Torque converter question
 

It will be fine, at 60mph it wont matter because the converter will be locked, so it will drive the same. I have the ss3600 on my grandsport which has 2.73s, and i love it. Best bang for buck for drag racing.

The 3600 is fine for both the street, the highway, and the strip.. The 3200 feels like what GM should have used as stock, if the feds weren't in charge. The 4000 is a different animal and should only be the choice of the more seriously performance inclined. Over 40K miles of 1.4x 60' seriousness for me, so far. :D

:thumbs: glad that Hoxxy responded, and well worth it for you to heed his advice...………….. :yesnod:

Tom will always be more than willing to answer any questions you have, especially since both of them are LS3's and automatics...…….. :yesnod:

Is the 3200 much better than stock with a 2.56 rear?

Going back to your original question about the 2.56 gear and if the converter will like it, the answer is, the converter won't care about the gear ratio. However, your transmission will like the 1/4 mile track a little better, since it won't need the 3-4 shift. That's one of the weak spots of the A6, because it's more like two 3-speeds and when it shifts from one to the other, it has two functions to complete instead of one. Crossing the stripe at the end of 3rd is almost the same as crossing at the end of 4th with a 3.42 gear. You lose almost exactly .1 ET, but everything lives a little longer, especially for a daily driver. I'm about to turn 155K miles and I'm more than 450 1/4 mile passes at the track and a lot more WOT hits through 2 shifts on the street. The OEM bone-stock (short of a bit of tuning) trans is still chugging along. I'm willing to sacrifice a tenth for longevity and better fuel mileage on long road trips.

I live in the cold northeast and the car is my daily driver all year. In your opinion would the 3200 be more sensible under those conditions?

Thanks

Don

I have a personal question regarding your comment. The trans and converter likes the 2.56 gear better than swapping to a 3.42 gear and doesnt hurt 1/4 mile performance. What about a 2.73 gear?

Nothing wrong with the 2.73 if you already have one, since it'll still finish the 1/4 in 3rd. But I wouldn't bother swapping from a 2.56 to the 2.73 for the small (I'd guess maybe .02-.03 second) advantage.

I was thinking of doing just that, swapping a 2.73 in place of a 2.56. 2 or 3 tenths is a big difference in the 1/4 mile with no other changes. Would a 3200 stall converter give me more bang for the buck with the 2.56 gear versus a 2.73 gear with the stock converter regarding 1/4 mile et with no more than 460 crank horse ? torque management tuned out and trans tuned to automatically shift each gear at 6500 rpm wot. I will be optimizing a 1LT with dual mode exhaust ,2.56 rear, for 1/4mile fun and a daily driver.

Ok, you are correct on what the post reads .02 to .03 my mistake. I honestly think the difference to 60 mph or the 1/4 mile with the 2.73 rear gear is at least a tenth or two over a 2.56 gear car, otherwise why would that be the performance gear ratio for the Z51 automatic cars? probably to speed the car up to 60 by a tenth or two which should carry thru to the 1/4 mile ET.

The 2.73 gear gives a slight edge for autocross, where a higher average rpm over the course works better. Although the 2.73 was a stand-alone option, using it in the Z51 option fit well with the stickier tires for autocross events.

A higher stall converter is probably the biggest bang for the buck for any A6. I dropped nearly 2 tenths (.20) off my 60' when going from the stock converter to a 3200 with no other changes. Subfloor swapped from a 2.56 gear to a 3.42 and gained exactly .10, so a swap from a 2.56 to a 2.73 is almost negligible It's why I said .02 -.03..

Thank you for all the great info you guys, it all helps.

If you have the power the 2.73 will finish the 1/4 in 4th.

And the closer to redline at the end of the 1/4 the better

Unfortunately, I shift into 4th at the end. With my set up, a 2.56 might end in third.