It is my understanding that GM put torque management in the A4's b/c they knew that the transmissions were weak to begin with. My goal behind the mods on my Vette is to get the most out of it w/o sacrificing reliability (i.e. intake, exhaust, etc.). I am considering the Predator programmer mainly to firm up the shifts and remove torque management b/c I've heard that removing tm makes the car faster and was wondering if programming does anything to reliability? Will removing torque management and the increased line pressure cause the factory transmission to go out sooner? Any advice would be great.

Thanks,
Adam

 

I would suggest a Trans-go Kit.The price installed is approximately $350.BUT you do need a torque management mod with the kit.I used Super Chips,and it works quite well.If you do install the Trans-go kit,install (2) washers.I installed (3) and its a wee bit much,but I am used to it and it doesn't bother me anymore.The kit broke in and a lot of the harsh shifting hassmoothed out ,making me a happy camper.The more you drive the car ,the smoother my Trans-go kit became.It feels like you modded your engine,but in reality you are utlising the horses you already have.Hope this is of value to you. Rod Brown :chevy :chevy :flag :flag :chevy :chevy

 

If you have read some of my other posts (if not please do) I am a gear fan. I have not gotten the Predator yet just because I will not give up TM. I occasionally put Active Handling into "competitive mode" for some demo rubber burning, but other than that I keep it as designed.

That said, putting in higher gears 3.42 or 3.73 actually reduces the strain on the transmission as the drive train now has more of a mechanical advantage in turning the wheels. Since my 3.73 install, I can get going much faster and do not trip the TM. I would go so far as to say that with only an intake bolt on and the 3.73 gears - stock TC, you will experience a whole different car - but read some of the other posts on the subject.

Think of it like this. If TM "trips", the tranny was at a borderline condition. Turning it off does not make that condition go away, it allows it to go higher etc - worse. It only allows it to threaten the tranny. You can do shift firmness and shift speed without loosing TM.

I hope tht Predator soon makes that a selectable option.

If you come to Atlanta - let me know and I'll give you a ride.


[Modified by KingTut, 11:34 AM 12/22/2002]

 

A while back I ended up installing 3.15's b/c I wanted to stay away from aftermarket programming (I had the dealership reflash to the 3.15 code). I also know that you installed 3.42's and did not have any problems, however, a friend of mine has a 98 that originally came with the 3.15's and when he installed 3.42's, the slip code now comes on all the time and it got so bad that now his service engine soon light stays on. I would like to be able to step up to a 3.42 or 3.73 but will probably have to wait until the Predator has the ability to leave torque management alone b/c you do have a good point about it. The only other programmer that I would consider is Superchips.

I do have some question about the 3.73's vs. 3.42's KingTut. A majority of my driving is highway and I was wondering what kind of rpm's you are turning with the 3.73's at say 70 and 80 compared to the 3.42's?

Thanks,
Adam

 

I've had both gears and now have the 3.73s. I believe at 75 mph i turn around 2650 rpms with the 3.73s and with the 3.42s i turned around 2400rpm.

To me this is a negligible amount and i recommend that you get the 3.73s if you can stomach the extra cash. I think the 3.73s are perfect for the A4 and of course i would match that up with a sy 3500 stall or something equivalent.

Best of luck Good luck.

MTI 427 Roadster :cheers:

 

I have the Predator and can tell you it is worth every dollar. The shift options alone are far more user friendly and changeable than any shift kit. As for Torque Management, it was GM's way of trying to alleviate some warranty repair $$$ for people that ABUSE the Vette. I don't ABUSE mine!!

 

For firming up shifts, you can do it either of two ways. You can increase the firmness of the shifts through hardware (Trans-go Kit) or through software (programming). Either is just as effective but doing it by software often allows you more degrees of firmness.

Are you sure about the predator doing anything to torque management let alone removing it?

I downloaded and read the Predator’s user manual and could find nothing in there to the effect that it removes or changes torque management. It would seem to me that if the Predator were capable of removing torque management that would be via an adjustable parameter that would allow users to raise the torque management by degrees until it is removed altogether. No such adjustable parameter is mentioned.

Considering the cautions to users about modifying Predator parameters, I can’t believe that the program just removes torque management altogether or changes it without telling you about it. That would result in lawsuits from users as the stock C5 A4 needs torque management to survive.

By the way, traction control is different from torque management.

When you change differential gears you need to tell the PCM that you did or it will interpret the difference between input speed and output speed as transmission slip.

 

I have some of the same questions about what Predator does to TM. Eventhough it's not in the manual one of the vendor sites talks about:

"Revised Torque Management Settings for optimum performance..." http://runninwiththedevil.com/predator.htm

I wonder if this means the TM change must be buried in the Predator stock performance programming portion of the tune somewhere. :cheers:

 

I went to this link of the DiabloSport people: http://www.diablosport.com/predator.html

I think I'll email them to clear up this point and report back the answer :cheers:

 

I emailed Diablosport Monday and asked them if the Predator changes or removes torque management. I also asked if it was adjustable by the user. I received an answer a couple of hours later from Johan Mangs, Operations Coordinator. He said “We automatically reduce the torque management in our tune, it is not adjustable by the end user.”

GM limits the torque output in Corvettes with A4’s to 360 while the MN6 has 375. I believe they are being overly cautious in order to avoid warranty repairs. For the bone stock A4, using the Predator probably wouldn’t present any problems but for cars that have bolt on mods then that might hurt the longevity of the transmission depending on how much torque management has been reduced IMHO.

 

Bill,

Thanks for the call to Diablo and the update. :cheers:

 

most cars with auto trans have TM in the computer program. it retireds the engine timing between shifts and has been in use since the 80s. :chevy

 

I guess now you know. It needs to be either adjustable, or have an on/off option to allow it to stay in there. Do a search on transmission deaths, most have programming that took out TM. The Powerloader did as well.

I want better shift points, shift pressure, and necessary changes for my gears, but at what cost? I think this is a design flaw and as soon as someone with a Predator blows their transmission and it is not warrantied, the fan will turn a darker shade of brown and the change will get done.