Re:How America lost its love for the stick shift
by userbinator on Wednesday September 12, 2018 @12:24AM
(#17965540)
Oh, and as a side note, my new car with an automatic transmission and a 400+ HP engine accelerates from zero to 60 faster and smoother than any one of my previous cars.
Yes, automatic transmissions have a big advantage in acceleration which is why they're so common in drag racing. The torque converter means there's an "extra low gear" to provide more torque from a standstill, and there's no need to operate a clutch that can take repeated slipping without quickly wearing out --- cars can "slip" the torque converter at full throttle for a moment and launch with the engine already running near the optimal RPM for peak power.
In fact, one of the most popular transmissions in drag racing is a two-speed automatic from the early 50s:
Yes, automatic transmissions have a big advantage in acceleration which is why they're so common in drag racing. The torque converter means there's an "extra low gear" to provide more torque from a standstill, and there's no need to operate a clutch that can take repeated slipping without quickly wearing out --- cars can "slip" the torque converter at full throttle for a moment and launch with the engine already running near the optimal RPM for peak power.
In fact, one of the most popular transmissions in drag racing is a two-speed automatic from the early 50s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerglide