Okay, I'm sure this has been gone over quite a few times, but does anybody know the percentage lost through the drivetrain on an AOD vs. a manual transmission?
The generally accecpted numbers are 25% for the AOD and 15% for the manual. I'll have hard numbers this winter as I dyno'd my car earlier this year after my engine work and I'm just completing my T-5 swap today. When my club has it's winter dyno day in January I'll post up the difference. It'll be on the same Dynojet and the tranny swap is the only mod I've done this year, so the numbers should be a pretty good comparison. My combo put down 257 to the rear wheels through the auto. Based on the numbers above, I'm guessing 290-292 with the T-5 and no other changes.
not sure on exact numbers but i KNOW the AOD sucks up alot of power. picture running freely with running shoes on a nice flat surface, this is the T5, now pictuce wading though a tub of knee high molasses as fast as you can, this is the AOD i swapped from an AOD to t5 and it made the BIGGEST difference i have ever done to my car, of all the money and mods i did to my car the t5 swap made the biggest SOTP difference, was a turd with the AOD, once the t5 went in it felt like 70 hp or something, being able to choose the gears i wanted and better trans ratios, plus lighter and less drag on the engine, would actually pull hard with the t5. my car went 16.7s @ 84 with a worn out messed up AOD ( no low 1) and stock gears. swapped to 3.90s and put a t5 in and thats pretty much it, went a best of 13.90s @ 97-99 before i swapped out engines and such. i had alot more problems with the AOD than normal but still it it was holding the motor back
I do not think the AOD takes up 1/4 of power (25%). I would look at around 15% for the T5, and around 18-20% for the AOD.
I'm actually pretty confident on the 25% figure. When I did my engine mods, I built it with exactly the same parts as FRPP's crate engine with the GT40X heads. They claim 342 flywheel horsepower with the setup. Less 25% is 256.5. I pulled 257. Also, on the same day, a friend dyno'd his bone stock 89 with manual transmission. 194 rwhp. 225 less 15% is 192. As I said, I'll post up real world numbers in January and we'll know for sure.
The AODs suck up quite a bit of power. They absorb more power than the older Ford autos like the C-4. In the end it all depends on the condition of the trans and stuff like that but I would not be suprised to see the figure be between 22-25%.
its not so much the AMOUNT of power they suck up, its that are slow shifting, heavy and you cant really choose gears and have the freedom that a 5 speed gives you
That engine from Ford does not include accessories when giving that number if I recall. Accessories hurt the numbers. So actually that engine would have somewhere in the neighborhood of 305-310 hp. The 15% is not exact. It is an estimate. There are tiny variances in 5.0L's than can equate to a few plus or minus on the numbers. I have never seen an AOD suck one fourth of the power out, by it alone. Add accessories in, and you are suddenly seeing a potentail 40% gone, maybe more I just haven't seen evidence to support that
