[kj_cinci]

The auto is better on the 1/4 and in traffic jams... the other 99.35% of your driving foggetaboutit!!!

 

[mot250]

The auto is better on the 1/4 and in traffic jams... the other 99.35% of your driving foggetaboutit!!!

In traffic jams, I'd agree, but is it really better in the 1/4 or just more consistant?

A freind of mine with an 05 auto with a K&N intake and a tune is p-o'd because my 06 manual GT in stock form has posted a better 1/4 time than his car. At the time we chauked it up to his 3.31 gears to my 3.55's.

He recently upgraded to 3.73 gears and I upgraded to a C&L racer intake and tune. At the track, he still had trouble going any quicker than before he changed his gears while I was able to knock off almost a 1/4 second from stock, down to 13.439 at 104.99 mph.

So is the auto really better or do we just have cars at the opposite ends of the factory variances in performance?

I guess another option is that his K&N is too restrictive since it is "possible" to run the K&N without a tune. Dunno but he would sure welcome any tips. I hate to see a guy pissed off about the perforamnce of his mods.

 

[kj_cinci]

I don't know how good of a driver you are but that sertainly make a diff. Anywho; between a auto and a stick with stock gearing and the same tires and HP the auto will win.

I have not driven a stock auto, but a CAIed auto with after cat exhaust will do low 13's. Quick burn of the stock tires (cleaning, not heating! ). Hold the brake, hold about 3,500 rpm, let go of the brake...

I am a beginner on the track with four wheels... but I think it says somthing that I drowe my (then) ~340 rwhp car to 13.14 and a 270 rwhp auto to a 13.25, both with ETs...

Stock they are pretty close but as the power goes up the auto becomes easier and should win.

High powered too the auto, even stock autos seem to do better... http://forums.modulardepot.com/showthread.php?t=91010 see post 5...

 

[5twenty]

I don't know how good of a driver you are but that sertainly make a diff. Anywho; between a auto and a stick with stock gearing and the same tires and HP the auto will win.

I think you and I have been through this before but I couldn't disagree more. I seen too many times in real life, at the drag strip, that when the mods are the same and the driver has a clue, the manual wins every time.

 

[kj_cinci]

That is your experience, mine is different... I'm talking about the few S197s I have seen and this is the conclusion I have come to. What are the facts you base your opinion on? Also, what you're saying I'd agree was true on most mostly stock cars untill the S197 auto tranny.

 

[JEB]

In MY Mustang, I love the manual.

Wife can't drive a stick hehe...I have tried to teach her, but she gets scared.

She would prefer an auto.
Sometimes in stop and go traffic on the interstate, I'd love an auto.
For all other times, I love the stick.

In any family car, or truck, Auto all the way.

 

[kj_cinci]

Stick is deffinately more fun! And again the auto would be nice in traffic stops... my SPEC +3 requires some pressure... but would I change it? Never!

 

[jasonc32amg]

Not a chance...

 

[mot250]

I don't know how good of a driver you are but that sertainly make a diff. Anywho; between a auto and a stick with stock gearing and the same tires and HP the auto will win.

I have not driven a stock auto, but a CAIed auto with after cat exhaust will do low 13's. Quick burn of the stock tires (cleaning, not heating! ). Hold the brake, hold about 3,500 rpm, let go of the brake...

I am a beginner on the track with four wheels... but I think it says somthing that I drowe my (then) ~340 rwhp car to 13.14 and a 270 rwhp auto to a 13.25, both with ETs...

Stock they are pretty close but as the power goes up the auto becomes easier and should win.

High powered too the auto, even stock autos seem to do better... http://forums.modulardepot.com/showthread.php?t=91010 see post 5...

I am, by all meanings of the word, a novice at the 1/4 mile. This is the first car I've had on the track and I've only been there 4 times since April 2006.

On the surface, I'd likely agree that given two novice drivers with identically prepared cars, with the only difference being a manual in one car and an auto in the other, the auto would probably win.

Now for my immediate experience with my 06 manual trans vs a friend's 05 auto. His times with a CAI and tune were consistantly in the 13.8 to 13.7 range, with a 13.68 or so as a best time on stock street radials (17's and 3.31 gears). When I was stock, I was all over the board ranging from 14.2 all the way down to my best but un-repeatable 13.67, again on stock street radials (18's and 3.55 gears). So with my inexperience, sure, autos are more consistant. I'll give you that. But faster? Still open for discusion.

I've read other reports of similarly modified (CAI and tune) autos also being in the same 13.7 to 13.8 second range. Yet when I added these mods to my manual trans (granted, some keen-eyed folks will notice LCA relocation my brackets in my sig as well), I can get down to 13.43 (still on stock street radials). I really don't think the LCA relocation brackets did a heck of a lot with the stock tires as my 60' times were still in the 2.09 to 2.18 range.

I just don't think that driver error could be that bad to make a similarly modded auto perform that poor. Or are there auto-specific driving tips for the 1/4 mile that can make up for that big of a difference when not followed?

I also know that there are factory heros and factory lemons, depending on the batch of parts and the quality of the assembler's on any given day. Could this be the issue with my friend's auto compared to my manual?