Basically what Im asking is if its gonna irritate the hell outta me for around the city driving. Thanks for all other input though.

 

The Vigilante 2,800 will not irritate the hell outta you in normal city driving. It is IMHO a better balanced torque converter than what the stock one is. When you let your foot off the brake it creeps just a little, not as much as the stock converter. As soon as you feed in a little throttle, it's pretty much the same as the stock converter, you will rev 200 - 300 rpm more than the stock converter. Noticeable at first, but after a day or two you adjust.

Now. Punch a stock A4 ... and ... it goes ok.

Do the same in a Vigilante 2,800 stall equiped A4 and it either blows the tires off, or nails you in your seat. The 2,800 stall allows the engine to operate in the "Sweet spot" of the torque curve for a longer period of time during high load conditions. And no matter what they say ... torque is your friend ... horsepower is good, but torque is where it's at.

FWIW ... a car with a Vigilante 2,800 stall will actually dyno less than a comparably equiped stock car, but will easily out accelerate the stock car by virtue of being in the power band sooner and longer.

I hesitated for several months before doing the Vig 2,800 converter, but, it was one of the best mods I've done.

Hope this helps

LWM

 

What LWM said...

 

I'm getting a 3200 vigilante installed on my 97 Z this Friday. What will the downfalls of putting this into a stock car be. And what kind of gas mileage will I see.

 

You guys rule. Thx for all the imput. Darren your post REALLY sums it all up for me thx again man.

So im guessing a 3500 stall would be the best thing then huh? with that B&M tranny cooler it should be fine or would it be smart to buy the shift kit to? I LOVE my gears. Now that I look at it. I got what I payed for and 1,400 seems like chump change for the quality I got.

If anyone has any Info on the TCI TC's please come forward. Id like to know what the difference in quality is compared to the Vigilante.

Thx again

 

No problem. We are all here to help. I just noticed your gears. OMG 3.73's and a 3500 stall are gonna be extremely good together. I would honestly not even consider going lower then 3500. Your gonna notice a decrease in MPG in the city (highway will be unaffected) but street manners should be very good with those gears.

If you go with a Vigilante (an excellent choice) remember the 2800 is really a 3200 stall and a 3200 is really a 3600 stall (they must like confusing thier customers )

As far as performance goes the Vig3200 stalls at 3600 and has a 2.5 STR. The TCI SSF3500 stalls at 3500 and has a 2.5 STR. The effiency of the two converters should be very close as well. So bottom line is for street manners and 1/4 mile gains the two converters should be about even. However the durability of the PI converters is usally praised by long time owners. I have heard lots of vig customers say the converter still works great two years and a hundred passes later. Not that TCI may not be durable but it hasn't been as popular as long as Vigs have so we'll know better two years from now on how the longevity matches up with Vigs and Yanks.

A transgo shift kit will definately help the tranny shift firmer and should prolong the overall life of the transmission. All auto trannys need a rebuild sooner or later but the shift kit helps make it later rather then sooner. The tranny cooler is necassary. The shift kit is not necassary but I recommend getting one.

Don't forget too that the higher STR = harder hitting. Anything over 2.0 roasts street tires if you try and nail the gas under 35 mph. You may want to consider going to Drag Radials to help offset this. If you go with less stall and less str like say 3000 and 2.0 then you will be better on street tires but gain less at the track. It's a give and take. 3000/2.0 = more street then strip. 3500/2.5 = more strip then street.

Wow, sorry for rambling on so long here. Good luck with your choice and remember the 3.73 gears you have will make higher stalls feel a lot tighter then a guy with stock 2.73 gears popping in a 3500 stall.

 

Hahaha its cool man. Ramble on. I appreciate all the input. I just got a dude that had an F-body saying hed sell his Supercharger to me brand new from the box for 1,800!!!! Tough choice, TC or SC Hrmmm.

 

Ok, what is 2.5 and 2.0 str?

 

STR = Stall Torque Ratio

Higher STR converters pass more torque to the wheels thus creating harder launchs. Stock converter is a 1.6 STR if I'm not mistaken and some of the top all out race converters are around 3.0 STR. Most aftermarket torque converters are in the twos. On paper it sounds like the higher the better. For trailer queens running slicks and 12 bolt rear ends this would be the case. But for daily drivers with occasional track duty you may want to be a tad more selective.

Anything under 2.0 will hit the tires relatively soft at launch and be somewhat usable with street tires. Anything 2.0-2.5 is considered enough to roast street tires and then Drag Radials full time are almost a must. Even then you have to fether the gas a bit as we can't do a 8 second burnout on the street while heading to work/school. Anything 2.6-3.0 will be a very hard hitting race converter that hit so hard Drag Radials can be roasted if you don't use extreme caution. For the most part you need slicks in the back to launch those converters to thier potential.

My personal thoughts on STR is 1.8 - 2.2 are street/strip but more aimed at the street. 2.3-2.6 is street/strip but more aimed for the strip (with drag radials a must). Anything over 2.6 and you better be running slicks and on a track or you will have to baby the accelerator.

Hope that helps explain it.

 

You guys really know your s]-[it...........

 

Sooo what would yall do? TC, shift kit, and tranny cooler. Or a Supercharger for 1,800? <------Guy i know used to have a sunset orange Z and never put it on. Still in the box. Its a Vortech btw.

 

That's a tough choice because of the price. I've never looked into Superchargers myself as I do not plan to go that route so I can not offer any real insight. I would still go with a torque converter, shift kit and tranny cooler. They really wake up the A4's and get rid of those damn dead spots. You know like when your doing 35 mph and punch the gas

You might want to ask in the forced induction secion the question you just asked here. I don't know if it's safe to use a supercharger on an otherwise stock engine or if you need to beef up some internal parts to handle the power. But those guys in there should be able to handle all your questions.

I myself just want to get all the bolt-ons, 3500 stall TC, 12 bolt rear, semi-mild 224/224 cam, tires and eventually when the car is retired from daily driving a 100-150 shot of N20

I would honestly ask this question in the forced induction section. My guess is your better off getting the TC first. Another thing to consider is maybe buying the SC for the good price and sitting on it until the car is ready for it. Something to think about anyway.

Good Luck

 

If you get a good price on the Vortech ... I'd recommend going that route.

Leave your stall stock if you go the supercharger route, I smoked my transmission almost immediately after going to a Vigilante 2,800 stall. The stock transmission just can't cope with both Boost and Stall.

Hope this helps

LWM

 

My "dead spot" is about 40 mph, but you guts did help alot w/ some of the tech issues.

 

ThunderRacing is selling the Vigilante. They have always been expensive. They are of the highest quality. My Vigilante 2,800 has been dealing with 500 - 600 HP for 2 years or more, ... not a peep from it.

Another car in my area, making 600 HP ate an SLP converter (less expensive) for breakfast ... but got a severe case of indigestion in the valve body ... they said it was "toast", but to me it looked like little pieces of metal ...

You get what you pay for.

Hope this helps

LWM