I'm curious as to what the exact stock shift points are on the C5? (specifically in my case, a 98 automatic with 3.15 gears)

It appears to shift at 5700 from 1-2 and 5700 from 2-3 (although sometimes it appears to shift at 5500), but I know the stock tachs aren't always the most accurate either.

I'm getting my car dyno tuned again and want to aim for 6200 rpm shift points once we've got LS1 edit opened up, but I need to know the exact stock shift points in order to work from there.

 

If your car has already been tuned then the shift points might not be factory spec. Best have the tuner tell you what they are currently set at and adjust them accordingly. The tuner will probably have good enough experience with such things to advise you on where to put them.

Shane

 

The car was tuned before, but I just had a new ECM installed, plus had the column lock recall done, so the current programming is now completely stock, which is why they are going to totally redo my dyno tuning for me (he wants to start fresh instead of simply downloading my old program)

So it would be easier if I had the exact stock shift points so I know where to go. I know that if we add 1mph to the 1-2 shift point it will raise it by 121rpm, and if we add 1mph to the 2-3 shift point it will raise it by 65rpm. So if my stock points are exactly 5700 on both counts and I raise the 1-2 by 4mph that should give me 6184, and if I raise the 2-3 by 7mph hit should give me 6155.

 

I still haven't found out for sure whether or not the stock shift point at WOT is 5700 or 5800 from 1-2 and 2-3.

However, I do believe I've found out the mph I need to input in order to achieve 6200 rpm shifts.

It looks like a 3.15 geared A4 with stock size tires needs the following shift points for it to shift at 6200:

1-2 at 50.7 mph
2-3 at 93.8 mph

I will be getting my limiter set to 6400 just to be safe, although the engine will never get to that point as long as the tranny shifts at 6200 like it's supposed to (in the future if the trans ever starts slipping I might bump the limiter though)

Hopefully LS1 edit allows you to input the mph in tenths like that. If not I'll just get him to round it off to 51 and 94 mph instead.

 

Those MPHs look too high if you have the MPH set too high it will run
right into the rev limiter.

INTHERED

 

They look a little high. My A4 w/3.15's shift 2-3 around 83MPH

Chris

 

well, all I can say is mine is the same setup, shifts at 6k, 50mph in first, 5,800 85mph in 2nd, 130 in 3rd, and then 4th is to the moon.

One time I had it wide open throttle starting at 70mph, keeping in 3rd gear, and I got a hessitation when the tranny shifted from 3 to 4 at 130 mph - only took it to 140 after that, and the shift 1 to 4 light came on (flashed on/off until it shifted into 4th, which took 2 full seconds) - it's a 4A

 

while I'm here - the redline on the 2001 is 6k rpm - what is the rev limiter set at, and what is the maximum safest RPM?

 

also, if you're A4 is shifting at 5700 rpm, is that with traction control on? I know it will retard the fuel at that high of an rpm before going into 2nd to save from burning the tires into gear 2. That's how it is here.

 

I don't know what the rev limiter is for the C5, but on my old 98 Formula with the same engine it's limiter was set to 6250. I got my best drag results shifting that car at 6200. So I think a rev limit of around 6250 to 6300 is safe.

 

With traction control on or off it still shifts at 5700 (according to my tach, but I don't trust it)

 

My stock valve springs get very nervous at 6300.

 

6200 is safe for an LS1 though, otherwise the limiter on my 98 Formula wouldn't have come from the factory set to 6250. I made over 150 quarter mile runs in that car, most of them powershifting at 6200 (it was a 6 speed car) and never had problems with it. At one point I even pulled all of the pushrods out to check them (I thought I had bent one after I misshifted twice at the track and went from 2nd back down to 1st gear) and found all of them to be perfectly straight.

 

For your best times with an A4 with 3.15 gears just leave everything alone. Unless you have extensive headwork a cam, headers supercharger etc. The Horsepower peak comes at 5600 rpm. It is unnecessary to over rev the motor and hard on the valvetrain. I've experimented with shiftpoints from 5900-6200 rpm. Best times are with a 5900 rpm shift point. I have a few minor mods 310 rwhp.. I started experimenting with shift points after reading several posts from other members, stating that they had better Quarter mile times when they had a 5800-6000 shift point. I was skeptical. When you think about it, it just makes sense. At 5600 rpm power starts going south. Yes it will pull strong to 6200 rpm but its a waste. Shifting at 5900 rpm will also put you down to around 4400 rpm when the shift is complete. Does 4400 rpm ring a bell with anyone? Hey! That is the maximum Torque output for the LS1. Keep it in the power band guys, the best powerband. If I had a Cam and Headers I would surely increase the shift points. Otherwise leave it alone

 

Best times are never had if you shift it right at the power peak though, you want to shift above power peak because what you want to get is the rpm range with the most average horsepower. If you key in your dyno numbers into a shifting program it will almost always tell you to shift higher than peak horsepower. If it shifts right at peak horsepower, then when it gets into the next gear the rpms drop too far below peak horsepower. You want the shift into the next gear to put the rpms a bit closer to the peak.

For example, let's just say the rpms drop by 1500 when it makes the 1-2 shift. If you're leaving it stock, it's going to drop down to around 4200 in 2nd gear. But if you raise it up to 6200, then it ends up at 4700 after the shift. So it's going to give you the most average horsepower this way, and it won't lag as much on that 1-2 shift (that's the first thing I noticed the last time I had the higher shift points on this car).

In the past I experimented a lot with shift points and got better ETs in my old 6 speed 98 Formula when I shifted it at 6200 compared to when I shifted it at 5800. And since my current car is an A4, shift points become even more critical since the ratios aren't spaced as closely as on the 6 speed, so the rpms drop further on the shifts.

And when I had my shift points changed in my Corvette I could feel a noticeable difference in how it runs. I never ran my car down the quarter mile with the stock shift points. But now that my program has been returned to stock, the engine definitely feels like it's being shortchanged when it shifts at the stock settings. It's just building up steam and then the shift is made way too early. It feels a lot slower now with the stock shift points, I'm very eager to get the tuning in there. (I previously had around 6100rpm shift points before I got my new ECM and had to return the program to stock last week)

I've had a lot of years of experience with LS1s (I bought that 98 Formula new in April 98 and started taking it to the track the first week I had it), and even in bone stock trim they like to be revved out to just before the limiter in order to run their best ET. A lot of my friends with 6 speed LS1s were asking me for advice as to why their cars didn't run as quick as my 98 (it ran 12.68 at 111 with just drag radials, 4.10s, ported maf, cutout and free mods, but still a bone stock motor) and one of the first things I told them they needed to do was to rev it out higher on the shifts. Everyone who took that advice saw their ETs get better.