Torque Converter Question

[Dave Haller]

My engine is on the dyno. Will run it this weekend and figure some stuff out. The dyno guy is not familiar with salt flat racing but is an experienced drag racer winning numerous races over the past several years. His question to me was why am I not running a torque converter since the drag racers do it all the time. I tried to explain the difference which didn't hlep to much. Told him of some of the problems with shut down when running a torque converter. Anyone out there got the real scoop on why running on the salt minus the torque converter works better for us than running with one?

[doug odom]

Ask him if he wants to run that converter full of oil at 9000 rpm for 2 minutes? If he says yes the next question is why?
A torque converter is really a torque multiplier and it creates heat. Two things we don't need at Bonneville.

[McRat]

Hope this doesn't sound too primitive, but:

A torque converter is a necessary evil in some applications.  For drag racing, it keeps your engine in the powerband at all times.  For street, it allows you to drive without using a clutch.

But a torque converter is "lossy".  It consumes HP doing it's job.  Even a locking torque converter uses HP, but not as much.

For LSR, we have too much power at low speeds so staying in the powerband isn't necessary.  Now, if you were running on asphault, such as the Texas Mile where you could actually use maximum power the whole time, it might be a good thing.  But even then, a good driver with a manual will probably have the advantage at the same power level.