Can someone explain stall converters to me. How do they work and are they hard to install? My car is an A4 daily driver, I don't want to burn my tires at every stop light either but I hear good things about the stalls? Any input.

 

What a stall does is allows your engine to spin to higher rpm's before it starts moving. For instance when normally driving my car it doesn't go below 2k rpm until it locks up. This is good because it allows you to stay in your power area longer and get to it quicker. If you want to install it yourself you should know you will have to pull the transmission. When I did mine I used the guide found on this page. If you have any other questions ask.

 

They are the best bang for the buck mod you could ever do. You'll lose your dead spots, be .5 faster in the 1/4 mile and enjoy driving the car a lot more. Install is time consuming but not difficult if you have an extra set of hands.

You would want a 3500 stall because any less would just have you wanting more a month later. If you don't want to roast street tires and won't upgrade to drag radials then there is only one torque converter that I would consider "perfect" for you.

Yank SY3500. It stalls at 3500 but only has a STR of 1.6 which is the same as the stock converter I believe. Most 3500 stalls have a 2.2 - 2.6 STR which is very hard hitting. Those are great for the track but tough on the street from a dig. Most people find themselves forced to upgrade to Drag Radials. Even then they have to be careful. But the 1.6 STR on the Yank SY3500 will hit the tires softer and allow you to run on street tires much easier.

Good Luck

 

You want a stall. Your cars only effect on faily driveability will be the loss of gas mileage. You will only be able to tell the car has a stall in it when you stomp it.

 

laymen terms, you launch at higher rpms and get where your going faster

 

You can't beat this mod. I like my 3200 Vigilante. Don't let that 3200 fool you ,it leaves alot harder then most people think. The drivability is great and you can't go wrong buying a very good stall for your daily driver. I do have one suggestion ,make sure you buy a "Good Converter ". Buying a cheap one will cost you alot of grief down the road. Good luck

 

Where can I buy Yank converters at? Is the name of the company yank? I did an internet search got nadda...

 

I wrote a brief tutorial on torque converters that you may find useful. Go to www.kennedysdynotune.com and click on "Tech Tips" in the left hand menu bar. Follow the links to the page on torque converter tech.

Hope you find it useful.

Rich Krause

 

My transmission just died, will have to rebuild.

I'm considering getting a 2500 stall for it.

How much should I expect to pay for it?

Also, I heard they generate more heat and a cooler is required... is this true?

 

A 2800 is the smallest I would go with, and DO NOT put a stall in your tranny w/o a cooler. Your tranny will live alot longer with one in and there cheap.

 

I just looked at the price for the Vigalante! 750 and up!

I think I'll just go with a new stock converter, and save my money up for my next car.

Funny thing is, the guy at the transmission place said a 2500 stall is probably around 200. Either he didn't know what he was talking about, or he was gonna put some junk no name converter in my car.

 

A Corvette stall converter is around 2400, that's probably what he was talking about. Any other one for that price is not going to be any good for you. It is very very wise to go with one of the high end converters, although pricey they are well worth it and by far the best bang for the buck. FYI you will not spin your tires at every stoplight unless you want to. Your car will rev higher when leaving a stop but will not leave with any more power unless you do it on purpose. The only difference over stock is you have to give a little more gas to get going at the same rate of speed. Give it WOT though and hold on to your a$$, it'll be a whole new ride. In less than a week you won't even notice the difference from stock. It took me about 2 days to not even realize it was there. Until I stomped the gas that is...