Effect of Rear Gear Ratios on Trap Speeds

[sneaky98gt]

So me and my father are having a disagreement on how gears affect trap speeds. I thought that gears would have no effect on trap speeds, but he thinks they do. Can someone here tell me how gears affect trap speeds, with a good explanation? Or point me to somewhere that can? Thanks.

-Will

 

[scupking]

So me and my father are having a disagreement on how gears affect trap speeds. I thought that gears would have no effect on trap speeds, but he thinks they do. Can someone here tell me how gears affect trap speeds, with a good explanation? Or point me to somewhere that can? Thanks.

-Will

I would think you should see faster trap speeds going from stock 3.27 to 3.73 4.10s. The 3.73s or 4.10s will get you going faster as long as you have traction.

 

[Stan Weiss]

Lets start by asking if you thing the car will run a quicker et with the gears?

 

[sneaky98gt]

Yes, I know gears will help ETs. I'm not that dumb. But I thought that the trap speed remained unaffected. I thought the only thing that could change the mph was the hp/weight. But I could be wrong. That's why I'm asking.

 

[squeak93]

It all depends on the car and set up. Better traction will result in lower trap speeds as obviously spinning more will result in higher traps. Now take a car with slicks. They will run much faster with a lower than STOCK gear.... now u can over gear a car and go too low. That can result in either running out of gear before the end or putting it in the wrong powerband.

Take a stock 04 gt for example vs say a stock 93 lx. The 04 has 3.27s stock.... take a set of 4.30's and the car will love it (traction pending)... do the same to the 93 and it will likely not like them as much. Different cars call for different set ups. As above, the mod motors LOVE the upper rpms while traditional pushrod motors make a ton of torque down low but suffer above certain rpms... the 93 would be MUCH better suited for the 3.73s while the 04 usually wants 4.10s or even 4.30's if your not worried about economy... (some will say 3.73's is too much for a mod motor but those are usually the people who put TONS of miles on them and want some sort of economy.

Now the tricky part. You can put lower gears in and hurt your times if traction becomes an issue and you don't fix it with tires or a driver mod. That being said, your trap speeds should still be a bit higher even with an inexperienced driver.

 

[iMTB]

My trap would have went up. I kept the same trap with MUCH heavier wheels and tires.

 

[Stan Weiss]

Yes, I know gears will help ETs. I'm not that dumb. But I thought that the trap speed remained unaffected. I thought the only thing that could change the mph was the hp/weight. But I could be wrong. That's why I'm asking.

Lower Rear Gears increase torque multiplication. So you have more wheel thrust / force in each trans gear.

 

[ran260gt]

You will have a higher trap speed , I gained avg of 3 mph !