I remember back in a discussion last month on how people drive their automatic-equipped cars to yield the best times, and how people speculated on how automotive magazines test the automatic equipped cars, and the questions came to this:

Is it better to let the auto transmission do all of the shifting, or should we "manually" shift the "automatic"? And also, during the automotive testing of automatics, is brake-torqueing involved to get the best times?

I wrote to Motor Trend to get their take on it, and here's the offical reply:

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Yes, we definitely brake-torque our automatic-equipped vehicles. We rarely, however, change gear selection on the automatics during acceleration runs: with today's "smart" automatics, it's best to just leave them in drive and let the engine/transmission computer maximize torque, horsepower, and optimize shift points for best performance.

Thanks for reading Motor Trend!

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I've been a loyal MT reader for over a decade, and have enjoyed your articles over the years. Maybe when I graduate from medical school I can stop dreaming and actually be able to afford some of those cars! (After I pay off those student loans off first, of course. . .) Nonetheless, there was a discussion on a large car enthusiast internet board on how Motor Trend (and other car magazines) obtain 0-60 and 1/4 mile acceleration results with the automatic shifted cars. Specifically, two questions: 1) Do the test drivers employ brake torquing on the cars? 2) Do the test drivers allow the car to shift automatically once the cars are set in motion, or do the test drivers "manually" shift the "automatics", after which, they then publish the best times from these 2 different trials? A reply would be GREATLY appreciated to clear up some confusion. Thanks for your time, and keep up the good work!

 

This is another reason why it is very difficult to get times as fast as the magazines. Well, for automatics, anyways. How many of us brake torque our automatics? Well, not those who want their transmission to last long anyways.

 

Forgive my ignorance but what is brake torqueing?

EZ

 

but hold your brake down and press the gas down simultaneously from anywhere to 1-3k.....and wallah, nice burnout and good launch!! only one drawback....burns up th clutch pretty nicely and can kill your TC like that!!!! <b>in other words don't do it!!!!!!! VERY, VERY bad!!!!</b> after my dad got his new car and the '89 carvan wasn't worth sh*t anymore, I torque braked it to 3.5k, sweet *** burn out(for a van), and in two days no more tranny!!!!

 

Put your left foot on the brake and right foot on gas. Rev the car up to around 1.5K rpm and hold it there. Don't do this for more than 5 seconds if you want to keep your tranny =) Stomp on the gas while letting go the left foot. If you do it perfectly, your car will chrip a little. Hook up and you are outta there.

 

I don't know about you but it seems to me that these magazine tests usually obtain times that are slower than the car's true times. Most of the time, the cars are not yet broken in. Plus, the stock tires on cars are not excellent quality. There are other factors also..

Nevin

 

Whats worse then, brake torquing or just dumping the gear into Drive when you rev to about 3k.

 

lol..my friend dropped a tranny from about 4k rpm from neutral to d...jaguar...car didnt even move..need i say more...

 

Brake torquing is not that bad for the car as long as you don't do it for more than few seconds. Dumping from N to D is just abusing the tranny. You don't go faster by spinning the tires. You want to hook up as quick as possible.

 

my friend dumped his 99 auto mustang a few times one night showing off... tranny pooped out the next day. =)

Chris

 

Slower? Have yuo actually seen a stock 4th gen hit 6.6 0-60? Me thinks not. Motor Trend rags the hell out of the cars and usually get the fastest times. You will not best motor trends car on a stock car, unless you have a ringer.

-Shing

 

What do all these magazines do with the cars once they test and abuse them?

Do they return them to the manufacturer? Or they auction them off?

Also how could one get a job with them to test some cars?

 

I used to brake torque my Mustang 5.0 auto all the time. Its rear drum brakes were useless and the torque of the motor easily overcame them to spin the rears. It was good when racing since it was easy to control. But front whell drive cars would be harder to spin the wheels while stopped...unless you pull the E-brake and hit the gas and release the e-brake. Ahhh my new patented way to get the fastest times from a car. Anyone with me???

 

Forget brake torquing, you guys should be "flash stalling" the converter. Brake torguing can actually slow you down because you are dramatically heating up the tranny and weighing it down with heavy fluid operation by sitting there for seconds with the converter "stalling up". Instead, flash stall the converter. This will yield a quicker jump off the line. Allow your foot to rest on the brake and right before you are about to race, mash the brake hard and mash the gas hard, and then release the brake. This operation should not take anymore than a second to do. It is much more effective and will save your tranny.

Dave

 

hmm... what is the difference between brake-torqueing & flash stalling the torque converter? aren't both doing the same thing - you stall the torque converter.

and honestly, you don't need B-T to kill an AT. hold your car still on an upward slope with your gas pedal several times a day here in SF & you will wreck your tranny sooner than you think.

 

If I remember correctly, flash-stalling it is different because the torque converter jsut barely hits its stall speed before the car launches.
the engine RPM are on the way up when you left off the brake, so you've got an acceleration thing going already..
the torque convertor isn't being stressed out yet from the constant power dumped into it, so it'll grab and go.

when you brake torque, the engine is sitting there at a constant xxxx rpm and the torque convertor is dumping all that power into heat- which is going straight into destroying the tranny.

Then again, I could be full of $hit, but that's what I remember from this discussion before.

 

Amen....Matt you are exactly right. Flash stalling worked great on my 94 Z28 and works good on my wife's 97 Altima. Brake torquing makes the already slow Altima really sluggish off the line.

 

Haven't people beat the Magazines 1/4 times on numerous occasions?? Letting the Auto run thru the gears has always given me bad 1/4 times. I think they are wrong unless they are talking about a porche auto tranny or somethin'.

 

Oh.. BTW.. Woodear.. You interested in a 911Turbo?
My boss has an '87 with 11k miles on it you would like- that's IF he'll sell it.. but then again, everything's for sale at the right price.

 

Car and Driver got a best time of 7.4sec 0-60mph for a 4th gen 5-spd. That's a major difference compared to 6.6sec that Motor Trend got. Also, I've seen the 1/4 mile times that magazines have listed for the 2K max Auto and I've beaten those times with my bro's 2K SE auto w/o mods.

Nevin

 

The mags usually get a "press car", which is a car that the manufacturer provides especially for testing purposes. In many cases, all the mags share one car (they test it, then pass it on to another mag.) There are rumors that manufacturers provide "ringers", or specially tuned cars that are not factory spec, so that the mags report better performance than the ones you can buy at a dealership.

An exception is long term tests, where the mags usually buy the car from a dealership (actually they lease it).

I don't think you can get a job straight up test driving cars from the start. Most likely, you'll start as a pee-on editing articles or checking facts, and then you can move up to test engineer.

 

Yep, I'm from SF and know exactly what you mean. I hate it when I'm riding with someone and they hold the car on a hill with the gas. I've heard that it overheats the transmission and causes premature failure.

A friend of mine who's dad knows a MUNI mechanic says that because all the bus drivers use the gas instead of the brake on hills, that transmissions go south on MUNI buses very often. In fact, I've heard a story of a time when a MUNI bus was stopped on a hill with the driver holding the gas, and when the light turned green, the driver stepped on the gas, destroying the transmission and the bus rolled back and hit several cars. Can you imagine that? Getting "front ended" by a MUNI bus?? Argh!! That would be a nightmare. You would never get reimbursement from the SF government, especially with Willie Brown siphoning money to all those special interest groups.

 

LMAO!!!

Front-ended by a muni!