Autos Planning On Running Boost, PLEASE READ

I am writing this to let others know what to expect if they plan on running more then 150 whp on a stock auto transmission. All this information is from research, calling, talking and me actually running 270 whp on a stock auto shiftronics tranny.

I chose the auto because its better for drag racing. Better 60s, no spin, no hop, wont loose boost when shifting and its consistent. Please do not argue this because if you drag race you know. Yes, I love manuals they are fun to drive and yes it takes more power to run an auto but once you get past 200 whp on our cars autos can dominate.

I boosted my car and though, I will just stay at 4 psi daily and then 8 psi at the track. Well as you know I ran 8-10 psi daily and 13 at times. The transmission at 8 psi was doing very well actually, I then boosted to 13 and it started to slip from 1st to 2nd. After a while I didnt boost in those gears and only boosted in 3rd and 4th. On the highway going 80 mph then boosting I could hit 140 in seconds. Just this last week (2 months of boost on a stock tranny) it started mis-shifting. Slipped every gear, and locked its self into 2nd gear mode with a non user shiftronics, AT light flashing. I can start her up and she drives ok, you just have to shift manually and then at times it still wont and slips like there is no tranny bolted to my motor. I thought well s*** (it is my fault but I wanted to see what the autos can handle you are all welcome now you know)

I called Level 10 and they are dicks and do not offer a rebuild kit but do offer a new tranny for 3200 and youll need a converter for another 600. I said screw that.

I knew the Mazda and Focus trannys are pretty much the same. All the autos in all manufacturers only use 2 basic trannys. So I called up Lentech Transmission. They are very helpful and VERY knowledgeable on the transmissions. After lots of research and what not this is what you better plan to run boost in an auto.

You will need to get bigger and better clutches and new pitons, because the tranny gets hot when slips and they will burn up, you can get this kit for 350 from Lentech, but that wont fix the problem. Then you will need a bigger input shaft, bigger shaft means youll need a new converter, but the converter must be changed to an aluminum or steel stator because ours are plastic believe it or not. The stator will be under so much pressure with the new clutches that it will break the plastic one off. The PCM will have to be reprogrammed to shift with the new variables on the converter and valve bodies, which you will also need the valve bodies. You will need to decide if you want lock our or not, and then install a new stand alone tranny controller for full manual operation. This has never even been done on a shiftronics tranny, but they are offering to do it for me to see.
To use all that power youll need an ATB diff (kind of like LSD) for it and bigger axles. If you have about 6 grand to blow on a new tranny setup then by all means go for it. Because if you just buy a level 10 tranny it wont solve your problem. Again this is if you are pushing 250 whp or more to an auto on our cars. I have ordered the clutches and pistons for now until I decide what I want to do and go with this. I might convert it to a manual. They dont even have this in stock they are trying to get it over night because they have not even released final pricing. But they know we autos are boosting and getting stuff made. Turbo Tom is using the setup I described for 450 whp in a Focus and its been awesome.

My words are, if you plan to boost with an auto, dont. Unless you can stay 5 psi and under, and DONT GET BOOST HAPPY and you drive it normally until 3rd gear then get on it. It would be cheaper to go manual conversion. I guess I might be the first to attempt that also on this board. Thats my thoughts, now you know. And if you plan to go full stand alone, you will have to have someone tune your tranny.

Peace- Trav

Good write up Trav,
I actually had a customer that purchased our stage 1 non-intercooled kit (running 5psi) about 6 months ago with his auto P5 and he blew his auto tranny. He admitted that he was abusing the car from time to time but that is only 150-160whp So these things are not to robust. I think you will be fine at 4-5psi daily and just baby the tranny.....good luck

I believe the key is to keep checking the fluid and get a tranny cooler. Monitor these things.

Trav had a tranny cooler.

Thanks for the heads up Trav. But hey, if they want turbo on their auto, I'm sure they're gonna abuse it as if were a stick. I would do the same on my auto! I mean, the reason why they want turbo is to go fast and of course they're gonna gun it regardless of the boost their running. But adding alot more expensive parts to handle all the power doesn't seem like a bright idea, IMO. Better to buy a manual protege right? And so much for the Spool kit stage 1!! I was really interested in that kit in the near future too! The tranny blew up with only 5psi?? damn...thinking of selling my P5 now for a 5-speed now....naww I'll just wait for the MS3 instead

Thanks for the heads up Trav. But hey, if they want turbo on their auto, I'm sure they're gonna abuse it as if were a stick. I would do the same on my auto! I mean, the reason why they want turbo is to go fast and of course they're gonna gun it regardless of the boost their running. But adding alot more expensive parts to handle all the power doesn't seem like a bright idea, IMO. Better to buy a manual protege right? And so much for the Spool kit stage 1!! I was really interested in that kit in the near future too! The tranny blew up with only 5psi?? damn...thinking of selling my P5 now for a 5-speed now....naww I'll just wait for the MS3 instead

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Well when I speak of abuse I mean nuetral/drive rpm drops and and loading up the tranny by accelerating with the brake pedal being depressed intially to wind up the torque converter. 160whp is very possible on a auto. But if you abuse it it will break no matter if a turbo is involved......a turbo will just kill it quicker

terry i was not trying to make poeple not boost an auto or buy anyones kit. just a warning to all that boost with auto.

i am goin to convert to a manual. terry, do you know if a msp tranny can hold 300 whp with a good clutch?

I would be more concerned with torque numbers

charles said:

I would be more concerned with torque numbers

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250 lbs

spoolinmp3 said:

Well when I speak of abuse I mean nuetral/drive rpm drops and and loading up the tranny by accelerating with the brake pedal being depressed intially to wind up the torque converter. 160whp is very possible on a auto. But if you abuse it it will break no matter if a turbo is involved......a turbo will just kill it quicker

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hhmmm....I never done a nuetral drop nor ever planning too. That's just asking for it. but if you say the auto tranny can handle 160whp, then I guess there still hope after all

spoolinmp3 said:

Well when I speak of abuse I mean nuetral/drive rpm drops and and loading up the tranny by accelerating with the brake pedal being depressed intially to wind up the torque converter. 160whp is very possible on a auto. But if you abuse it it will break no matter if a turbo is involved......a turbo will just kill it quicker

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Neutral drop? A neutral drop to any transmission will be destructive. Brake torquing will heat you up pretty quickly, too, although on some you can get away with that.

charles said:

I would be more concerned with torque numbers

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We dynoed our car at 14 psi. 260 whp and 300 lbs of torque. Stock trasmission, stock axles.

It is just the way you drive. You can drive fast and still be soft on the engine / tranny compnents.

I agree with Terry,

I have installed over 100 kits on Mazda 626(Capella in Japan) NON US, with exactly the same motor/tranny as the P5. They are all running 8 psi and 175-180 whp.

One one blew up the transmission because he was playing with the car neutral dropping. Of these cars, some have over 2 years and over 50,000 miles. In south America there is a lot of hill climbing which puts a lot of stress in all transmission components.

So, I would say, it all comes to how you drive.

Juan

I agree. Look at Terry's MP3. He has had his turbo system on from the get-go, and no problems. It has pretty much been the lab rat of all the MP3's trying to gain more and more power and torque. Yes it's a manual, but even manual tranny's can go bad quickly.

It's all in your driving habits.

any time you upgrade the power on your car a whole lot, you MUST upgrade the auto tranny... it is NOT designed to handle the additional power

you do NOT need to immediately get that level 10 bulls***... FIRST thing to upgrade is the valvebody/governor... boosting the line pressures will ensure the forward and direct clutch packs do NOT slip... a "shift kit" comes into mind in terms of a valvebody upgrade

the stock torque converter WILL run hotter yes, but it won't destroy itself as soon as the clutches would.... so immediate upgrade isn't necessary either... sure the stock stator will give you a s*** stall point, but who cares if you're broke... install a BIG tranny oil cooler (yes there is a stock s***... built into the radiator.... but ONLY good enough for stock)... do that and it won't go thermonuclear

do that and you can hold off for a while

Auto to Stick....

Hey deckedoutmp5.....
How are ya??

news here really go around quick ha!!!

In responce to your e-mail i can tell you that it won't be a 1,2 3 thing but if you know about general mechanics you can do it.
I am also going to give you some tips on HOW - TO and the best ways to do it. But first i would like to know what you have done to your engine it sounds very interesting.
(wow)

To start i would suggest for you to buy a wreck 5 speed protege/5
I think it will be cheaper because you are going to need all of this:

-Transmision
-clutch set
-starter motor
-ECU (stick)
-harness (front end only) since the plugs for the transmision are different.
-tranny-engine metal gasket
-pedals and it's switches.
-clutch pump and the lines( a b**** to put on the fire wall)
-stick and it's bar rods
-stick's leather boot
-drive shafts (both L and R)

The best way to do it is with a sherry picker arm so you can disconect the heavy automatic tranny and replace it safely with the much lighter manual one. this will make it easy for you to center the tranny's shaft(will save you alot of time).
I don't have any pictures but i may have some if a friend of mine MAKES ME do his :mad car .....
You have to center the clutch with a plastic tool that comes with the new clutches, since you are running hi HP i would suggest ACT clutches. also i would be best if you ge an LSD to control all that power and put it to the ground. Quan makes them or just get a mazda speed transmision (turbo model).
when you do this ofcourse disconect the battery but also take the battery stand out this will make it easier for you to work.
The more space the better .
THe tranny will handle your 250 horses just make sure you know how to shift and you will be fine.
Anyway i hope i helped you in some way but well if you need more help just do a post .....

Green

STICKY?

This thread should be a sticky!

Done.

Re: autos with boost info PLEASE READ AUTOS!

deckedoutmp5 said:

I chose the auto because its better for drag racing. Better 60s, no spin, no hop, wont loose boost when shifting and its consistent. Please do not argue this because if you drag race you know.

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I hate to be a d1ck and argue w/ you here, but this just isn't true. If you were running a sub 10 second car, and you had 1000+hp and a CUSTOM built auto tranny, then yes, what you say is true. But if you think a STOCK P5 auto tranny is better than a STOCK P5 manual tranny, then you'd better do some research. For staters, compare your 1/4 mile times with people with the same power in a MT...you're probably about 1 second off of them.

Either way, it's good to see the research you put into rebuilding your tranny, and thanks for letting us all know.

HiBoost TS said:

I agree with Terry,

I have installed over 100 kits on Mazda 626(Capella in Japan) NON US, with exactly the same motor/tranny as the P5. They are all running 8 psi and 175-180 whp.

One one blew up the transmission because he was playing with the car neutral dropping. Of these cars, some have over 2 years and over 50,000 miles. In south America there is a lot of hill climbing which puts a lot of stress in all transmission components.

So, I would say, it all comes to how you drive.

Juan

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Does the 626 use the same tranny as the Probe SE?