I HAVE A 99 TL.WHICH MEANS MY TRANSMISSION IS A 4SPEED.I WAS WONDERING WHAT SHOULD I DO TO GET THE BEST OFF THE LINE ACCELERATION TIME.SHOULD I LEAVE IT ON D4 OR SLIP IT IN TO SS.ALSO IF I USE THE SS AT WHAT RPM SHOULD I CHANGE GEARS.

PLEASE GIVE ME ADVISE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE CAUSE MY FRIEND IS ALWAYS BUGGING ME TO RACE HIS CELICA AND I WANT TO BE SURE THAT I'M GETTING THE FASTEST START FROM MY CAR.

 

the 99TL has the same tranny as the Accord V6 + SS capability I guess (didn't know that)

If it shifts at redline in auto-mode then just leave it in D3 or D4 and let it take care of shifts for you. If it short-shifts before redline then use SS mode and you'll need to learn when to shift so that it doesn't redline or hit the rev limiter with the little bit of lag.

Brake-torque the car on the start by holding the revs at about 1800rpm and then floor it while simultaneously releasing the brake (be sure traction control is turned off if you have it). This will flash the torque converter to a slightly higher stall speed and give you an optimal launch. It's best to practice this a few times.

At least on the Accord V6, the D3 => D4 shift point is around 5900rpm - 400 rpm before redline. So if you're going to higher speeds, be sure to leave the shifter (or SS it) in 3rd gear so that you can squeeze the last 400rpm out of 3rd before you hit 4th.

Good luck on your race!!!

 

Can you give us any info on the Celica?

Is this the 170hp, 6-spd '99+ model?

 

You may want to hop over to the TL forum. There are a lot of '99 TL owners that can give you some insight!!

 

If Auto (D4) mode lets you hit redline in all gears, especially 1st, then stick with that. If not, try SS mode, but again, make sure that SS mode lets you hit redline in first. In my TLS it won't hit redline in 1st, about 400-500 short of where I shift manually.

Manually is putting in 1st and shifting to 2nd at what ever RPM you like. Before you do this though, go out and get used to the feel and the shift points. Since these transmissions are not set up for racing there is some slop in the quickness of the shift points. This means if you shift at 6500RPM it may actually run up to 6700 or more before the transmission actually engages 2nd. In my TLS if I shift at 6900RPM it will hit 7200 before it actually goes in to 2nd. This just means that you can over-rev your optimum RPM shift point or even cause the rev-limiter to engage and that will really slow you down.

Bottomline is if you want the maximum acceleration from your TL you want to be in the gear and RPM range that's producing the most HP and torque. And if you don't get the most out of 1st and or 2nd you will lose a couple of tenths 0-60 and few tenths in the 1/4 mile run. That's all assuming the Auto or SS mode don't allow that.

 

MY friend celica is a 1993(standard but it has a couple of mods on it i'm not too sure what king though.I raced him once al i did was floor it when the green light turn on.IN first gear he was right next to me ,then on second gear i started gaining on him and then the fun really sya=rted in 3rd gear cause i was about 5 to 6 cars in front of him.I won the race but i was surprised that he kept up pretty good in first gear.(is it because he has a standard tranny).Anyways i drove his car for a 1993 it pulls but nothing like my tl.

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He dove my car and he said that after driving my car for 5 minutes it convinced him that if he would ever be looking for a sedan a TL or TL -S would be his defenatly be his next car.