Rear Gear HELP!!!!

#21
It's really a matter of opinion..I think any S197 w/ a cold air, tune and maybe exaust is still GREAT with 3.73's, W/ A GOOD DRIVER AND GOOD TIRES THE CAR CAN EASILY RUN IN THE 12'S and still retain just about factory MPG and still drive great..hearing you have NOS i would def go with 3.73's, if you are going to the track, with everythign you have you would be able to get away with 4.10's and not have to use 5th, but IMHO, and from my own personal experience w/ 3.31's, then 4.10's.. now 3.73's, I know I like the 3.73's the best... only thing i like about the 4.10's is slamming the gas in 1st, the tires disappearing in smoke, then banging second and it burning all the way through..haha, but..I still think 3.73's are the ideal gear, and they will leave you room to grow, you can run in the 10's and still trap before the 4-5 shift!
Either way, good luck, and enjoy your car no matter what gears u decide 2use, lol!!
 

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#22
arcwcb said:
Wait, gmantheman just said that it's not a big enough step up from stock and it's not worth it unless you go two steps up in gears... Are the 3.73s worth the money or not... I'm not going to 4.10s because I'm not gonna run that in a car I drive as far as I have to, but if the 3.73s will still give me a noticeable jump in acceleration while not affecting MPG... I'd love to hear from somebody with a 5-spd that made the jump from 3.55s to 3.73s and can attest to how much improvement there was, if any.
Click to expand...

I don't think the jump from 3.55 to 3.73 is worth the $650-800. Ask around on other forums if you should go from 3.55 to 3.73 or 3.55 to 4.10 and I bet 9 out of 10 will say go 4.10. Majority of the people will say the 3.55 to 3.73 is not worth it. How far do you drive everyday? Also, I drove my car cross country and back. 4.10s are awesome on the hwy.
 
#23
arcwcb said:
Wait, gmantheman just said that it's not a big enough step up from stock and it's not worth it unless you go two steps up in gears... Are the 3.73s worth the money or not... I'm not going to 4.10s because I'm not gonna run that in a car I drive as far as I have to, but if the 3.73s will still give me a noticeable jump in acceleration while not affecting MPG... I'd love to hear from somebody with a 5-spd that made the jump from 3.55s to 3.73s and can attest to how much improvement there was, if any.
Click to expand...

anything you do will increase your acceleration as far as stepping up your gears.. and they will affect your mpg accordingly, I agreee with the earlier statement, from 3.31's to 3.73's it was around 1mpg highway, and when i had the 4.10's it was MAYBE 2mpg.. I dont really care about the mpg's, as long as stay in the 20's on the highway I'm happy... If you have 20's find out your exact tire diameter, if it is LARGER diameter than a stock size tire (235 55 17? not sure) but find out what the exact stock tire size is, and measure that diameter vs. whatever tire size you have now...if your 20's are LARGER in diameter than the stock tires, and you plan on keeping that size..then I MIGHT lean towards 4.10's... My opinion is biased a little here because my tires are 295-35-18" out back, and they are actually slightly smaller in diameter than my stock tire..making my 3.73's more like 3.90's if you really do the math... TOO BAD THE MOTIVE 3.90'S ARE FRIGHT TRAINS!!! IF FMS WOULD MAKE A 3.90 THAT WAS AS GOOD AS THE REST OF THE GEARS, I WOULD UPGRADE TO THAT!! AND I BET MANY OF US WOULD HAVE THEM!!
 
#24
I think I'm gonna go with the 3.73, they seem like a nice middle of road, and like Undisputed said, I'll actually be able to hook on 3.73s instead of just making a pile of expensive rubber everytime I just try to take off lol. And thanks sjpony, I was wanting to hear from somebody that would just tell me if they could tell the car was quicker off the line with the 3.73 over the 3.55 lol. And gmantheman, I'm sure your 4.10s did fine on a cross country trip and are awesome on the highway for you, but I think that's maybe just for you, i don't want my car to settle in at such a high RPM on the highway just to cruise. But thanks for your help, I need advice from people who have done this stuff before!
 
#25
arcwcb said:
I think I'm gonna go with the 3.73, they seem like a nice middle of road, and like Undisputed said, I'll actually be able to hook on 3.73s instead of just making a pile of expensive rubber everytime I just try to take off lol. And thanks sjpony, I was wanting to hear from somebody that would just tell me if they could tell the car was quicker off the line with the 3.73 over the 3.55 lol. And gmantheman, I'm sure your 4.10s did fine on a cross country trip and are awesome on the highway for you, but I think that's maybe just for you, i don't want my car to settle in at such a high RPM on the highway just to cruise. But thanks for your help, I need advice from people who have done this stuff before!
Click to expand...

Here are some other threads regarding the 3.55 to 3.73 debate.
Is it worth it...3.55 to 3.73? - Page 2 - WWW.S197FORUM.COM

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12463&highlight=3.73+4.10
 
#26
sjpony said:
I agree on the 3.73. I really notice the difference between my car and others that are stock. 50mph in first gear? Mine won't go over 15-20. First gear is a drag option. I can drive daily without it.
Click to expand...

Are you comparing your 3.73 to others with 3.31s or 3.55s. 05-06 Manual came standard with 3.55s. 05-06 auto and 07+ auto and man come standard with 3.31.
 
#27
My 20s have an overall diameter of 27.6" but most of my highway driving is done during the winter when I'm at college and since I'm in missouri I switch back to my stock 18s, and they have an overall diameter of 27.3" so I'm pretty close on both. If it's less than a 2 MPG loss, i might have to do the 4.10... dammit gmantheman, if you'd stop coming up with good arguments for the 4.10s, I'd already have gears on order lol!
 
#28
everyone has their each and own reason for which gears to choose.. as far as I am concerned, with my particular setup, nearing 500 RWHP AND having smaller diameter than stock tires, anything above 3.73's would be catastrophic for traction and would possibly limit my ability to go into the 10's without that life-ruining 4-5 shift..

and, like i said, i like to bury the 140 in 4th gear just before i hit the rev-limiter @ 6700..LOL
 
#29
The only thing catastrophic for traction is bad tires. Also, a quick observation for Undisputed, I keep seeing you mention running into the 10s. The only way we can make it into the 10s with these cars requires a lot more than a bolt on blower and a few other bolt-on mods. It generally requires a car that is setup for track use running high octane, built motor and high boost. I have seen very few of our cars that can consistently run into the 10s without the big mods. Also, even with 4.30s you will not have to shift into 5th with our cars on the quarter mile given the right tire size. One other thing to consider is that the higher the gear the easier it is on the drive train on launches while at the track. The clutch likes the 4.10 much better than the 3.31 especially with 20s. However, if you are not intending to race at the track, go with the 3.73, the car will be a lot easier to drive. I put 4.10s in my car and to be honest I wish I had gone with the 4.30s; they would have given me better trap RPM.
 
#32
@bynumj - why do you say to go with the 3.73 because they are easier to drive? Are the 4.10s too short for a daily driver or something? Since you have the 4.10s, but say that the 3.73s are easier to drive, what is it you don't like about your 4.10s?
 
#35
arcwcb said:
I'm just wondering why the 3.73s make the car a lot easier to drive
Click to expand...

Let me clarify what I mean by easier to drive.

With the 4.10s, first gear the car will respond faster to throttle input. The more HP you add to the car will make this response magnified. Also putting a tune on the car will significantly reduce throttle lag which will also contribute to the snappiness of the car. With 4.10s, first gear will be short; it is not very forgiving to throttle input. I am not saying that 4.10s cannot be used for DD but it will make your car very responsive to the throttle in first and your shift will come very quick. I love my 4.10s and wish that I would have gone to 4.30s but I do not drive the car all the time. I went with the 4.10s because I wanted better off the line performance, especially with the big tire I am running out back on the 20” rims. If I used it as a DD around town and did not race it at all, I would have gone with the 3.73s. As far as DD go, if you are driving the car on the highway and not in town much and can live with the 1-2 MPG change, go with the 4.10s. If you are going to be driving around town all day, I would not get the 4.10s.

From the looks of it you have 3.55s in your car now.

Earlier you stated:
“I've got the JLT intake and an SCT tuner, Borla exhaust, and a 125 shot of nitrous. I just want more thrust off of the line than what I'm getting now.”

If this is the case, going from 3.55s to 3.73s will not give you what, I think, you are looking for. I went for the 3.31s to the 4.10s and I have a friend that went from the 3.31s to the 3.73s and both made a big difference. The 3.73 are better for around town due to the shift points. I am assuming that you looked at the gear chart that I provided. If you look at the gains you get from going from the 3.55s to the 3.73s, they are not worth the money it will cost you to make the jump.
 
#38
gmantheman said:
I don't consider my car a PITA to drive. True, 1st gear is fairly short but I can easily start of in 2nd. Do you know anyone with 4.10s in there mustang? If so you could test drive there car and see how you like them.
Click to expand...

Good recommendation. See if there is someone in your area with 4.10s that will take you out. As far as shifting, I two shift my car all the time. Start in 2nd and go to 4th while in town.
 
#40
bynumj said:
The only thing catastrophic for traction is bad tires. Also, a quick observation for Undisputed, I keep seeing you mention running into the 10s. The only way we can make it into the 10s with these cars requires a lot more than a bolt on blower and a few other bolt-on mods. It generally requires a car that is setup for track use running high octane, built motor and high boost. I have seen very few of our cars that can consistently run into the 10s without the big mods. Also, even with 4.30s you will not have to shift into 5th with our cars on the quarter mile given the right tire size. One other thing to consider is that the higher the gear the easier it is on the drive train on launches while at the track. The clutch likes the 4.10 much better than the 3.31 especially with 20s. However, if you are not intending to race at the track, go with the 3.73, the car will be a lot easier to drive. I put 4.10s in my car and to be honest I wish I had gone with the 4.30s; they would have given me better trap RPM.
Click to expand...



The car wont make 10's on a stock motor w/ the higher boost levels required, Livernois Stroker Shortblock http://www.livernoismotorsports.com/product.phtml?p=1551 and running the V3 in the 17lb region... This is for next season, I threw the big $$ this year on the Blower n stuff...and the car w/ 11lbs, a nice tune and the rest of my bolt on's isn't anyhting better then a mid-hi 11 second car depnding on what rubber I'm running... I was referring to future 600+ RWHP where running 4.10's with a slighly smaller diameter then stock would cause that life-ruining 4-5 shift..lol.. and, like I said, my mid 400 rwhp is the heaviest and slowest of my friends cars, I gotta deal with vipers, worked E55 AMG's and Z06 that my friends have, when we all hit the highway my 140mph 4th gear revlimiter comes up before you know it, i wouldnt want any less mph outta my 1.1 ratio gear before I start cutting power into overdrive. And, when I had my 4.10's and just sum bolt on's, both with my stock tires (19"'s) and my Current 295-35-18's if i was rolling in 1st and matted the gas it was rev-limiter sideways fun, lol but the 3.73's reduced that 1st-geear-too-quick issue...now with the blower I'm right back to the smoking 1st and second at W.O.T. all day long..but you know what..if I had to give up the blower and extra 120+ RWHP, I would prob go back to 4.10's now to keep the low-traction fun goin..hahahaha
 
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