Although traction control has gained widespread acceptance in drag racing in recent years, it’s still one of those taboo words that elicits some raised eyebrows in particular venues where it’s still prohibited for use. Legitimate traction control systems work with wheel and driveshaft speed to manage engine timing and other factors to control tire spin. The folks at Hughes Performance, however, have developed their own form of “traction control” so to speak, but as one of the leading drivetrain manufacturers in drag racing, they’re doing it not through electronics and wheel speed sensors, but in the torque converter itself, with their newly-developed “Legal Traction Control” unit.

Hughes Performance is marketing this torque converter to those in the Super Comp and Super Gas ranks, along with weekend warrior bracket racers in the same horsepower and performance segment, who are focused on consistency. But as Hughes’ Pete Nichols tells us, this torque converter is intended as a safety measure, more than anything.

Said Nichols, “With the LTC technology, we take a unique impeller design that helps soften the converters’ coupling point. It’s got a unique fin angle and shape to the impeller to give it really good flash characteristics so that it’s going to flash quickly and let the motor accelerate quicker at the initial hit. This softens the coupling point, and basically gives the converter a looser feel, so to speak.”

The impeller design, according to Nichols, results in less RPM drop on the gear changes, which makes it less sensitive to changing weather conditions, uneven track surfaces, or a track that’s “going away.” Those minor variations are, in essence, absorbed by the torque converter, making  the car both more consistent and less susceptible to breaking the tires loose at speed.

“Traditionally, the problem you have with this type of impeller design is that it’s not very efficient in high gear,” Nichols explains. “So it’s easy to build a loose converter that has absorbing characteristics, but it just doesn’t couple-up out the back door and create the mile per hour. There’s a lot of slippage and a lot of heat in high gear.”

Hughes focused on the stator and turbine design with the LTC, and it’s the turbine design where the biggest changes have been made. An unique inner fin arrangement with the fin shape, angle, and placement, allows radical alteration of the coupling point of the converter and improve its efficiency.

• 
• 

Nichols says through their on-track testing, despite the minute added slip in the converter, cars will run within two miles per hour of a more traditional design.

To follow along with the development and ultimate release of the LTC converter, visit Hughes Performance on the web at hughesperformance.com.