All:

I have a completely stock 93 del Sol S with a clean body and an automatic transmission. I drive this car daily on a fairly long stretch of highway in Northern California and am constantly amazed at how quickly it accelerates from 65-100 (even with the automatic transmission). I have fallen head over heals in love with this car (have had it for four years and have had a ton of fun with it), but I know my run of good luck can't last forever -- I know it'll need significant repairs soon.

I told my wife that I'd rather spend $7-10k fixing this one up than buy a new car. She approved, but she told me that I could NOT swap the automatic transmission for a manual transmission. (She drives it on weekends).

I have a fairly good idea of the modifications I'd like to make (if anyone knows of a shop in the Bay area, please post), my questions are (1) will an automatic transmission largely negate any performance that I would gain from modifying the engine (my plan was to go with a d16z6 sohc vtec, with built heads, forged pistons and rods, turbo kit, suspension, brakes, etc.), (2) which AT transmission would you recommend, and (3) can an AT transmission be modified (regeared) to make it slightly more competitive?

Thanks,

Medite

 

If your going to mod it like you said, go 5spd.. honda automatic tranny's are ****.

 

I have a 94 civic with an auto tranny. I swapped a jdm single cam zc engine it when my d15b7 kicked the dust. The zc has about 30-40 more horsepower than my stock engine did, but i hardly notice it at all. I'm in the same boat as you. The wife won't let me swap the tranny either. Unfortunatly we're kinda screwed. As soon as our auto trannys see any kind of boost, they tend to blow and nitrous is completely out of the question.

 

I think there is a company called level 10 that specializes in auto tranny performance setups. SCC was doing an auto turbo setup so it would always stay in boost, never heard what came of it though.
I agree though, I never hear of honda auto trannies holding up very well to racing...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PyroProblem &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think there is a company called level 10 that specializes in auto tranny performance setups. SCC was doing an auto turbo setup so it would always stay in boost, never heard what came of it though.
I agree though, I never hear of honda auto trannies holding up very well to racing...</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes there is a company that specializes in auto trannies called level 10... dont know how well a honda auto will hold up though.. havent heard many goods things bout them when it comes to holding more HP.

 

All:

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll look into Level 10 and chase down some other leads that I have and report back to the board.

The things we do for our women...YEESH!

Medite

 

you're whipped. ditch the slushbox.

with all the mods you listed, auto is teh suck.

 

mmmmm turbo?

 

why not buy her her own del sol with an Auto transmission?

 

they have automatic gsr and maybe if i remember correctly, automatic b16 trannys. but your best bet is 5 spd

 

Amy:

Our del Sol is only a dalliance for her; she likes trucks (we have a 2005 Eddie Bauer Explorer that she calls "hers"....but of course she wants the OPTION of driving the del Sol...grrrrr.....).

And I love your del Sol; have you modified it at all?

Medite

 

I've been in the same boat as you bro, pretty much all the options i've found so far is go through level 10 beef up the tranny to handle boost (converter, cooler, etc.) than get a good tune.

you could just throw a bigger cooler on turbo the bitch run 5-7 psi. and call it a day (which is the way i've seen a majority of the auto people go)

or you could always run nitrous and run a 35 shot which our pieces of **** honda calls an automatic transmission can handle. You could even go to a 50 shot but i'm just running 35 to be on the safe side (which is the way i'll be going most likely)

Hopefully, this'll provide some insight for you...

 

Well you know what you should do. Tell her to learn how to drive a 5speed, It does't take a rocket scientist to learn how to drive one, it should take her about a day. She has her car, you should have YOURS.

 

I would do minimal changes and wait for the slushbox to break. Then, rather than spend all that money fixing the auto, swap in a manual.

 

Master Racing Overhaul Kits

http://www.tciauto.com/sport_compact.htm

Torque Converters

Zex
http://www.powerandperformance...RTERS

TCI
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs...Id=-1


^Both are the same I believe, except Zex's is much cheaper.

cont.

ProTorque
http://www.protorque.com/shopp...Acura

Shops

IPT
http://www.importperformancetr...shtml


Level 10
http://www.levelten.com/store/...c.htm
http://www.levelten.com/store/...c.htm


And you can get a universal tranny cooler just about anywhere.