[MustangGuyChuck]

I have a 2000 V6 Mustang I am currently toying with, and was thinking of getting into some road track stuff. There is only one problem with my idea, and that is the fact the mustang has an automatic shfiter. Even with a shift kit so I can manually shift the transmission, should I even bother? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[GTRaptor]

It depends a lot on the length of the race and type of track.

The more agressive the track the more shifts and hence the more your tranny has to work and so it will heat up. Using a trans cooler is a must, the larger the better.
Manually changing gears puts extra strain on the AODE so avoid DOWNSHIFTS as much as you can.

[bob8797]

Yes, you should try it.
It's suspension, tires & brakes that matter most.
I have a friend that open-tracks a '98 GT AOD. He eventually put on a cooler and shift kit. But it's not really something you have to do before going out. As you get better/fast/more agressive then you will probably need some minor tranny upgrades -- along with a bunch of other stuff as you'll discover.
Try it out and see if you like it before investing too much.

[Bialy88]

i have a 90 lx automatic i put in the tran conventer and i smoke my friends stick stang !!

[DE Ride]

Eh, if your new its more about learning the lines etc. If you get into it, your just going to buy a more suitable car anyway, so don't bother with anything other then brakes for your first time.

[DV19]

Kenny Brown built a V6 car they called Kermit and it was a very good car. Do a search for it and I think you'll find some insperation in it... There's also a company called Squires Turbo Systems (STS) that has some parts that will really wake that V6 up...

Good Luck

[aowpsycho]

Originally Posted by Bialy88

i have a 90 lx automatic i put in the tran conventer and i smoke my friends stick stang !!

What is this trans converter? Is it kind of like tectonic shifitng?

[The Greek]

The trans converter is really a "Torque Converter". A fluid coupling. I'm not sure what a higher than stock stall speed (the point where the fluid coupling is transfering the maximum amount of torque from the engine to the transmission that is possible) would be of benefit. A torque converter thats been built for severe duty, yes, a higher than stock stall, I can't see a benefit.

Back in the mid 1960s Jim Hall road raced his Chevy powered Chaparrels with automatic transmissions. He was winning with them too. So it can be done.

I'm wondering if it would be better if you didn't manually downshift but leave the trans in Drive and manipulate the throttle for down shifting (going into passing gear). To compensate for the lack of downshifting to slow down (this would be a lot easier on the trans.) you would have to go with the best set of brakes you can get.

As said before, you would want maximum cooling for the trans fluid. I have a 67 fastback with a built up suspension and an automatic, of course I've got an external cooler and electric fan. I'd love nothing more than to get some track time and test my driving with the automatic. ---Chuck

[imjrk]

I run a '94 GT with an auto trans on autocross courses. We have a trans cooler and a B&M Transpak shift kit. It works excellent! The shift from 1- 2 will squeal the tires 255/40/17, stock engine, 3.73 gears. Two "problems" we have, do NOT downshift to second until you are under 60MPH, it will slow the rear tires so much they will slide, and we have to use OD on some long straight stretches. The auto also has us chewing up racing brake pads like they are free. We do manually downshift and upshift.
The advantage to a novice is that you can concentrate on driving instead of always trying to properly shift. For the first couple of times, just use Drive and when you find your lines, start playing with shifting.
Your six is rated at 200HP, my eight is factory rated at 215HP. I know the torque is different. Put on the trans cooler, put in the shift kit (you CAN do it yourself, the instructions are very well written), throw on some racing pads (you can start with Hawk black pads, just for the track), and go out and have some fun!