Well at first I was looking at Yank....then I looked at the price and said "negative." So its between Vigilante and TCI. What are the pros and cons of each. Thanks.

I was gonna go with the Super Yank 3500.

 

Well, my experience with converters is limited to the Vigilante. I had one in my 72 Chevelle and now in my 95 Formula. I did lots of research before buying them and, imho, the Vig is superior. in both cases I got a solid 5 tenths in the quarter with no change in drivability. I had a 9.5" 3800 stall in my Chevelle and it drove like a stock converter until you nailed it..Same with the 3600 in the Formula..They have an UNCONDITIONAL guarantee (2 years I think) and a free stall upgrade. The one in the Formula has been in the car for 8 years and is still perfect (all the while behind a 420rwhp 383). If you can get passed the $700 price tag you'll be very satisfied...Over 8 years $700 doesn't seem like a lot to me... www.converter.com Hope this helps...
--Alan

 

Yank is the Cadillac of the convertors but their customer service sucks and they are the most expensive. They make primarily race convertors but lots of street cars run them too.

Vigilante is the next in line. Very high quality and good customer service. Be advised they underrate all their convertor stall speeds. For example, a Vig 3200 stalls closer to a 3800 than a 3200. Fairly expensive.

TCI is a good quality convertor with excellent customer service. They sell primarily street convertors. Reasonably priced.

Midwest is a high quality, low priced convertor line. Primarily designed for the street but lots of them are showing up at the track. Has a new line of high stall race convertors. Probably the best bang-for-the-buck in a convertor. Good customer service too.

 

I have had yank, vigilante, pro torque, tci, jw and now midwest. Each one had it ups and downs. The yank and vigilante are just way over priced pieces. Are they good ?? yes hey are, but why spend 700-800 on something that can be had for less. The warranty is 1 year and the stall upgrade is only good for one year too. As for customer service well I think that it is not to great.If you knew th ins and outs of a converter you would then know it does not cost that much to build one. JW is well know for their race converters in the high horsepwer crowd as well. They mainly deal with th350's, th400's and glides. The do have them for overdrives, but the main focus is the others. Pro torque is a good all around converter for both street and strip. Tci I wont evn talk about. I have never had any luck with one period!

Now lest talk about Midwest. Out of all the converters I have had in my life this is absolutley the best one I have ever had. I had a Vigilante in it then switched to a jw nitrous converter. When I switched I actually pcikep up a little in my 60ft and a little et as well. Then I got my Midwest Nitrous Billett Converter with a 2.5 stator. All I could say was holy **** When I first put it in it felt about like the others untill I got to the track!!! I picked up 1.3 tenths in my 60ft, and gained 3 tenths in the 1/4!! I was very pleased to ay the least.

Theri customer service is awesome!!! I called them told them everyting about my car and they picked out a a converter they said would be the best option for my combo. They hit the nail on the head the first time. Now lets talk about warranty. They have a 2 year warranty! with a free stall upgrade within 2 years as well! Try that with another company. I have sold to many people both on and off the internet. To some it was their first purchase and to others it was a step up. Most people that I ahve sold one to have picked up time in the 60ft and theri 1/4 mile time. MIdwest is well known in the midwest area and towards california more than on the east coast right now, but that will all change soon enough.

Now lets talk about prices. They reason they can sell them as cheap as they do is couple of reasons. The main thing is they machine all of their parts in house. They do not buy parts from others and then put the converter together. Everything is done in house. Most of the above companies buy the parts elsewhere. The other reason they are cheaper is becasue it just doesnt cost as much as some people think it does to build one. Yeah they could charge as much as the other companies, but why? if they are making their profit with being cheaper then thats what they are going to do.

In my opinion Midwest is the best converter you can get period. Wether it is for price, customer service, or the performance they cant be beat.

 

Vigilante warranty is for 2 years...they are expensive though...but like I said...8 years...I have heard good stuff about Midwest...I'd also stay away from TCI...
--Alan

 

Nosfedgta, I suspect you may be a little biased since you sell Midwest convertors. Let me start of by saying that I am a big fan of the Midwest convertors but there are several things you said that I disagree with. I am sure you did pick up the time you state with the 4200 Midwest but I suspect it was because you were running a smaller stall to begin with. Right now Yank is THE convertor on the drag strip. They have had no serious competitionsince TCS went out of business. Yanks business is race convertors. Lots of people use them on the street but that is not the market Yank is looking for. I agree they are over priced but as long as their convertors keep winning races they can get whatever they want to charge for them. Also the cost of a race convertor is determined more by the development costs than the manufacturing costs. Also, Yank is a low production company. Generally, the more of any one item you produce, the cheaper it becomes. Please don't think I'm down on Midwest because in actuallity I'm one of their biggest fans. For the money they are the best on the market in my opinion. They just aren't the best race convertor.

 

You do make some good points, but when I switched stalls I did not go up or down in stall. It was the same stall. As for them winning races I have no doubt they are , but you would have to agree its also about location. Here in Middle GA whre I live everyone runs jw, period. Elsewhere it just depends on what the other guy has.

I would also put any midwest up against any yank "just to see" so to speak.

Also almost everyone that I "personaly" know has picked up time when they switched. Not all them switched from a yank unit though. But there were a couple. I will also say htat I have not heard any bad about yank, except the prices

Yeah I am a little biased too lol

 

Glad to have you as a sponsor too. I'll be sending you some business throughout the year.

 

Yanks make the best converter.

TCI makes the best "bang for the buck" converters. The TCI SSF3500 is one of the hottest selling converters in the LS1 market right now. For less then $500 people have pulled as low as 1.6 (although average is 1.7-1.8) 60' times and have dropped 6/10's with that verter over stock. It has a 2.5 STR so it hits hard but for a street/strip converter it's a hard value to beat.

 

Im sorry but tci conveters are not on a hot ticket in my book for any car.

 

They are a hot selling LS1 converter right now. TS&P and Speed Inc could probably attest to the recent popularity of the super street fighter 3500 made by TCI.

Ever since TCS went south the TCI converters have emerged as one of the best performing converters you could get brand new for around $500. Midwest makes some nice verters as well but TCI is very quickly becoming the "working mans converter of choice" over with the gurus at ls1tech. The Colonel over there has personally pulled off 1.6 60' times on that converter in some monster setups he ran.

IMO Yanks own but TCI is a great second choice. Kevin took the time to discuss with me the best converter choice for my car and future plans. Not to mention I PM'd him a question and he responded with an answer within a few hours.

They are not the best but they make a quality product at a very good price and offer good customer service.

 

they might be coming around, but I still adhere to my previous post. As for being the working mans converter I would go wiht a midwest anyday over tci. The warranty is great the free stall upgrade is nice and lets not forget the customer service.

I cut 1.6 60fts in a car thatn ran 11.90's on motor and 1.44 with nitrous. I paid less for a pro billet nitorus converter than others wanted for just an na converter..

Everyone does have their own opinion though, and I can respect that.

 

Do you have a web address for mid west ???

 

They do have one, but right now it is being redone. The perosn they had to their page just up and quite while it was being built. The page they have now is realy shi!!y, It just a basis untill the other one is done.

www.raceconverters.com

and the prices are wrong as well.

 

Ok man you have your opiniun but you need proof on that midwest converter of yours . TCI 3500 has been proven to go low 1.60s in a bolt on car no heads or cam and 273 and 323 gears, I have not seen any MIDwests converters come close to doing that, and dont put up a midwest 3800stall against it either not a fair comparison. TCI SSF will eat a midwest 3500stall all day at the track when both cars are Equal , I have delt with TCI and Kevin Winstead and he will stand behind his product , Now I will say this there was a time when TCI first got into the LS1 business there had some issues to work out , but that is long gone and they make a quality product.

There is a guy named bain on the LS1tech board that has the newer TCI 3800 stall in his car , bolt ons and 323s and his car is running 11.50s at 115mph with low 1.5s short time full weight , just has some welds on it.

I have not seen anyone with a midwest converter even close to that so we need proof on midwest

will some midwest converter guys post there times and 60ft please.

Have not seen