The magic of a glide is the tamer launch and only one gear change. Makes it VERY consistent. The catch is you need a ton of power and a light car to make it fast. (why do pro stockers have 5 gears? to keep them in a narrow power range)
My hemi makes max power at 6650. In order to get it to launch I had 4.56 gears and a 1.82 first gear in the glide.
Running through the traps at 8100 plus RPM, I am wasting time and wearing out expensive parts.
I switched to a 4.10 rear gear and the car lost ,001 in the 60 ft and .009 in the 1/4 mile. The car now traps at 7300 or so.
I believe I can improve the launch of this heavy beast with the 727s 2.45 first gear and maybe 60 ft in the 1.26- 1.27 range. being able to keep it in its power range longer and not wear out parts with 8100RPMs in the traps, it SHOULD be faster.
What I have seen for a glide to match a 3 speed car in ET, is the car needs to be 2700 lbs or less. I know there are many variables but this is what I have gathered so far.
When I was transmission shopping, the big trans guys all wanted to sell me a glide or a turbo 400. not sure if they make more money on the chevy trans or they just don't know how to build a torque flight.

. What yr was this? Looks like the Mopar race at sgmp

ive always heard a glide takes less hp to turn than a 727,plus a 727 is a bomb about to go off,and cost 3 times as a glide

And you've built how many?

Any automatic transmission can explode. The horror stories you read here are not confined to 727’s.

Car was 2,600# with me in it. 3,000# is about my limit. Anything over that I wouldn't consider very light. I wouldn't run a Torqueflight in a race car anymore after making the dreaded switch. OK, maybe Matt Hartford's old B/DA but other than that...

Cost is about the same. Yes there is less rotating mass in a glide. Is it worth 15HP? I don't know??? The horror stories as mentioned before are not limited to T/F's. Every glide guy I know has a spare in the trailer except me!

Yes sir it was!

I'm really surprised the weight difference is negligible.

That was 2016 at SGMP

Not to start a pissing trans fight here, but many, many do not know how to build a 727 correctly aside from not performing the right rituals during a burnout.
My 727 guru who has build bullet proof 27's has done so with stock parts and occasionally a steel drum in it for the extra insurance. But he has told me about some dum and dummer moves from some guys.
Known as Top Boy here in Brooklyn, he has been building 27's since when they were in cast iron cases. He's one of the first to introduce the 904 into racing behind some stout hot street setups. I'm talking real world 10 second street cats.

There are good builders for all makes and sizes and there are good racers that know how to handle them on the saddle.

Mopar John is here to help!
I'll start with a list of reasonable cost weight reduction items:
Swap out original windshield for Current replacements-7 lbs
Prop up the quarter windows and remove the regulator-10 lbs
Lightest weight starter you can find- 5 lbs
I went to 10 inch drums then discs front & rear- 40 lbs
Aluminum drive shaft
Aluminum radiator
Aluminum water pump mine Meziere
Aluminum strut rods and tie rod ends
Aluminum master cylinder
Aluminum distributor hold down bracket
The new M/T ET Fronts are 4" vs 4 1/2"
No tubes or screws out back!
Send me an e-mail at moparjohn@frontier.com with questions

Also watch your parts upgrades carefully. A good example is you can buy a Wilwood disc brake kit for $$$ and for just a few dollars more you can get lighter drilled rotors or even lighter calipers in most cases.
MJ