TBI305Camaro

a guy in my class at school thinks he can beat him in a drag race in his 95 cavalier...whats a joke...looked up stats and they had like 115hp...he thinks he can take me because he has a manual and i have an auto what a jackass soon as i get a chance im gonna go kick his ***

Nic

People like that are put here to entertain the rest of us.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

LOL, that was good!!

A nice misconception by many is the Auto vs. Manual topic, go show him what an Auto can do. (And a V8 )

ChevyLuva3

Autos always win in drag races, especially a faster car.

rx7speed

guy at my work would always tell me that he could beat me in his cav and this was when I was N/A and so well we raced

he lost bad.....

he says somethingabout not getting a good launch or something like that and this was when my car was running 15.2

raced again
same result
he still to this day thinks his car is faster

TBI305Camaro

what makes a automatic so much better for drag racing? dont yoy get more parasitic (i think thats what its called) lose outta a auto

CobraKiller

there's less room for driver error if the car is shifting gears for you.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

For 1, better launches and consistent shifting.

HrdRockA4305

After a certain HP level the auto has the advantages over a manual when it comes to power handling and shift speed. I don't care how good of a stick driver anyone is, they can't shift as fast as an auto with a race shift kit. Launching is also much easier, and as power increases so does the difficulty of getting a good launch with a stick (without breaking parts). Just some spare change worth of of info from lots of magazine and message board articles I've read.

Jer82Z28

manuals are better transmission if you need to make excuses for losing a race (ie, "i missed a shift" "I got a bad launch")

stock for stock manuals CAN be faster than an auto, but slap a TC and shiftkit in an auto and say bye bye. another added expense though

Abel Kane

Feeling fast and being fast are two different things tho. Weren't the 3.1 and 2.8 cavaliers faster?

Nic

5 speeds rule the streets. I don't know how many times I've lost to slower 5 speed cars on the street because they were able to downshift into a gear to put them in their powerband and I haven't been able to.

If you go to the track it's a different story. High stall converters, trans brakes, and manual valve bodies rule the track.

Little GTA

Auto vs Manual

Auto more reliable, dependable, consistent launches, much less room for error...wins most of drag races.

Manual requires great driving skills, but can be the quicker car.

When you take an automatic and shift it manually you are using a manual trans in my opinion. Something else is doing the clutch work for you. With true manuals you can have more gearing opportunities, and you can have "clutchless" manuals that require less pedal work built by companies such as Jericho. That enables the abilty to win against an equal automatic car (only thing being different in the car is the transmission, with both transmissions being designed to work with the rearend in terms of gearing)

It depends on your car, purpose of your car, and your driving capabilities and how much you are willing to sacrifice in terms of car parts, and practice. Automatics are easier. But a properly driven manual transmission is the one I bet on.

mcconahay37

iTrader: (3)

If you plan on road racing or autocrossing, standards are king. Eventually, I'll have to get rid of my auto and swap in a T56. I just need.....$$$$$$$$