Is a 4200 stall streetable at all?

[G NASTY]

This is my first auto car. Not used stall speeds, ideally I would like to be around 3k but a car I'm looking at has 4200 in it. Would I be able to street drive it for a Sunday cruise for a few months until I change the combo?

 

[slimtastic]

in a word...yes

 

[fuzzyGN]

My new converter is an 8" 5200 stall from Dusty. I plan on driving it on the street. Just make sure you have an adequate (really big) tranny cooler and you should be fine. This is for my N/A car.

 

[Grumpy]

you can drive anything on the street.. Street manners however willl vary from person to person. I think its crazy running that kind of stahl . BUT some people say we are crazy driving a 9 sec street car as a driver

 

[Pronto]

This is my first auto car. Not used stall speeds, ideally I would like to be around 3k but a car I'm looking at has 4200 in it. Would I be able to street drive it for a Sunday cruise for a few months until I change the combo?

What is the whole combo that it requires a 4200 stall? You may be able to change a few things to go with a lower stall. I drove a friends(n/a) that had a 4500 stall on the street and it was terrible. No street manners. More than half throttle to get it to roll. I was happy to pull over and let him drive.

 

[RED LS1]

X2 ^

Why does it have a 4200 stall? Whats the combo? I can drive a 747 jet down the highway but that doesn't mean it's streetable. In my opinion, anything over 3500-3800 becomes a hassle to manage on the street. Generally just the high gear cruising becomes a fight against the converter down the road.

 

[G NASTY]

It's an aggressive combo. 76gtq turbo. I plan on changing the setup in the near future. Looks like I'll be doing a cam/turbo/stall change.

 

[RED LS1]

It's an aggressive combo. 76gtq turbo. I plan on changing the setup in the near future. Looks like I'll be doing a cam/turbo/stall change.

What trans is in it? a 3500 stall is always a good compramise. It will be a hair tight at the track and a hair loose on the street. But you'll be able to enjoy the car in both enviroments. A good converter builder may be able to make something specific to that combo and retain streetability over a 4200 stall. If it's a 200 your core options are limited but if there's a 35/400 in it than the core window opens up to 245mm with opel parts.

 

[jasjamz]

On a 235ci V6 with <9.0: compression:
To make that car fun to drive on the street with a 76 GTQ and a V6 you need that stall speed. It will help the boost come in faster, allow it to be launched off a foot brake, but will have high fluid temps and lots off slippage at the traps. You have less lag and we all hate too much lag. Those tight(2800-3200) converters take longer to spool larger units, need to be launched at higher boost levels, and typically need a transbrake. They do provide better slip numbers and MPH at the trap if everything else is in order. PTC 9.5" converters and large turbos need to be launched off a brake to take full advantage of them. You may be happier with going to a smaller turbo/tight converter and running more boost to get the best of both worlds.

 

[Red C5]

Can't you test drive the car before you buy it?

 

[Steve]

What are you looking to do with the car? Are you looking for a low 9 second/high 8 second car or are you looking for a nice quick street car? If the car you are looking at isn't a low 9 second car with that turbo and converter something may be up with it or the combo is off or mismatched. If you are looking for a car that fast you will have to give some street manners for that level of performance. If you are looking for a nice street car that is very streetable that you can drive any time any where I would be careful about buying something with that type of set up.

 

[QwuickTurbo6]

I'd drive it around without thinking twice. After buying an R1 last year, my idea of streetability changed. Nothing has less street manners than a crotch rocket. I'd fly around with the 4200 stall like a badass

 

[G NASTY]

What are you looking to do with the car? Are you looking for a low 9 second/high 8 second car or are you looking for a nice quick street car? If the car you are looking at isn't a low 9 second car with that turbo and converter something may be up with it or the combo is off or mismatched. If you are looking for a car that fast you will have to give some street manners for that level of performance. If you are looking for a nice street car that is very streetable that you can drive any time any where I would be careful about buying something with that type of set up.

The car is a 9.50 car. I'm looking for a 10.50 car with very good street manners. If I buy it the 4200 is coming off, a 3k stall with a 6262 turbo will be replacing it. Im sure I will eventually have to change the cam to match the setup.

 

[Nick Micale]

The car is a 9.50 car. I'm looking for a 10.50 car with very good street manners. If I buy it the 4200 is coming off, a 3k stall with a 6262 turbo will be replacing it. Im sure I will eventually have to change the cam to match the setup.

Don't let these guys with no personal experience with "high stall" converters give you guidance, since most cars and customers over the years have always wanted too low a stall converter.

First, the number used for stall can be listed the same for many companies, but the actual stall may vary considerably?

No one can tell you if 4200 stall is good or not for the car in question, you MUST drive it in various conditions to see if it suits the car and your driving style.

Then you say you are going to use a 3000 stall with a 62/62 turbo. This will REALLY suck? Are you wanting a 12" converter w/lock up, a 10" non/LU, or what? That is way too low a stall for that turbo, it will not spool and will not give you decent traction on the street.

There is only one positive way to find the best converter for the complete build, and the manner in which the car is going to be driven and used.

It is only by trial and error that you can arrive at the final and best choice. Why do you think most converter companies will give you one free re-stall when you buy their converter?

We have done as many as 6 converter changes to find the "best" one for some builds. After many years and many combinations, we, and others, have been able to give a very close guess, especially if it is a street build.

The builds for street/strip or race builds are more difficult because the results and testing must be done at a track where there are many more variables.

Good luck, and I hope you have lots of fun with your new ride.

 

[Steve]

The car is a 9.50 car. I'm looking for a 10.50 car with very good street manners. If I buy it the 4200 is coming off, a 3k stall with a 6262 turbo will be replacing it. Im sure I will eventually have to change the cam to match the setup.

If you are getting a good deal on the car then this may work out great for you but it costs much much more to run 9.50's than it does to run 10.50's so you may be spending more than you need to in order to reach your goal. I have a had a few mid 10 second turbo Buicks and at that level they are very streetable. I drove a 10.40 T Type on the Hot Rod Power Tour a couple years ago and covered about 3K miles in 5 days and had no issues at all in the hot humid South with the A/C running the entire time and manged about 22 mpg. I bought a We4 a few years ago with a PI 4K stall in it an I thought it was too much. It really felt like it was slipping all the time around town. I sent the converter back and had it restalled to a 3400 and loved it after that but it was a multi disc lock up which would be different than a NLU. The 3400 worked great with a TE-67 P trim and later with a PT-70 P trim which is pretty lazy by today's turbo standards. I am getting ready to buy a new converter for my current project and it will be in the 3200-3400 range but I have not decided on whether to get a LU or NLU. Everyone is all about NLU's right now and I am sure they work well but I have had 5 different 10 second turbo Buicks and every one has had a LU so its hard to move away from something I know works and fits my drving style. This may sound kinda lame but I had a 10 second 89 Formula 350 years ago with a Art Carr 700r4 and a AC NLU converter and the performance was great but I was unable to use the cruise control because it just surged all the time and I do not want to lose my cruise! My Formula had a 3500 stall NLU and the cruise would give some throttle to maintain speed and the RPM's would go up considerbly then overshoot and then coast then go back up and so on and would never settle.

 

[Pronto]

Can you drive the car as it sits? If you can go for ride you will be able to tell for yourself if the street manners are OK for you.