Going through the motions. Rebuilding soon, and been looking at different ideas, pros/cons. What advantage or disadvantage does a extra wide band do for you. This would be with a new drum, not a machined or used one.
My set up is a 425 rwhp car, so besides all the other goodies within the tranny, this is one thing you dont really hear allot about.

 

Well there is some debate on this. You see in theory the wide band with a new drum would be best all other things but the surface area being equal. However this isnt really the case. Some high hp kits come with narrow and some with wide bands because the difference the friction material there made of. If a narrow band has a higher quality friction material it can do the same job as a wide band made of a material of lower quality. So what ide look into is not so much wide or narrow but do a little digging in to what there made of. Materials being equal though wider is better.

 

Sorta like brakes, bigger isnt always better, pad material is the key to stopping.

 

Exactly. Thats really what the debate stems from at a glance everyone says oh wow a wide band that must be great for high HP motors however then just buy a rebuild kit for a high performance build, get a narrow band in there kit, and immediately feel like they have been ripped off getting the "cheap" narrow band in their kit. Now they could be right but more often than not when dealing with reputable companies anyways there getting a higher quality piece and the wide band in not necessary as result. Just as you said just like with brakes the size is only part of the story.

 

Thaks, makes sense now.

 

I would go with the wide carbon band and new drum if you use a vette servo. You can go with a Oem size band if you use a Billet 2nd gear servo. I put the wide carbon band and used a Billet servo in my 700r4 and its alittle harder putting the input drum trying not to scratch up the band just to let you know. With you're Horsepower I would use the wide carbon band, new drum and lean torward the Billet servo to answer you're qusetion.

 

The Hi-E material beats anything out there, in terms of holding power, smoothness, dissipating heat, etc. I adjust the accumulation and feed hole size in the separator plate to match the servo, and other paremeters. I have used the factory Borg Warner Hi-Energy 2-4 band in all of my nine second vehicles with almost no problems. Two of these vehicles used the Corvette servo, the other one that lives at the drags (9.50 ET's) uses the billet servo. The wider band does work as long as the right material is used. The Carbon and Red material are good, stay the "h... away" from Kevlar. The wide band has a re-enforced anchor, and when using the billet servo and the separator plate feed hole size is too large and/or the accumulation is highly limited, then this stresses the anchor point. The drum must be perfectly flat. A new OEM drum, not the aftermarket one is good, and a remachined drum is fine. DO NOT try to save a dished drum by making it flat. Start with a good used one if you are going to machine it. I offer the wider band because people want to "see" it in the high horsepower kits. Many do not believe that the Hi-E band will do the job. I am not alone here. Some other top builders that I talk to say the same thing. The Hi-E band requiers that the drum be flat, and if you are going to sand it, sand it in the direction of rotation only and with nothing rougher than 400 grit, the smoother the better.

 

Thanks for the reply Dana. I was curious if the material was different, and that is exactly the case here. Like I said, its like brakes and their material. It can be a huge difference in stopping power.
I will be buying a street strip from you next month Dana, as I found a builder here in Hawaii that will build it to your specs. Ex Racer been doing this for 30 years plus and of course has his own shop, recommended by many out here.