Originally Posted by Andy
Actually he's right, with an automatic, you never lift off the throttle so the turbo is never interupted. Also, when you reach a high enough horsepower level, the clutch has to be so powerful, it's basically an on/off switch that can't be slipped so it's worthless on the street and very hard to launch properly and consistantly. Automatic's are superior in these situations and a lot of professional non-import racers use a 2-speed automatic called a powerglide in sub 8 second cars. The reason most import racers use manual's is that Honda automatics aren't designed for and thus can't survive 600-700 hp being slammed through them. In reality, if it could survive the rigors of drag racing, an automatic car would be faster and more consistant than a manual.
While this is true, it doesn't stand to reason that this advantage (although it often does in high output cars) always overcomes the inherent drivetrain loss of automatic transmissions. Moreover, in mild turbo cars (like a stock wrx, the example given), it usually isn't enough. wrx's, saabs, mr2t's, and a number of low output turbo cars are faster in manual trim. Its only when you start making a lot of power and using large turbos do the advantages of continued spool-up outweigh the dissadvantages of drivetrain loss and slower shifting. Of course, for cars like pro-street domestics and 700hp supras, yes, automatics are generally the way to go.
Either way, brokeazz's initial statement was a shortsighed and over-simplified
hfawk:
:edit: as was raiden's
h: