Hey everyone!

I have a question regarding the '95+ S10 V6 (L35) torque convertor some people like to use in their 700R4's/4L60's.

I have an '89 Firebird GTA 5.7 liter with 3.27's. The car is completely stock with 75K original miles on it.

I have to get a new TQ convertor because the bushing inside the tranny pump spun and damaged the snout area on the original convertor. Since I have to get a new convertor, would it be a good idea to get the S10 2025rpm rated stall convertor? Or, should I just stick with a 1390rpm rated factory stall? I don't want to go to an aftermarket unit right now.

I've read that using the S10 convertor will improve acceleration and 1/4 mile times slightly. More importantly though, the higher stall convertor will make the car feel faster around town. Is that true?

I've also read that using a high stall convertor on the street can make the engine feel "sluggish" or "mushy" in low throttle situations. I really don't want that. Would the relatively mild 2025rpm stall cause this?

I realize that ultimate stall speed depends on the torque output of the motor, final gear ratio and overall vehicle weight. In my case, I believe the S10 convertor would give me around 2100-2200rpm worth of stall speed in my application. Would this be good for a mostly stock street motor?

Thanks.

 

Stock stall on the 700R4 is about 1600 rpm's and the S-10 one is not that much improvement over stock. For the work involved I would look at a mim of 2400 stall for a street car.

 

Wouldn't a 2400rpm + stall convertor be too much on the street though?

I don't want to invest the $500-$700 it takes to get a "good" aftermarket converter right now. I just want something a little better than stock factory unit, but still be GM.

A tranny tech over at the local GM dealer told me that he didn't recommend running anything over a 2000rpm stall on the street. He said that if went with like a 4cyl S10 convertor, the stall speed would be way too high for the street. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the S10 4cyl autos had around 2600-2800rpm stall speed. On the other hand, he really didn't have any opinions on the S10 V6 convertor.

Over on the '94-'96 Impala SS site, alot of members like to use the S10 L35 convertor as a cheap alternative. There's even a tech article on the subject. However, the LT1 makes torque higher up in the rpm range that I do. So, I'm not sure if the S10 V6 convertor will work as good for me. Stock TPI makes more peak torque, but the TQ falls off rapidy in the higher rpms compared to the short-runnered LT1.

I thought going with the S10 converter would give me a slight "seat of the pants" boost in performance. Maybe the S10 convertor mod is for LT1's only then?

 

Running a 2400 stall.

 

87DJP2001,

If possible, can you go into some detail on how the higher stall convertor "feels" compared to the stocker? I'm more interested in part throttle performance more than anything else.

Let's say your cruising down the street and then you step on it, what difference does the higher stall convertor make in that situation compared to the stock convertor? Did you gain any ET from the SLP convertor?

Have you done any other mods to the tranny? You know, like maybe a Transgo shift kit and a Corvette servo? I'd like to get the Transgo Jr. shift-kit and the Corvette servo for mine, but I don't want my tranny to shift harsh during low throttle rpm situations. I HATE jerky harsh shifting at low throttle.lol! I like very smooth shifts.

One more thing, the SLP convertor is rated at about 2400rpm. Correct? So, that means you really have about 2600-2800rpm worth of stall with your particular mods. Right?

Thanks again.
-Mike

 

I have a Vigi 3200 in my car now, perfectly streetable. Ones you get use to it, not that bad to drive, prety much like stock. Only thing is the car doesnt want to move forward that much, some times will want to roll back on a steep incline and take just barley a little more gas to get going. Other wise its fine, I can drive my car around and never break 2500RPM if I wanted to. Its fine to drive around, I daily drove it 50 miles a day through nasty Houston traffic and it never once was a problem. Dont buy in to a stall above 2400 is unstreetable.

 

I'm a supplier of ProTorque converters. I can get you a 2100 stall 12" converter for $250 + shipping. ProTorque makes an excellent converter, and would be a MUCH better option than the S-10 converter.

As far as stall/driveability. I drove my Z with a 3200 stall, 10.5" ProTorque in it every day for 3 years, until I bought a slightly less aggressive Cavalier to drive everyday The high stall was never really an issue on the street...BUT!...When you go to a higher stall, you've got to add an additional cooler. Stall=Slip...Slip=Heat.

Check out ProTorques link on my CPT web page.

Frank
CPT

 

I have run the L35 torque converter in my 94 camaro. I did a v6-LT1 swap and used this converter when I did the swap. It worked very well, stalling about 2200-2400 at the track. The driveabilty was fine and you couldn't tell it had higher stall converter just driving around. On the street, when you floored it, the rpms came up a little faster than a stock A4, and got you into the powerband sooner.I also got 27mpg on a 600 mi trip with 3.23 gears.

The initial track times on aug 1,2004 were 14.04@99.27 with a completely stock 96 LT1, including the factory exhaust manifolds,and dual cat-stock muffler exhaust on stock tires. After a hotcam and shorty bbk headers-flowmaster exhaust, the camaro went 13.01@105.49 with that converter.