One of my friends with an 02 SS ran an 11.87 with a Yank stall, longtubes and gears.

 

I took my friends bone stock 02 WS6 down the track for a few passes one night.
I had never driven the car before and was able to match his best time of the night with my first pass, 13.45@107, and 2 more passes later I ran a 13.12@109 after getting used to the clutch.
If I had gotten one more pass I probably would have hit a high 12.

 

..... and this has officially turned into a pi$$ing contest .

Again, my car has (had) BOTH the A4 and the M6 in it. Its fastest time so far has been with the M6, but it also had the benefit of headers (aka - POWER) at that point, so it's not a fair comparison.

Here are the real numbers though:

13.434 @ 105.80, 2.152 60' --- A4, 2.73's.
13.021 @ 107.44, 1.960 60' --- A4, 4.10's.
13.402 @ 107.65, 2.152 60' --- M6, 3.23's.
12.878 @ 110.15, 1.940 60' --- M6, 3.90's, LT's.

I'm not and have never claimed to be a great driver, but there are much worse out there. I think I ran very respectable numbers for both the A4 and the M6, and I think you can see the consistancy in the car (times, traps, etc.). While there are a couple different variables in there (gears, LT's) I think it's clear it's damn near a drivers' race, stock for stock.

BUT, I have full confidence that with a stall converter, my car could have pulled off a ~12.5 - 12.7, with the 4.10 gears. WITHOUT headers. I think that's the basis of the original post --- whether an auto w/stall can out-perform an M6 --- and IMO, I think so. Even with the low gears, headers, and drag-radials, I think I'll be hard pressed to get a ~12.5 out of my car right now with the M6. SO, for the average Joe, I think that's probably the case, and their buddy with a stalled auto will probably lay a beating on them 9 out of 10 times .

 

IMO Manual Cars are much more fun to drive because it has you in control, not some mechanisim that shifts by itself, honestly they both have advantages.

 

Yeah auto in my drag car and stick in the 'vette and the wife's SS. Like you I was wishing for an auto in the SS this weekend for 6 miles when we were stuck going 3-4mph on I 270 by St. Louis. I thought my left leg was going to fall off.

 

My Mustang went from 11.2 to a 10.9 1/4 mile by switching to an automatic. I actually launched much harder with the stick, but the suspension did not unload between shifts, etc... I also went from 124mph to 128mph.
A stick car can be more fun to drive, but the auto took a TON of stress off me at the starting line.

 

Another advantage that a auto has is that on boosted cars you can build boost at the starting line. I picked up a half a second from a switch from 5 speed to C4 auto in my Saleen. With the 5 speed I was coming off the line at 0lbs of boost where with the auto I'm launching at 13lbs of boost.
And Autos can be dead consistant.
I bought a 6 speed T/A but sometimes wish I had a auto.

 

Most NHRA Pro Stock cars now run this tranny......

 

^ ^ ^ What's that ..... a semi-automatic?!?!? (although it looks clearly like a standard?! )

 

Its a fully manual tranny.... no "automatic" at all. But is also shifts without a clutch.

 

THAT'S what I was getting at . I thought I heard something about clutch-less manuals in racing ..... and when it looked like a manual, but I couldn't believe full-"manual" was being used for pro-stock, that's what made me think "semi-automatic" (albeit, more correctly, clutch-less manual).

 

A manual valve body can be added to most automatic transmissions which requires the driver shift gears. However no clutch is needed.

 

Does that include downshifting? wouldn't that tear up your tranny if so?

 

Stick here
With the right trans/clutch combo, a stick will work well at the strip

---Bill.

 

It isn't the easier configuration for an automatic, but with enough line pressure and enough rpms to match the shift points it will live as long as the tranny is well built.