Quoting slugsgomoo:
Nate on the auto kick like usual /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsdunno.gif
Pretty sure when H pattern manual cars are running deep 7's, it can be done. Hell, Devin seems to have that car dialed in pretty well, and shep did it what, 10 years ago?
cheaper solution than tearing everything out for an auto is to try the magnus launch device IMO.
Humorously one of my local friends who's running low 9's in a 1g AWD auto told me he's destroyed the same number of auto gearboxes as manuals, the only difference being that the manuals cost more to build. (also the auto really sucks for 1/2 mile and longer racing due to not having any usable OD gears)
Go to the shootout and tell me how well Devin and Shep did in going rounds? 75% of the cars capable of going rounds without breaking are Auto (kiggly, Gregory, Bush, Holland, most of the RWD cars). The 1 car that's capable of a 7 and is H pattern: typical. driveline broken on it's first pass....end of race...do not pass go, do not collect $200. Magnus brought 2 stick trans cars: they both ran 12's and broke. Obviously auto cars break too, we have had our fair share of breakage with #431 trying for the 8. But the breakage is far less with the auto, the car is more consistent, and we don't waste as much of our precious track time breaking on the first pass. For a home-brew effort of two guys in their garage, the auto just makes sense on the money and time side. Yeah, it's not as cool as rowing gears, and there's less bragging about the driver....I'll give you that. But our goal is to run the best ET possible, and the Auto is the way to go if that's your goal.
Not to mention comparing Devin/Shep's professional racing efforts with a super lightweight DSM is quite different than pushing the weight of a brick GVR4 with "guy in a garage" race team funding that the GVR4 cars seem to be. Kevin and Shep also don't post about all the times they went to the track and had results like this...the "complete waste of time/$ days were you don't even get a pass". Stick trans cars tend to be more of the one-run-wonders at the 8-7 second speed.
I don't know much about this blue GVR4, and I don't know if he things breaking 3/3 is all that much fun, but I suspect since he started a thread to mention it...not so much. I don't know if the OP has $100,000 into buying driveline parts so who cares, or if he's on the shoestring budget and constantly breaking is throwing all his money out the window.
Just giving the realistic solution to launching a heavy GVR4 and getting a better than "broken 100% of the time" results.... I know I like to beat the auto drum.....but no one with a GVR4 can dispute the results of what works. This blue car is like the 3rd example of crazy power & stock trans efforts that never get off the ground because every time they go to the track, they demolish the driveline. 1062, the crazy 5 color fire painted GVR4 from down under, the OP in this thread.....put up big mph, but don't seem to get enough track time due to breakage, so don't fully realize their potential.
Adding in hillclimb and 1/2 mile racing complicates the equation even further. I guess if your going to do that stuff with the same car, your forced to make compromises and it will never be awesome at everything. If it has to be stick in order to do hillclimb, then you can't expect it to be awesome at 1/4mile dragstrip launches. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif