3.08's to 3.73's How big of a difference is it?

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truthfully, gears are overrated. yes they make a damn good difference. but its not absolutely plant you in the seat and hold you there.

b4 i got my gears everyone was saying gears were the best and will make a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference.

i was left a tad dissapointed. dont get me wrong the gears make a big big difference, just not OMGOMGOMG like everyone says...
 
Yes gears are the biggest bang for your buck for a seat of your pants feel. But will the car act like it's got a blower or something and will gears alone make you king of the street in one modification, heck no. It's only a starting point. There's always more modifications and more money to be spent. The faster you want, the more you spend!

I have a decently well built N/A 289 in my '66 and the 5.0 in the '95 runs nice, but to tell me I can affordably build a small block to run like the 440 big block I had in my Cuda? Then you've never driven a real big block. Torque is torque...

Will you get the feel you think you will? Everything is relative to what you're comparing it to......
 
i went from 2.73's to 3.73's and the first drive was the best part. After that i had to show off to the friends, then it kind alost its hype. I mean dont get me wrong i def felt a difference, but its not something i would hype up about. I think 3.55's should have been the stock gear with auto's gettin the option for 3.73's. But its not the way it came so oh well. Def get em tho.
 
I made the 3.08 to 3.73 change and you can feel it but it's not that dramatic. The car "sounds" like it's really haulin' azz now but the SOTP meter says it's not that much. Will you be pleased. Yes. Would I do it over again to my car? Yes. You have to remember you are only increasing the torque, not the power. Torque moves weight, power is how fast you can move that weight.
 
Foxfan88 said:
truthfully, gears are overrated. yes they make a damn good difference. but its not absolutely plant you in the seat and hold you there.

b4 i got my gears everyone was saying gears were the best and will make a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference.

i was left a tad dissapointed. dont get me wrong the gears make a big big difference, just not OMGOMGOMG like everyone says...



I guess someone cant make up their mind...:nonono:









And to answer the question, yes gears make a big difference. I went from 2.73s to 3.73s.
 
I also did the 2.73 to 3.73 switch this summer. The car was a LOT more fun to drive after that.

You'll notice the difference: You'll be shifting out of first a lot sooner.
 
I think the 2.73 guys notice alot more then the 3.08 guys. I had set my expectations way to high when i got my gears in, i was let down alittle, but once you get used to them you notice how much better they are then stock. Truthfully i bearly felt them when i pulled out of the shop. I def. noticed the rpms though. BUT the track told the tale, went from a 14.2@98 with a 2.2 60' with 3.08's to a 13.8@99 with a 2.0 60' with ONLY switching gears. Would i do it again? DEFINATLY, go for it
 
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Never driven a Mustang with the stock gears... Got mine with 4.10s already in it with tha AOD

Since I've converted over to a T-5 I haven't liked so much gear, 1st gear is almost nothing... Thinking of dropping to 3.73s or 3.55s when I get a blower and such :nice:

But yes, gears are the best bang for buck mod, by far.
 
Foxfan88 said:
truthfully, gears are overrated. yes they make a damn good difference. but its not absolutely plant you in the seat and hold you there.

b4 i got my gears everyone was saying gears were the best and will make a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference.

i was left a tad dissapointed. dont get me wrong the gears make a big big difference, just not OMGOMGOMG like everyone says...

thats what i went through......I thought my car would be a rocket after the install.

Dont get me wrong..i will never own another stock geared 5.0.......but just be realistic with your anticipation.
 
With and overdrive gear in your trans, realistically all the worries you hear over gas mileage, engine runs too fast, can't go like 250 MPH , they're way over blown. With an OD trans in the car. Gears are the way to go......... You just can't beat em for bang for the buck and great take off.

Probably only two downsides to 3.55 and higher gears over the 3.08 and lower for street driving ......

1) The change in RPMs in terms of what's the "resonance" RPM in your cars exhaust system (when it resonates and gets loud) and hopefully the changing doesn't throw it right into your cruise RPM range.

and probably more importantly and what will affect you the most on the street every day.....

2) How does it affect your shift points. With an automatic, no big deal. But with a 5-speed, the shift points will be lower. The 94-95s have a really low 3.35 first gear (can't remember the 1st gear number for the earlier cars offhand). With a 3.35 first and 3.73 rear, shifting at 15 MPH will be at 2451 RPM while shifting at only 20 MPH will be at 3568 RPM. Kinda high! Like you keep hearing, 1st is almost useless as in it winds up so fast you feel like as soon as you let the clutch out, you're pushing it right back in to go for a speed shift for second. Lets say you pick a common 2400 RPM shift point, the 3.08s would be at 17.8 MPH when you press the clutch pedal, the 3.55s at 15.4 MPH, and with the 3.73s you'd be at 14.7 MPH. Doesn't seem like much difference but it's the speed at which the motors RPMs are increasing that creates an issue. You don't automatically and immediately hit the next gear (like and auto) so you have some time lag in between shifts. (Again we're talking daily driving on the street, not racing). With 3.08s the difference while you're shifting between 15 and 20 MPH is 674 RPMs, with 3.73s the 5 MPH difference goes up to 1117 RPMs (2451 to 3568 RPMs). Not much room left to go up any more without winding the crap out of the motor is there.

The larger the gear the the harder the launch! But remember the downside. The more gear you put in, the lower and now faster your shifts will have to be....... everytime you stop, all day long, every day, both direction back and forth to wherever you're going!
 
KK6695GT said:
With and overdrive gear in your trans, realistically all the worries you hear over gas mileage, engine runs too fast, can't go like 250 MPH , they're way over blown. With an OD trans in the car. Gears are the way to go......... You just can't beat em for bang for the buck and great take off.

Probably only two downsides to 3.55 and higher gears over the 3.08 and lower for street driving ......

1) The change in RPMs in terms of what's the "resonance" RPM in your cars exhaust system (when it resonates and gets loud) and hopefully the changing doesn't throw it right into your cruise RPM range.

and probably more importantly and what will affect you the most on the street every day.....

2) How does it affect your shift points. With an automatic, no big deal. But with a 5-speed, the shift points will be lower. The 94-95s have a really low 3.35 first gear (can't remember the 1st gear number for the earlier cars offhand). With a 3.35 first and 3.73 rear, shifting at 15 MPH will be at 2451 RPM while shifting at only 20 MPH will be at 3568 RPM. Kinda high! Like you keep hearing, 1st is almost useless as in it winds up so fast you feel like as soon as you let the clutch out, you're pushing it right back in to go for a speed shift for second. Lets say you pick a common 2400 RPM shift point, the 3.08s would be at 17.8 MPH when you press the clutch pedal, the 3.55s at 15.4 MPH, and with the 3.73s you'd be at 14.7 MPH. Doesn't seem like much difference but it's the speed at which the motors RPMs are increasing that creates an issue. You don't automatically and immediately hit the next gear (like and auto) so you have some time lag in between shifts. (Again we're talking daily driving on the street, not racing). With 3.08s the difference while you're shifting between 15 and 20 MPH is 674 RPMs, with 3.73s the 5 MPH difference goes up to 1117 RPMs (2451 to 3568 RPMs). Not much room left to go up any more without winding the crap out of the motor is there.

The larger the gear the the harder the launch! But remember the downside. The more gear you put in, the lower and now faster your shifts will have to be....... everytime you stop, all day long, every day, both direction back and forth to wherever you're going!
This is what you don't hear from the don't fear the gear types.If it is a daily driver this is good info to consider before making your decision.The extra shifting etc.isn't for everyone.
 
i felt a big big big difference, i think because i waited till i had all the bolt ons i have rite now, b 4 i could barley shirp the tires, now i get sideways smoking all of 1st and half of second, feels pretty good for an AOD
 
I converted from 308 to 373 and it's much better fro a heeavt vert. Keep one thing in mind - after I did mine I felt much more drive train vibration in the shifter handle due to more rpms in the shaft and the stock balancing. I'm having my drive shaft precision re-balanced to get a smooth drive train back.