Boosted cars like BlownZ06 can be very hard on transmissions, so having a fluid that doesn't fail under high-heat or heavy loads is critical.As the transmission fluid becomes hot, it will change how the transmission and converter will react under power. This will cause your car to not perform as expected or even damage parts in an extreme situation. With that in mind, the type of racing you will be participating in will change the type of fluid you want to consider, according to Brock.“For a bracket racer, they need to look for a fluid to help them stay as consistent as possible. You want something in a bracket car that has the high VI number and is stable at a higher temperature since they can be exposed to a lot of different temperatures based on the racing. You also want some options when it comes to the fluid weight because some racers will change fluid based on the changing weather conditions to try to keep their consistency,” he says.Heads-up racing is a whole different world when it comes to ATF selection, and there are even racers who use hydraulic fluid inside their transmissions. Even though the transmission will still shift when using hydraulic fluid, there are some shortcomings to this — the primary being that these fluids aren’t designed to be exposed to high levels of heat and are prone to oxidation.“A heads-up car is putting a ton more power through the transmission, so you first need to deal with that. The load alone is trying to destroy everything inside the transmission, and the load is also trying to power through the transmission itself causing the clutches to slip. So you need a fluid that is capable of protecting and lubricating the moving parts, seals, and bearings, but not jeopardizing the clutch’s ability to grip inside the transmission,” Brock explains.
Checking your transmission fluid often should be a part of your maintenance routine to ensure the fluid is doing its job.
When it came time to start developing their own line of ATF products, HPL started with a fresh design board to create something that would benefit all lovers of horsepower. They came up with a chemical formula from scratch that is totally unique and is fully synthetic. Everything about the ATF products from HPL is grown in-house and is tested to deal with high temperatures, fight corrosion, and resist oxidation in high-performance transmission environments.“There are a few things our ATF does different; the number one thing is it helps deal with heat. When transmission fluid gets hot it starts to oxidize, and once it begins that process it’s no longer effective while becoming hard on parts. We put a lot of research and development into how to add more heat protection into our fluid without sacrificing in other areas. There are a lot of additives we put in that are very expensive that help to combat the heat. The second thing is the VI number that our fluid has. We have a very high VI number which makes the fluid more stable at temperature, and that is huge for any racer looking to maximize performance,” Brock says.Besides fighting heat and being stable when things to get warm, the HPL ATF helps keep the internal parts of the transmission safe from debris that comes from clutch wear as a racer beats on the transmission.“There’s chemistry in the oil that helps to carry the debris and hang on to it until it gets to the filter. If you don’t have that chemistry in the oil it will fall out, won’t make it to the filter, and will end up in places you don’t want it inside your transmission,” Brock explains.