[Storkdork]

I drive an 02 GT with your basic bolt ons (CAI, 75mm TB, plenum, O/R H, Flows, gears, LCA's, tuned) it has an auto trans and was wondering how much a good torque converter with a higher stall speed will affect daily driving. It runs mid to high 13's and would like to get down the track a little faster next season, but I dont want to completely make it a pain in the a$$ to drive on the street to work and back. I'm thinking about going to some 16" wheels with Mickey drag radials also just for track duty on the weekends. (rear only of course) So what is a happy medium when it comes to stall speed for a daily driven weekend warrior?

[EagleAutosports]

I'm running a 9 inch race series 2800-3000 converter in mine and it's driven everyday. A good efficient converter will actually improve the manners of a daily driver. A higher stall converter will make it necessary to relearn how to drive the car. Proper stall speed will be determined by a number of variables that include cylinder head flow, exhaust, rear gear ratio, vehicle weight, tire size, intended usage of the vehicle, and most of all the cam(s). The best converter would be one that's custom made for your car, it'd probably be in the 2500-3000 range and around 10 inches in diameter. Just know with a higher stall converter it'll make more heat so you should get an auxiliary cooler for the tranny.

[Storkdork]

Good info, thank you. I was told that 2600 would be a good stall speed for a relatively stock engine with 4.10's. Is this something I should wait for till I upgrade the heads to Fox Lakes stage 1 with Comp's XE270?

[EagleAutosports]

You could do it now, but that could change once you make more mods. The actual power output will affect the stall speed you'll wind up getting. A converter can stall at 2000 rpm behind a stock engine, and the same converter can stall at 2800 behind a modified engine. I'd let the manufacturer you go with know about the head/cams swap you're planning on doing before hand to make sure they can take that into consideration. They could make a few changes so that it'd be fine with the combo you now have and then be fine after the swap.