Looking at maybe a 9.5 converter for lots of street duty and some racing.
Those that know about/ have used both, what are the pro's and con's.
I don't mind losing a little Et, just more concerned about heat, manners, but still capable of working at the track solidly.
Or is the 9.5 thinking the wrong way...... Probably looking at something that will flash 4400-4500 ish

Been runnin an 8" 5000+ vert for years w/out any heat or other issues and mind you that`s livin the the Ca. high desert plus driving an hour at a time in some cases. Temp never exceeds 180............

I ran an 8" ATI behind my 360 on the street for years too with no problems. As with any loose convertor, just make sure you have a good tranny cooler in front of the radiator.

Turbo Action 3800 8.75 unit...works fine.As noted,use a good cooler.

I think it would depend on your definition of "street use". 1-2000 miles a year will tolerate a more race oriented converter better than 30,000 miles a year.

Kevin

Call Ultimate converter and see what they can do.
I was thinking of using a 9.5" converter for some street/strip driving and they set me up with a really tight 9" that will flash stall to 5,000 RPM, but acts like an 11" converter until I put my foot to the throttle. It's hard to explain, but I used to run a 10" Dynamic Race converter, and it would want to goto 2,800-3,200 RPM at lower speeds, and it would flash to about 3,500-3,800.
The ultimate seems to be so tight, that the engine RPM does not really seem to be much above what it should for the speed when at partial throttle, but when I get into the carb secondaries the converter starts to flash to around 5,000 RPM.

8" without a doubt. Especially considering the motor you bought. a "tight" 8" converter that stalls 47-5200 would work well.

A tight8" will be more efficient and make less heat than a loose 9 1/2" that stalls the same.
Keith

It amazes me how good converters are today. I see some very fast cars that I think they must have an 8" verter and to my surprise some are using a 9.5. I can say I really like my Dynamic 9.5 as it drives like a stock converter and works nice flashing about 4200 at the track which works nice for my street/strip combo. But I also see alot of street cars running 8" converters that surprised me how well they work on the street for some guys. Great technology today I guess. Ron

I just put a tight 8" in my Satellite ( from the suggestion of my brother, Keith of Dunnuck Racing)... I haven't had any real street time with it yet but from what little I did drive it around and warming it up in the pits it drives better than my old "loose" 10" converter!!

A good 8in will work in a street/strip car...

I street drive an Ultimate 7200 8in with a 2.10 low 3spd and a decent cooler......sometimes putting as many as 30+ miles (highway and city) in one night without issue.

8 inch is the only way to go.
I have to street cars with 9.5 convertors to start with then switched to an 8 inch and in both cases I like the 8 inch better.
As far as an 8 inch making too much heat that just is not true as long as you have a large cooler.
This year I drove my Challenger round trip to the MATs from PHx AZ and the trans fluid never became to warm.
The out side temp for the drive up there was around 90 degrees and about the same on the way home.
My Challenger weights 3700 lbs with me in it and only has a 3.55 gear.

This is more of a question than an answer, here goes. Wouldn't the real deciding factor be the cruise load, rear gear, and rpm, along with engine size? I doubt one size fits all, so a torque monster like a 572 or bigger might be happier with a 9.5, and a 318 in a light car like an early Dodge colt might like a tight 7 inch. By your screen name it looks like you are in the middle, like most. If I were to put my 528 into the street car, I would bet on a tight 9.5.
There must be a general rule of thumb like the K factor that would decide which way to go. Each size core must have a minimum (tight) K factor it can be built to.

i have 4400 9 1/2 inch its great and tight behind a sb been 1.37 60 ft

I had a 9.5" converter that flashed 5000 behind my pump gas 408, it went 1.38 60' in race trim on radials and 1.41 in street trim at 3260#. After about 2 years the 60', et and mph started going away and I noticed while driving it that it seemed my transmission seemed to slip in high gear if I really got after it hard. Last winter with a lot of information from John Cope I built a new transmission, steel drum and all new consumable parts. Put it in and had the same exact problem so I took the transmission out and to a local shop and told them to fix whatever I had screwed up. A week later I pick it up and asked what was wrong with it, nothing, he said it was perfect. My converter was junk, it had started going away almost three years ago.

I ended up going with Ultimate for the new converter. After a couple phone conversations Lenny decided an 8" would work best for my car, so that's what I ordered. It flashes 5200-5400, a little looser than we were looking for, but he did a great job considering I had no dyno numbers. It is a little looser while out driving but no issues so far. When I finally get my fuel issues sorted out and some new radials I'll see what it does at the strip.

Ordered a convertor today. After some discussion they are building me a tight 8 inch that should flash between 4800-5000..... Hope it's right on out of the gate.
The convertor I ordered is for a 904, decided not to use the 727 that is currently in the car.
Now I am wondering if a 3400 ish pound car with a pump gas 318 would like a low first gear or not, just wondering how it will act in second being its a bigger spread, and not a ton of torque on tap.
Think it would optimally like a 4.56 rear gear, but as I am going to drive it, going to go two steps taller(4.10) probably effect ET a little but it's one compromise I have to make, slowly but surely getting stuff around for the " Mighty Mite"

if it where me and I was at 3400 I would use the low gear set.