wanted to find something that would work well with a daily driver but still give me a better launch. So I was trying to find the right stall speed. Hopefully I'll be able to do so now.