Does anyone know the typical values of torque that an automatic transmission eats up? I've heard it can be as high as 30%!! Please inform and/or correct me.

 

Usually around 20%.

 

I think 20-30% for autos, 15-25% for manuals. I think the autos on the TLS/CLS eat up about 25% while the manuals only lose about 20%. Just find a stock dyno for an auto TLS/CLS and do the math:

232 (crank torque) - fwt (front wheel torque)
---------------------------------------------------------- x 100 = % loss
232 (crank torque)

 

Thanks...I could have figured out the formula myself btw. I was most interested in the 3G TL since I'll be buying next year. A 5% difference between auto and manual seems kinda small.

 

the thing with manual is you can "pick" when to shift. with an automatic it will shift for you. Hondas/Acuras produce a lot of their power/torque at top end. so there often with a automatic transmission they are shifting before hitting the "sweet spot" of the motor. this is why when I drive my CRX in SCCA Solo2 I downshift when I come out of a corner to hit the "sweet spot" in the power band.

 

Yeah, I've noticed that with my 1st gen TL. When I leave it in D4 it shifts 200rpm below the redline. If I want to go into the red zone a little I have to go 1-2-3-4. It doesn't have an SS mode, but you can select each one individually. It's nothing like a true manual though. I owned 2 before I got this auto, and I miss them. Whether my new car is a TSX or TL next year, I'm getting the 6MT no question.

 

Never driven the TL, but the TSX 6MT is like butta

 

I know, I've test driven it. The last manual I drove was a 1993 4Runner, so driving the TSX was almost orgasmic. Honda manuals =

 

that has nothing to do with loss of power. it has to do with parastatic loss due to all the complexity of gearing for the auto and the big robber of the power is the TQ converters weight

 

sometime drive a S2K. you think a TSX is fun (which it is) but a S2K is a BLAST. revving it up to 8k and not phaseing it. that car is fun in almost every category.