Automatic trans question

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

This is probably a novice type of a question, but having the 6-speed transmission, I know the stall converter or torque converter go on the automatics... but what do they do? What does it mean when you say a car has a "higher stall"?

At least I think the torque converters are only for automatics... maybe I even know less than I thought I did (which isn't much to begin with ).

[FRMLAV8]

Fred will be able to answer this better than me, but here is my $.02

The stall or torque convertor is on the auto trans. The stock convertor on the f-body's is about 1800. that means the TC locks up at approx. 1800 RPM's. If you power brake your car it will start to break the tires lose at about 1800 RPM's. When it locks up it is tranfering all the power to the rear end. If you put in a higher stall you are raising the RPM's at which it locks up.

There are also other factors in the TC like the STR(don't remember what that stands for), but it is the multiplier. Like on a Vigilante TC they have highr STR's, say 2.8. So if you have a 3200 stall with a 2.8 STR, and you're car has 300 HP at 3200 RPM. When the TC locks up at 3200 it will "hit" with 300 * 2.8 = 840 HP. Again this is kind of a general overveiw, and the way is was explained to me which is "dumbed down" I'm sure. So I am sure Fred will eleborate, so it will make more sense to you.

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

840 HP????

[FRMLAV8]

It is not actually boosting your HP, but the way the TC works it multiplies the amount of force that gets sent to the rear wheels. It is actually multipling the torque not the HP, sorry!
So if your TC has a 2.8 STR ratio (maybe it stands for Stall to Torque Ratio??), and it is a 3200 stall. It multiplies the torque at the lock up speed. So at 3200 your car has 300 ft/lbs, when the TC locks at 3200 it multiplies that by 2.8 which = 840 ft/lbs.

I know this probably doesn't make sense. Here is a website which explains it in scientific terms. TC Specs

Hope this helps, sorry about the confusion.

[KnightFire]

This site should answer a few questions:


http://www.converter.com/faqs.htm






KnightFire