I have an A4 with 3.42s. Vararam
I like running the mountain runs and canyon carving
but would like a little more get up and go in the straight line dept. Also would like to get rid of the dead zones.

1.What torque converter would give me the best of
both worlds?

2.How do they actually make the car react?

3.What does the term "loose" mean? Ive heard this
when guys are talking about their car after
installing a TC.

4.At what point do I have to worry about beefing up
or adding other components in the drive line and
what might they be.

 

 

Lots of good ones out there from Yank, Pro Torque and Vigilante. If you are concerned about "dead spots" then one of the Yanks may be a better choice.


Torque converters job is to put more torque to the wheels. The result is a better hole shot if you are drag racing or better acceleration from a roll if you are driving on the highway. Depending on the design of the converter and your choice, it will do one or the other very well, but typically not both. Though some from Yank are said by their owners to do both very well.

Refers to how much throttle you have to give the car from a dead stop to get it moving. A converter is said to be "loose" if it takes more RPMs to get the car moving, "tight" if it does not.

Your present stock converter feels "tight." That is the car will "creep" forward, even uphill, if you simply remove your foot from the brake while in drive. It also takes very little throttle to get it moving in stop and go traffic. If you are going in reverse, the same thing happens.

A "loose" converter is like a sickness. You have to give the car more throttle to move it, it will "creep" little if at all, the engine revs sort of like as if you were driving a stick and held the clutch for too long when attempting to move. But it is great if you are a drag racer.

Your stock converter stalls at about 1600 RPM. Some of these really high stall converters will feel "loose" to you. The gear ratio has a lot to do with it too. The same converter in a car with 3.42s may feel tighter in a car with 3.73s. Programming and stall torque ratio come into play too.

Higher stall converters generally make your transmission run hotter. People address this in a couple of ways. The most common way is with an auxillary transmission cooler. Another way I have seen it done is with a larger capacity fluid pan but ground clearance can be an issue.

 

I agree with most of EB20003 points. However most high performance T/Cs that are designed for the street (2400-3600 stall) do not have excessive looseness if you have 3.42 or better gears. Driveability wise there is not alot of looseness when driving normally.

With some of these T/Cs it will be hard to tell the difference from the stock T/C when you are driving normally. You don't have to be drag racer to want a high stall T/C. IMO a stall is the best bang for the buck mod you can do on an A4 excluding nitrous.