THE SPIN DOCTOR
THE CONCEPT IS BRUTALLY SIMPLE: To run quicker in the quarter-mile, you have to make more power or reduce the weight of the vehicle. Lighter is always quicker. Hidden within that concept is the idea that if we reduce the weight of the spinning components — like those in an automatic transmission — that will also unlock hidden power, and the car will run quicker.
John Kilgore has been building and modifying automatic transmissions for over 50 years. He believes that the Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 is among the best automatic transmissions that GM ever built. He says the TH400 transmission has really just one flaw: It’s too heavy. He’s not talking about its static weight — the real issue is rotating weight. But Kilgore has come up with a way to transform this heavyweight into the SuperLite TH400.
HMM is one of the few magazines that covers the exploits of the Factory Appearing Stock Tire (FAST) racers. What’s truly amazing is how cars like Terry Pennington’s L88 Corvette can pull off 9-second passes at 139 mph while looking stock.There are plenty of secrets that they probably
