Auto for autocross?

[XTRMEASURES]

I've been looking at autocross events and notice the vehicles have manual transmissions. My question is are there people running automatic transmissions and what is the reason over manual?

[Schwartz Performance]

Autos sometimes have longer gears so you don't need to shift in small autocrosses.
Manuals are ideal for road racing though which is why you see them in pro touring cars more.

-Dale

[nokones]

I successfully ran my 3rd Gen 1LE with an automatic in the SCCA Street Prepared category for several years. I ran with 3.45 gears in the rear diff and I had a custom designed Art Carr torque converter. It worked very well especially in the turns were you would normally be doggy. It never downshifted to 1st and the R's came up very quick back into the torque band. With a manual tranny you would have to downshift in the doggy turns. If my memory serves me right the second gear in 700R4 is a tad tall as compared to a manual tranny. The right torque converter will keep the tranny from downshifting. Personally, I liked the setup and I won a lot of championships with the car.

Also, the automatic tranny will allow you to master left-foot braking.

As for my C4, I'm running a TKO600

[SSLance]

I ran a 200R4 the first year I autocrossed in my car then swapped a T56 after that. I prefer having the direct connection between my right foot and the rear tires with the T56 vs the almost direct connection one gets with an auto trans, it lets me decide when and how much power to put to the tires instead of a torque converter and valve body. BTW, I still left foot brake with my T56.

I also had issues with trans fluid puking out the vent tube during real hard runs with my 200R4, both on autocross runs and road course runs.