Mike,

I own a 2001 Toyota Solara with automatic transmission. I recently raced the same car. I thought I had him beat because my car has less miles and I don't race too often, but he still beat me. When I took a closer look at his car, I found out is was a manual trans. Can an automatic car still be able to beat a manual? If so, how?

I've heard that people actually manually shift the gears themselves. Is this advisable? I don't want to resort to using something like nitrous oxide to win races with manual transmission cars, so is there a way to drive my automatic so that it becomes an actual challenge to the manual transmission?

Sage

Sage,

On a car with a factory-set automatic transmission, the stall speed or torque converter slippage and the wide open throttle shift points are set up at the factory. They are in the business to sell cars, so they will sacrifice some performance for comfort. In a stick shift, the driver is in control of the shift points, etc.

Some aftermarket performance companies may make a chip.

Mike Stewart is owner of Mike’s Transmission in Lancaster, California. He will answer your questions about automatic or powerglide transmissions. Email: Mike@racingnetsource.com

Mike

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