Gearing will determine traction.. taller gears make it a little harder to spin up, as they load the drivetrain more, under hard acceleration.. shorter gears will allow it to spin up more quickly and easily, thus creating a better chance of wheelspin. Of course, tire compound is a huge factor, as well..
As for the great auto vs. manual turbo issue... compare two alikes.. Merkur XR4Ti auto vs. manual. Stock for stock, manual is quicker off the line, but about mid 2nd gear, the auto will slowly walk around.. through the gears it will continue to inch past, as the manual switches gears..
Top-end wise, the manual will outperform the auto XR4, as the 3speed C3 trans just doesnt have the long legs, with its 3speed gearset..
Again, though, these arent hondas, these are 3200lb FR factory turbo cars..
Honda auto trans' are out of my knowledge containment..
I turbo'd my old '94 Saturn SW2 station wagon that was NA and auto.. at 8psi, made 242whp (140-ish stock) and since the trans is electronic, I was able to pull the solenoid fuses, and manually shift it. It would shift very firm and positive and would plaze the tires at 6psi in the 1-2 shift..
So, with the honda's weak auto trans, low boost would still be a big inprovement over stock power.. As long as you constantly keep in mind that the tranny's are inheritly weak, you can still get longivity out of it, just dont treat it like it's a 400hp purpose-built screamer.
As for the great auto vs. manual turbo issue... compare two alikes.. Merkur XR4Ti auto vs. manual. Stock for stock, manual is quicker off the line, but about mid 2nd gear, the auto will slowly walk around.. through the gears it will continue to inch past, as the manual switches gears..
Top-end wise, the manual will outperform the auto XR4, as the 3speed C3 trans just doesnt have the long legs, with its 3speed gearset..
Again, though, these arent hondas, these are 3200lb FR factory turbo cars..
Honda auto trans' are out of my knowledge containment..
I turbo'd my old '94 Saturn SW2 station wagon that was NA and auto.. at 8psi, made 242whp (140-ish stock) and since the trans is electronic, I was able to pull the solenoid fuses, and manually shift it. It would shift very firm and positive and would plaze the tires at 6psi in the 1-2 shift..
So, with the honda's weak auto trans, low boost would still be a big inprovement over stock power.. As long as you constantly keep in mind that the tranny's are inheritly weak, you can still get longivity out of it, just dont treat it like it's a 400hp purpose-built screamer.