I'm looking for a Z28 right now and unfortunatly the only ones I can find in my area are automatics. I was wondering how well the ls1 is under high mileage and how the automatic puts up with high mileage as well. I've started looking for answers also on ls1/lt1 forums, but decided to ask this forum also. Thanks for any advice you all have!

Automatic trans is the 4L60E and is a decent trans,but high mileage,about any high perf auto trans is going to need freshening up depending how hard the owner/driver was on it.Alot of power= alot of heat generated,and transferred to the trans,so.Thats like guys that drag race on a regular basis,they run race automatics,but they know full well that the transmission is going to need freshening up every 1 to 2 years.They don't sit back and drive it,and drive it,and wait for something to blow up,they take a proactive approach and freshen it up frequently rather than wait for a catastrophic failure.

Thanks transit, that helped out alot, I'm going to take my cousin, which is a mechanic which i know won't screw me and inspect the car also.

Automatic trans is the 4L60E and is a decent trans,but high mileage,about any high perf auto trans is going to need freshening up depending how hard the owner/driver was on it.Alot of power= alot of heat generated,and transferred to the trans,so.Thats like guys that drag race on a regular basis,they run race automatics,but they know full well that the transmission is going to need freshening up every 1 to 2 years.They don't sit back and drive it,and drive it,and wait for something to blow up,they take a proactive approach and freshen it up frequently rather than wait for a catastrophic failure.

Just curious and off topic, why are automatic trans used at drag strips? I always thought no matter what, under ideal circumstances, a manual is going to be faster...?

Just curious and off topic, why are automatic trans used at drag strips? I always thought no matter what, under ideal circumstances, a manual is going to be faster...?
autos actually built for drag racing(not stock, ever), shift faster, and more consistently. much less chance of messing up.

o yea, i don't know if you all would know this or not, but i was wondering if i got this car if it would kill me on insurance or not. Right now i have a 01 eclipse gs convertible in red. The camaro is black and a coupe.

autos actually built for drag racing(not stock, ever), shift faster, and more consistently. much less chance of messing up.

So with the new paddle shifts and autostick stuff,

Those wouldn't shift faster than a manual at a drag track would they? (provided the same expirenced driver)

Aren't there alot of Auto transmissions built for drag where you still have to lift off the gas to shift?

Well good news came today. I called my insurance company and it's going to be cheaper to insure the z28 than my 01 eclipse. The only thing stopping me right now from buying it is what I'm going to get for my car. The camaro is a 98 black with 83k miles on it, but unfortunatly it's auto. I was trying to find a manual but for some reason their always higher :headscrat

Just curious and off topic, why are automatic trans used at drag strips? I always thought no matter what, under ideal circumstances, a manual is going to be faster...?
Once you reach a certain point in power output,a race automatic is the only way to go at the drag strip,unless again,you reach another point.Let me try and explain.Starting point of say 400 horsepower on a street/strip car.You could run a 4 speed or later model 5 speed manual,and it would work ok,but generally speaking,pushing the clutch pedal and grabbing the next gear unloads the suspension which was loaded,and it is also slower than an auto and also less consistent.Alot of bracket racing is all about pure consistency.When you reach the 400 horsepower level with sticky tires and a manual trans,it's all about weak links.Driveshaft,U joints,gearsets,axles,etc.When it breaks,thats a weak link.Manual trans are MUCH harder on the weak links than an auto.You eliminate the weeak links one by one,by replacing with stronger parts ($$).Step up like my buddy to a 3000 pound 10.5 tire car.1400 horsepower from a small block chevy.He's running a race PowerGlide,and it will drag the bumper,as they don't run wheely bars in Real Street Outlaw 10.5 tire.But at the that power level,the Glide does really well,and it will do well up to about 2500 or so horsepower.At that point,it's at it's limit,so then you step up to a Liberty or Lenco 5 speed manual...ahhh.but it's not what you're thinking.You let the clutch out on the launch,from there on..no more clutch,just grab the next gear.Planetary gearsets like an automatic trans,but a clutch for launch.So there you have the auto versus stick argument at the dragstrip.Oh yeah,go to your local dragstrip.....99% of the guys running QUICK cars....12's and down..running race automatics and high stall convertors.

Well i just bought a 1998 camaro z28 with 83k miles on it, and it's black. I'll probably get some pics up on monday.

Once you reach a certain point in power output,a race automatic is the only way to go at the drag strip,unless again,you reach another point.Let me try and explain.Starting point of say 400 horsepower on a street/strip car.You could run a 4 speed or later model 5 speed manual,and it would work ok,but generally speaking,pushing the clutch pedal and grabbing the next gear unloads the suspension which was loaded,and it is also slower than an auto and also less consistent.Alot of bracket racing is all about pure consistency.When you reach the 400 horsepower level with sticky tires and a manual trans,it's all about weak links.Driveshaft,U joints,gearsets,axles,etc.When it breaks,thats a weak link.Manual trans are MUCH harder on the weak links than an auto.You eliminate the weeak links one by one,by replacing with stronger parts ($$).Step up like my buddy to a 3000 pound 10.5 tire car.1400 horsepower from a small block chevy.He's running a race PowerGlide,and it will drag the bumper,as they don't run wheely bars in Real Street Outlaw 10.5 tire.But at the that power level,the Glide does really well,and it will do well up to about 2500 or so horsepower.At that point,it's at it's limit,so then you step up to a Liberty or Lenco 5 speed manual...ahhh.but it's not what you're thinking.You let the clutch out on the launch,from there on..no more clutch,just grab the next gear.Planetary gearsets like an automatic trans,but a clutch for launch.So there you have the auto versus stick argument at the dragstrip.Oh yeah,go to your local dragstrip.....99% of the guys running QUICK cars....12's and down..running race automatics and high stall convertors.

Thats some killer info that I never knew before...

I just always assumed A manual was what everyone used for Drag.

Not to drag this out any further for you but

Is the Liberty or Lenco 5 speed the one where instead of a regular 5spd stick that has a gearbox like this
1 3 5
N
2 4 R

it has a Ratchet action where it just goes back and forth? start out in first at the top, slam into 2nd at the bottom, ratchets back up to third at the top, back into 4th at the bottom and then ratchets to fitch at the top again?

Also, with the Auto drag transmisions, do you need to let off the gas to shift to the next gear on some of them?

My friiend told me his uncle he had a Studabaker (Spell check?) drag car which had an auto trans in which to launch, you mashed the gas to the floor, it shifted into first, and then when you wanted to shift you had to lift off the gas for it to shift correctly

Does that sound right to you?

The Liberty and Lenco's are what guys use in the NHRA and IHRA Pro Stock classes,the Liberty has a single shift lever that you just ratchet back and forth for each successive gear,while the Lenco has a separate lever for each gear,so the Lenco has 6 levers all together,5 forward gears,and one reverse.The race automatics,the serious ones are PowerGlides mostly,built with aftermarket parts to handle a couple thousand horsepower,and use very high stall torque convertors,like 4500-5500 Rpm's,and also utilize a trans brake.So,when staging the car up at the X Mas tree,you creep the car into the lights,and when staged,press and hold a switch that activates and applies the trans brake.The trans brake works by applying Reverse against First gear,so the trans is basically locked,allowing the driver to push the gas pedal all the way down to the floor,and when he does this,the engine is hitting against the rev limiter,making the engine skip and not hit fully.When the light turns green(you go on the last yellow)just release the button for the transbrake,the engine hits on all cylinders,and you leave off the line at whatever the stall speed is of the torque convertor.Trans brake auto cars leave pretty hard too,but that can be dialed in with what stall the convertor is.If the car leaves TOO hard,drop down to a lower stall.You never lift off the gas pedal with a race auto,pedal to the metal,and if you let off you're a sissy,lol.The race auto's are designed to shift under Wide Open Throttle.That's why they are much more consistent than a conventional manual trans.Some guys,Ronnie Sox and the likes from the past...1960's and 70's Super Stock drag racing classes preferred manual trans' back then,but basically because there weren't any race auto stuff available,no high stall convertors,trans brakes,etc,that stuff has all evolved in the last 30-40 years,but those guys would drive a conventional manual trans at the dragstrip....NEVER let off the gas pedal...when it came time to shift,they would hold the throttle wide open,and stab the clutch pedal,and grab the next gear SO fast,the Rpm's wouldn't even go up very much,very violent,and extremely hard on the trans,and clutch,and drivetrain components.

well i still can't get my pics to upload right.