How does the tc locking and unlocking affect the cars performance. I read somewhere that when the tc locks it causes the car to bogg down. Please explain what locked and unlocked do. Im trying to play with the values in tunercat but i dont know what to do.

thanks

 

Locked is when the TC is not slipping. I have a manual lockup switch for highway cruising. No slipping means it runs a lot cooler and gets better gas mileage. You need to be very careful with what you are doing.

 

how does this affect performance? does unlocked mean quicker acceleration?

 

Forgetting about the gearing in the trans;
locked means the driveshaft and the engine are basically connected. Unlock means there is some amount of slippage. This gives the ability to rev the motor to a degree and prevents the motor from stalling when at a stop. For example; if it stayed locked at low mph or coming to a stop it would kill the motor. Sort of like stopping in gear without pushing the clutch on a standard.

If you keep the converter unlocked at high TPS values then you can keep the motor in the powerband. Locking it at low TPS values while cruising gives better gas mileage.

Locking it at high TPS and high MAP values can make the convertor go BOOM!