Steve St.Laurent
Staff Alumni
I think the original point of this thread after reading through the posts was how much power would be put to the ground in a given gear (direct 1:1 would mean equivalent gears, 3rd in an auto, 4th in a 5 sp, not sure what gear that would be in a 6). I seriously doubt that anyone would argue that given 2 Dodge 3/4 tons with the same amount of power that the manual equipped truck would beat the auto in a drag race - IMO that would be an insane argument. Unless I am wrong, I took the point of this post to be on a sustained pull (ie, pulling a large trailer up a steep hill) which combo could put more hp to the ground. Unless there's an auto torque converter that can hold 1000 ft/lbs of torque in lock up, which DTT has argued over and over that they can't - then this is an easy win for the manual trucks (given a clutch that can hold that - which there are several options out there that can, IMO). If a TC can't hold the power in lock up then it's going to lose SOME efficiency and not be able to put as much power down as one that's in lockup (or a manual with a clutch that's not slipping).
Now if you're talking about 1/4 mile times then shifting times, being able to build boost on the line before the launch, and not losing boost being shifts are all big factors - my estimate is that an auto is worth at least a second over a manual on the dragstrip given the same power - I doubt that anyone would argue that (I may be wrong). However, the vast majority of guys driving our trucks are using them for towing purposes - and our dragstrip antics have little to nothing to do with what they're doing with their trucks! If this is going to be a true challenge it needs to be nailed down as to what the goal is. Looking at the orignal post I think it's how much power can be put to the ground in a realistic towing situation (no shifting involved, etc - a SUSTAINED tow up long grade pulling a trailer) - I could be wrong though!
Now if you're talking about 1/4 mile times then shifting times, being able to build boost on the line before the launch, and not losing boost being shifts are all big factors - my estimate is that an auto is worth at least a second over a manual on the dragstrip given the same power - I doubt that anyone would argue that (I may be wrong). However, the vast majority of guys driving our trucks are using them for towing purposes - and our dragstrip antics have little to nothing to do with what they're doing with their trucks! If this is going to be a true challenge it needs to be nailed down as to what the goal is. Looking at the orignal post I think it's how much power can be put to the ground in a realistic towing situation (no shifting involved, etc - a SUSTAINED tow up long grade pulling a trailer) - I could be wrong though!