Simply put....How will a torque converter make me go faster? It seems to me that the only thing an aftermarket torque converter will do for me is give me a higher stall speed. Is this meant for people with slicks only? Wouldn't I be spinning my tires all day long if I floored it from a higher RPM? Thanks in advance for all the help.

 

It's brings you directly into your powerband instead of having to climb through the RPM's where you aren't making the most HP.

Might want to do some searches on here and on www.howstuffworks.com to get a better understanding of how torque converters, stall speed and STR works.

 

A Torque Converter with a higher stall speed allows u to start building more power by avoiding lower RPMs, which often don't produce as much power as higher RPMS. U don't necessarily need slicks to take advantage of a higher stall speed, u just have to pace the amount of throttle u put down off the line.

A higher stall speed is often more appropriate for cars with "bigger" cams in many cases. A lot of aggressive cams don't even make power untill 2500 RPMS. A higher stall speed eliminates the low power area and brings u directly into the higher power band u need.

for more information, try www.howstuffworks.com

 

I'm imagining this from the starting line:
1) car revs quickly, yet doesn't move, until I hit the stall speed
2) car hits the stall speed and begins to move
3) when the car shifts it will downshift to the stall speed again

Thanks for not bashing my questions.

 

There's a couple different ways of launching a stall...either flashing or braking.

Flashing the stall, especially with slicks, isn't advised with a stock rearend. What you do is sit at the line at idle and when you leave, you go immediately to WOT which will make the torque converter "flash" to whatever RPM's it stalls at. As you can imagine, this is quite a load for your drivetrain to take.

On the other hand...the good thing about auto's is that we can preload the drivetrain a bit by braking and slowly bringing up the RPM's to the point just before your tires will break loose....which is how I do it until I get my 12 bolt in.

Your examples:

1. Pretty close but it doesn't take a long time for the RPM's to get up to stall speed....that time is pretty negligible.
2. Yup
3. Basically. My stall is a 3200 stall which stalls at about 4000 RPM's at WOT so in between each gear change, the RPM's are at 4000 which is nicely in my powerband.

 

what is a good torque converter to buy and a good price to pay for the installation? '94 vert A4 2.73 gears

 

I just got a 2800 stall and my computer coems in tomorro so that I will be able to tell you all how it is with street tires for now. I put in 3.73's as well and will let you know tair how it is. If you also do some research it is well worth the money to spend the $700 on precision industries vigilante.. They have the longest warranty and have pretty much no compaint or problems with them.