I know stall speed is necessary for an automatic (otherwise the engine would stall at stops) But I'm curious as to how a high stall TC acts. I don't want to know how it works, just how it feels to drive. Does it feel like it is in neutral until it hits it's stall speed, so you end up running around with a high revving engine?

I've obviously never drove or rode in a car with a high stall, so I'm just curious.

 

Best way to describe it is that it takes more revs and more throttle to move the car. Mine stalls at 4,200 off the nitrous (haven't tried it on the nitrous yet) and it will still move off pretty smartly at idle (950rpm), but not as quickly as a stocker. It's a bit annoying in heavy traffic - it's somewhat difficult to modulate between taking off slowly and suging ahead quickly. My first converter had a 5,200rpm stall. The same thing only more so, it would have been acceptable on the street for occasional cruising, but I wouldn't want to use it much in traffic.

I have driven a few cars with stalls in the 2,500-3,500 range and they were quite streetable. A high stall will kill gas mileage. In suburban driving around I used to get 12-14mpg, now I get ~8mpg. Partly that's due to the lack of an OD, but with the type of driving I'm talking about I was seldom in 5th or 6th anyway when I had a T56, so I think the converter is the major factor.

Rich Krause