Which gears to get?

runningmole said:
Not to be a jerk, but your 'schematic' is off. I have 3.55s w/ 16in rims. 65 mph in 5th gear is 2,000 rpm. 140mph is way less than 5200rpm....I did it (and punched a whole in a piston :rlaugh: )

The numbers I posted are based off the corral.net gear calculator and jive with the RPM and speed readings I've noticed while driving my own car. I can't speak for your car, but they work for mine.

Keep in mind that corral.net lists several different transmissions, so you may not have the same gear ratios as I do.
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Yes, dont fear the gear.... but you need to consider the application. Too much gear is possible, too. If you go too high,you will lose speed. Higher gears do better in higher revving motors and such, like the newer 4v modular motors. If you go too high with not enough power, you will breeze right through the power band and there will be no time for the motor to build up torque. This will slow you down. Tomorrow at work the 3.73s are going into my 5.0.... i love the feel of 4.10s, but traction is a problem and i do lots of interstate driving around 80 mph, etc. And if you will be going with a power adder definitely go 3.73. It is an all around good gear. Good luck bro
 
Everyone's a big fan of the 3.73's... I wasn't as impressed really. 1st gear ran out of rpms before making any speed and it felt like I needed another gear while on the hwy in 5th. Leisure cruises around town was ok though.

Nice job reviving a 8 year old thread. :p

3.73s will feel weird at first, especially if you're coming from the stock 2.73s. You'll get used to it though, and just keep in mind that you need the gear to be competitive at the track.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
IMO On the street I think 410's are great, I also have a carb motor that revs pretty high. If I'm on the highway it's for 10 mins at most. 373's is a gd compromise, I had 355's and thought they we're pointless even while spraying it, daily driving was just boring. I've had 12 mustangs over 18 years and if I did 150 twice thats a lot, I wouldn't let top speed factor in on my decision.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My aod vert has 2.73 gears and needs something. I believe the option was 3.27 gears but am considering 3.55 or 3.73. Never going to race at the strip, but don't want some ricer at a stop sign to blow my doors off either. Not looking at going 150mph either. Probably 75% city driving with a few summer trips of 200 miles highway driving to the lake. opinions?
 
half of the people will say 3.73 and the other half will say 4.10. I haven't driven an aod with anything but the 2.73 but my father has a '95 gt with the t-5 with the 3.73's in it. They (3.73's) are ok I suppose but it 1st gear redlines before it's making any speed and when it is in 5th gear on the hwy it feels like it needs to shift to a 6th gear if there was one. He is thinking about going to 3.27's and I think I'll take the 3.73's off his hands, what the hell.. But lemme say this, the gears were ok, maybe made it "quicker" but I dunno. Just don't have your hopes up thinking that the gears are make you run like you added 100 hp or something, it'll be bout as fast as it is now.
 
You know just to make a point, since when do we want our OVERDRIVE gear to pull hard when we have 4 others? Just saying. And you want 3.73s you can friggin have mine I'd love to trade for 3.55s or higher.
 
In all seriousness though. Anybody running 3.27's in a 5-speed car? I've got a set of 3.73's sitting on my shelf, ready to go, but am a little Leary. Not only do I not want my highway mileage drastically effected, but I'm not so sure I like the idea of just zipping through the sweet spot of my powerband. These 5.0L's were designed to be torquey. Flying through the rev range with a set of higher numerical gears doesn't exactly take full advantage of that?

Especially if one had some form of power adder in the future?

I had 3.73's installed in my cougar and quite frankly I liked my stock 3.27's better. They made much better use of the power band and saved me a little fuel economy in the process.
 
I went from 3.27's to 3.73's and I noticed a nice gain. I have a 93lx with 5sp. I can also shift into 5th gear a lot more around town saving gas. Also when I am on the freeway I don't have to down shift to pass...just floor it and go :)
 
In all seriousness though. Anybody running 3.27's in a 5-speed car? I've got a set of 3.73's sitting on my shelf, ready to go, but am a little Leary. Not only do I not want my highway mileage drastically effected, but I'm not so sure I like the idea of just zipping through the sweet spot of my powerband. These 5.0L's were designed to be torquey. Flying through the rev range with a set of higher numerical gears doesn't exactly take full advantage of that?

Especially if one had some form of power adder in the future?

I had 3.73's installed in my cougar and quite frankly I liked my stock 3.27's better. They made much better use of the power band and saved me a little fuel economy in the process.

It's all about multiplication of torque, man! As far as fuel economy goes, it's not like these are Honda Civics. I always think it's funny when people are overly concerned with MPGs in a 20-something year old car that's basically a gasoline dumpster and most people tune to run on premium anyway. Also, 3.73s still are "tall" enough even in a 500 HP car to not "run out of gear" in the 1/4, so I guess I wouldn't worry too much about that either.