Automatic Transmissions?

1

19USMC69

Team Owner
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
78
Points
178
Has the use of automatic transmissions in NASCAR ever been suggested/promoted? If so, by whom. And if so, what was the reasoning?
 
19USMC69 said:
Has the use of automatic transmissions in NASCAR ever been suggested/promoted? If so, by whom. And if so, what was the reasoning?
Click to expand...

Biggest thing I ever remember was late model racer trying to run one in the 1970s. The car was owned or sponsored by a local transmission shop with an experienced driver.
They never won, or ran up front.
 
Even if someone wanted to run an automatic in the cup series the rules would probably never allow it to happen.

It would require a massive R&D cost. I can't see anyone having the energy and money to waste.
 
The reasoning? Maybe Allmendinger briefly wished he had one when he missed a shift and ruined his race on Sunday.

There is only very occasional shifting at speed in NASCAR aside from the road courses. A capable driver used to always be faster and more fuel-efficient with manual shifting. As automatic transmissions have become much more advanced, this isn't always still the case. However, I don't see the point in oval racing at all. If you can't shift up and down through four gears for pit stops, you probably can't do the other things that are required to stay on the track.
 
A paddle shifted road race transmission like used in IMSA would probably be workable, and the actual cost might not be THAT much higher than what they use now, BUT, it would be a lot of work and money to switch over, and what would be gained by it? Personally, I'm not a big fan of ANYTHING that that reduces the skill level to drive the cars. The Grand Am Daytona prototypes had lever shifted transmissions to start with, but too many of the amateur drivers complained that they just gave up too much speed to the pro drivers, so they relented and switched to paddle shifted units.
 
the big question is why? I did drive one of the school late model cars at irwindale that had an automatic put in it. The only reason being is because the people they had driving the cars were too stupid to keep from tearing up the transmissions. Society has forgotten how to drive manual trannys. It will only get more prevalent. test drove a car for my daughter a few months back that had a manual in it. I was like a fish taking to water. I miss driving them.
 
In a time when they claim to be trying to keep the costs down I can't see them trying to bring in an automatic transmission. The R&D cost would be astronomical.

Speaking of transmissions I heard the other night on the late shift that some teams have been using a different manufacturer this year of because they've spent enough time in the wind tunnel to find that the case in one manufacturer provided better aero numbers over another.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
Society has forgotten how to drive manual trannys.
Click to expand...
For those of us who are just looking for transportation, manuals are too much trouble. I want to get from A to B as easily as possible. I don't miss 'em the least little bit.

But I don't see any reason to stick one in a race car.
 
I don't mind driving a stick at all (I've owned three, and had three others as company vehicles), but they have to have enough power to avoid constant shifting in the city traffic I often drive in. My Chevelle is no problem to drive around. I can run 30-50 MPH in 2nd gear, slow down for a corner and get back up to speed without ever touching the shifter. The GMC Sonoma I had as a company ride with 2.2 5 speed and a poorly chosen rear end ratio was a pain in the ass. Starting in second meant slipping the clutch, starting in first meant shifting at 5 MPH, and you would have to go all the way down from 4th to 2nd to do a 20 MPH city street corner turn.
 
would I want to drive one in traffic every day? of course not. used to be manuals were just flat out more reliable. now days most of the makes have reliable enough autos that its a mute point. Still though an auto transmission is a serious marvel of engineering. Go watch some youtube vidoes on rebuilding them. I have also found its not very easy to find shops that are competent to rebuild them. I have known many people with "rebuilt" transmissions who end up having to have it fixed yet again a couple years later,

the secret sauce to a manual transmission is actually being able to drive the car and feel what its doing. Its guessing exactly how to match that 3rd gear downshift with clutch and throttle for that perfect smooth gear change. its about feeling the mechanical feel of the car. The new cars today, remove the driver so much. you have traction control that keeps the tail from kicking out. heck I was messing around in my 2017 f150 on a dirt road and wanted a little tail kick out. The electronics nearly made me crash.

I never see nascar going to autos. the thing about a manual in nascar is it creates another variable during restarts.
 
It’d be so hard to not blow it out in my opinion. That’s a ton of HP on an automatic
 
I always loved the four speeds in an old hot rod. I can't imagine wanting an Auto to take away the fun.
 
Automatic transmissions would also be a LOT harder to inspect for the officials. With a manual, you can spin the driveline and check the ratios in all gears and if needed, you can pop off the shift cover and look around a little bit. With an automatic, you can't really check the ratios in the field, and you really can't inspect it without disassembling it. Even pulling the pan shows you nothing but the bottom of the valve body. You can't see inside a torque converter without cutting it in two.
 
Formerjackman said:
Automatic transmissions would also be a LOT harder to inspect for the officials. With a manual, you can spin the driveline and check the ratios in all gears and if needed, you can pop off the shift cover and look around a little bit. With an automatic, you can't really check the ratios in the field, and you really can't inspect it without disassembling it. Even pulling the pan shows you nothing but the bottom of the valve body. You can't see inside a torque converter without cutting it in two.
Click to expand...
A sealed trans and an issued, numbered converter would solve that.
Bottom line is that NASCAR mandates specific 1:1 manual transmissions.
 
There is no advantage to running a larger heavier 1:1 automatic transmission that would likely require a cooled exterior oil tank.
 
I would imagine that if there were more r/c and dirt tracks on the schedule a switch to the auto trans may have some footing but as mentioned above if you're only shifting on restarts and pit stops it's completely pointless.
 
Proper use of a manual transmission requires some skill while paddle shifters do not. Many cars with automatic transmissions have a manual operation mode, I've tried it and I didn't care for it, it isn't as much fun as using a clutch and operating a stick shift. AJ proved last weekend that even the best can make mistakes, removing that possibility means the drivers need fewer skills.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom