For the Road Warriors: Why are Burnouts in Drive a Bad Idea?

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The only "unique to the gear selection" issue with doing a burnout in drive is it will upshift quickly and unless your engine has the steam it will quickly lose tire speed. There are only two things that make "Break a way first (Mopar's 1st gear in an automatic)" and "manual second" different from "drive": 1. In first by selecting "1" the low/reverse band applies which helps the sprag live by helping to hold the low/reverse drum stationary. 2. by manually selecting "2" the transmission will not upshift to Drive. That's it. Everything else is the same.
I would add - unless your transmission has had some attention paid to the shift timing (a shift kit), there is potential for accelerated low/reverse band and 2nd gear ("Kickdown band") wear by manually shifting it between 1 and 2, and 2 and D. The bands do not release very quickly without help, so during 1-2 upshift the low/reverse band can get worn when the kickdown band applies before L/R can release, and on 2-3 the kickdown band cannot release before the high gear clutch applies.
 
I have been doing the same burnout in my GTX for the past 25 years. Drop it in first, do a 1st only burnout on dry pavement, and ease off when the car starts to fishtail! Never had a problem, just rebuilt the trans after 25 years because the band looked a little thin and I was doing a shifter pivot seal.
 
moper said:
The only "unique to the gear selection" issue with doing a burnout in drive is it will upshift quickly and unless your engine has the steam it will quickly lose tire speed. There are only two things that make "Break a way first (Mopar's 1st gear in an automatic)" and "manual second" different from "drive": 1. In first by selecting "1" the low/reverse band applies which helps the sprag live by helping to hold the low/reverse drum stationary. 2. by manually selecting "2" the transmission will not upshift to Drive. That's it. Everything else is the same.
I would add - unless your transmission has had some attention paid to the shift timing (a shift kit), there is potential for accelerated low/reverse band and 2nd gear ("Kickdown band") wear by manually shifting it between 1 and 2, and 2 and D. The bands do not release very quickly without help, so during 1-2 upshift the low/reverse band can get worn when the kickdown band applies before L/R can release, and on 2-3 the kickdown band cannot release before the high gear clutch applies.
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Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for.
 
Bulldozer said:
I did a 335 foot burnout in a 70 Coronet , 440/727 276 sure grip 275/60/15 Firestone Firehawks on blacktop in an apartment complex in Denver Colorado starting out in drive power braking and it shifted through all the gears roasting the tires so good the fire department showed up thinking the buildings were on fire until I rolled down the street on two flats with cords taking paint off the car. that trans was bone stock and never blinked an eye
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Yheee hawww!!!!!!!!
 
The burn out in 2nd gear came about when Chrysler debuted the rmvb. They wanted a faster 1-2 shift so the only way to get it was to not have the low/reverse band not applied when in manual low. With them u can still start ur burn out in 1st gear and shift to 2nd or even 3rd I’d u have the power. What the rmvb did was not allow the tranny to shift back to 1st on its own. With the auto vb the tranny can shift on its own when it wants if left in auto. U can do ur burn out in 1st if u want. Or shift to 2nd but u have to manually shift back to 1st b4 the tranny wants to. No problems on the up shift. The problem is when the tranny automatically shifts back to 1st on its own as the sprag/over running clutch is the only thing applying 1st gear then. And that’s the problem. When u shift it to manual low the rear band applies reducing the shock when the tires grab traction. It doesn’t help to be in 2nd or 3rd when the tranny automatically shifts back to first u still have the chance of hurting/ blowing the sprag/over running clutch to smithereens. Hope this helps. Kim
 
I destroyed the 727 in my brothers 70 super bee doing a neutral drop years ago, I won't do that again. :eek:
 
moper said:
The only "unique to the gear selection" issue with doing a burnout in drive is it will upshift quickly and unless your engine has the steam it will quickly lose tire speed. There are only two things that make "Break a way first (Mopar's 1st gear in an automatic)" and "manual second" different from "drive": 1. In first by selecting "1" the low/reverse band applies which helps the sprag live by helping to hold the low/reverse drum stationary. 2. by manually selecting "2" the transmission will not upshift to Drive. That's it. Everything else is the same.
I would add - unless your transmission has had some attention paid to the shift timing (a shift kit), there is potential for accelerated low/reverse band and 2nd gear ("Kickdown band") wear by manually shifting it between 1 and 2, and 2 and D. The bands do not release very quickly without help, so during 1-2 upshift the low/reverse band can get worn when the kickdown band applies before L/R can release, and on 2-3 the kickdown band cannot release before the high gear clutch applies.
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Finally someone with a straight answer to the o.p orig. question ---------without telling about their own car !
ANYTHING THAT HAS SOME H.P. CAN FLOAT THE VALVES IN 3RD GEAR WITH 14'' SLICKS !
 
I used to do burnout/donuts in the parking lot. Get the tires cooking then crank the wheel over, go round and round until the car filled with smoke, then crank the wheel the other way. Made nice figure 8 marks on the pavement. Left it in drive and it went back and forth from 1st to 2nd. The old 383 didn’t have enough hair to hold it in second, it would bog down and downshift. Never hurt the 727 as far as I know. I was a dumbass but it was fun
 
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