When do gears lose their advantage?

[00torchredgt]

I have searched but I cannot come up with an answer. I know that gears will yield better times in the quarter mile but they will hurt you on a race from a roll. My question is at what speed would the gears(3.73, 3.90, 4.10 compared to 3.23) start to lose their advantage? I ask this because my 1st and 2nd feel ok but my 3rd-4th gear feels like the car has fallen on its face and I wouldn't want for my 3rd gear acceleration to be worse than it already is. My car is now bone stock but I will have cams, plenum, intake, pullies and x-pipe in the near future.

I asked this question on another forum and they say that you don't lose any acceleration at any speed. So what do you think?

Thanks

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think you should not race from a roll

 

[Mike97gt]

I had 4.10's in my car and it improved acceleration across the board. only difference is you will have to shift to 5th faster, but you really should not be going that fast on public roads anyways

 

[justinschmidt1]

Yea...Ive been curious about that too....like say your cruising at like 75 mph on the highway with my auto and 3.73s it would downshift to 3rd if I hit it...so would my car really accelerate faster in 3rd gear with 3.73s than it would with stock gears in second gear ...cause before gears second gear would go to like 100 ...so

2nd gear + 3.08s
What is better?
3rd gear + 3.73s

 

[showstopper2]

steeper gears will help you accelerate much quicker but kill your top speed as you cannot drag out the gear as long. you hit the rev limiter alot faster in 5th with the 3.73 and 4.10.

 

[Mel96GT]

I have searched but I cannot come up with an answer. I know that gears will yield better times in the quarter mile but they will hurt you on a race from a roll. My question is at what speed would the gears(3.73, 3.90, 4.10 compared to 3.23) start to lose their advantage? I ask this because my 1st and 2nd feel ok but my 3rd-4th gear feels like the car has fallen on its face and I wouldn't want for my 3rd gear acceleration to be worse than it already is. My car is now bone stock but I will have cams, plenum, intake, pullies and x-pipe in the near future.

I asked this question on another forum and they say that you don't lose any acceleration at any speed. So what do you think?

Thanks

It's all related to the type of engine and cams that you have and the type of driving you do. If you have a low-rpm, high torque engine (stockish 5.0) then 3.27 may be okay for a DD. A DOHC, 4.6 (Cobra, Mach 1) high-rpm, high HP engine will do better with 4.10's.

Gears alone will not make your car super-fast, but your gears should compliment your engine's rpm range and torque band. If you like racing from a roll, then 3.27's are the way to go. Everything is a compromise so I think 3.73's on a stockish PI 4.6 are the best for a DD and illegal street racing (from a roll or stop).

 

[tomustang]

steeper gears will help you accelerate much quicker but kill your top speed as you cannot drag out the gear as long. you hit the rev limiter alot faster in 5th with the 3.73 and 4.10.

You would never hit your theoretical top speed in these cars anyway, so adding gears will just make you hit your actual top speed faster

I do not have of my papers with me so I'll just guesstimate for fun, from 3.08 your top speed would be like 240mph, add 4.10's and it would drop to 205, still out of reach either gear, and that's winding out the last gear to redline

 

[Stan Weiss]

I have searched but I cannot come up with an answer. I know that gears will yield better times in the quarter mile but they will hurt you on a race from a roll. My question is at what speed would the gears(3.73, 3.90, 4.10 compared to 3.23) start to lose their advantage? I ask this because my 1st and 2nd feel ok but my 3rd-4th gear feels like the car has fallen on its face and I wouldn't want for my 3rd gear acceleration to be worse than it already is. My car is now bone stock but I will have cams, plenum, intake, pullies and x-pipe in the near future.

I asked this question on another forum and they say that you don't lose any acceleration at any speed. So what do you think?

Thanks

As said the gears will not hurt acceleration at any time in the 1/4 mile. That said there are speed where the gear you are in can hurt you. If you have 4.1:1 and because the rpm's would be so high that you at a speed you would need to shift as soon as you hit the gas. The other person with 3.27:1 has much lower RPM's. When you shift into 2nd 1.99 * 4.1, you have 8.159:1 total. The other person still in 1st has 3.37 * 3.27, he has 11.02:1. So until he need to shift he has more torque multiplication and should accelerate faster.

 

[goshia]

I think you should not race from a roll

+1

 

[Stan Weiss]

You would never hit your theoretical top speed in these cars anyway, so adding gears will just make you hit your actual top speed faster

I do not have of my papers with me so I'll just guesstimate for fun, from 3.08 your top speed would be like 240mph, add 4.10's and it would drop to 205, still out of reach either gear, and that's winding out the last gear to redline

With stock 245-45-17 tires 3.27:1 rear and 5750 RPM top sped is 200.6. The problem is with the stock HP and torque the force need to push the car though the are greater at around 150 MPH, so that is your top end. With stock 245-45-17 tires 4.1:1 rear and 5750 RPM top sped is 160. With 4.1's the real top end is about 148 but it takes less time and a shorter distance to get there.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If you are having trouble understanding the concept of gears take your ten speed for a ride. See for yourself in a very personal way how high and low gears affect your ability to launch from a dig and to accelerate at high speed.

 

[DuRsT]

Here is how you can figure out your own RPM's / speed.

http://www.moddedmustangs.com/performance-calculators/

 

[40thmustanggt]

so what your saying is from a dead stop someone with 3.27 is going to take you because with the 4.10's your shifting more.. okay and you said that when your in the 1/4 it wouldnt hurt you.. so say side by side at the track one with 4.10's and one with 3.27's how long is the car with 3.27's going to keep the lead untill the guy with 4.10's pass him??

 

[DuRsT]

so what your saying is from a dead stop someone with 3.27 is going to take you because with the 4.10's your shifting more.. okay and you said that when your in the 1/4 it wouldnt hurt you.. so say side by side at the track one with 4.10's and one with 3.27's how long is the car with 3.27's going to keep the lead untill the guy with 4.10's pass him??

Wow. Ok, if you have two stock Mustangs sittin at the strip and two drivers of equal ability, one with 3.27's and one with 4.10's, the one with 4.10's is going to drag the one with 3.27's because it has more mechanical torque going down to the pavement. The 4.10 driver is going to have to shift more quickly, but that is because his car has better acceleration due to the fact that more of the engine's torque is being utilized per revolution of the ring gear. If the track were limitless (ie. see *infinite) the car with 3.27's could probably go faster overall because it has the gearing for top speed, not acceleration.

Think about it like this.
NA = 4.10 or better
Supercharged = 3.73

 

[40thmustanggt]

Wow. Ok, if you have two stock Mustangs sittin at the strip and two drivers of equal ability, one with 3.27's and one with 4.10's, the one with 4.10's is going to drag the one with 3.27's because it has more mechanical torque going down to the pavement. The 4.10 driver is going to have to shift more quickly, but that is because his car has better acceleration due to the fact that more of the engine's torque is being utilized per revolution of the ring gear. If the track were limitless (ie. see *infinite) the car with 3.27's could probably go faster overall because it has the gearing for top speed, not acceleration.

Think about it like this.
NA = 4.10 or better
Supercharged = 3.73

okay i knew that but the other guy was making it sound like if you have 4.10's you have to shift more there for the guy with 3.27's will win because he's shifting less if that makes any sense?? anyways how much time will 4.10's take off your 1/4mile??

 

[40thmustanggt]

i miss read it i guess he was only talking about being in first gear..

 

[EPIK]

I think you should not race from a roll

Half the time this is how most of my races happen, because I will be driving along on the freeway & some a**hole in a Fox body, or Camaro, or whatever wants to race. Of course its always better from a dig but Im not gonna back down from a roll race, especially since Mach 1's pull so hard in 3rd & 4th gear. It may be illegal, but hey I know everyone on here street races from time to time.

 

[Superhereaux]

It may be illegal, but hey I know everyone on here street races from time to time.

Blasphemy!!!

 

[Night Shifter]

Ok so i'm definatly an idiot when it comes to gears, but being that i just bought 3.73's for my car i gotta ask.

if im rollin down the street and the same car with the same mods rolls up next to me, but he has 3.27's and i have 3.73's, if we race from 2nd gear to third gear, is he going to beat me or will i accelerate faster and outrun him?

if i ever race from a rolling start i always start in second is why i ask. cause the one time i tried it from third it felt like the car didn't want to go and i definatly lost that one.

 

[Tim2002GT]

Ok so i'm definatly an idiot when it comes to gears, but being that i just bought 3.73's for my car i gotta ask.

if im rollin down the street and the same car with the same mods rolls up next to me, but he has 3.27's and i have 3.73's, if we race from 2nd gear to third gear, is he going to beat me or will i accelerate faster and outrun him?

if i ever race from a rolling start i always start in second is why i ask. cause the one time i tried it from third it felt like the car didn't want to go and i definatly lost that one.

With 3.73's, you should still pull on him a little. It would be more noticeable if you went 1st thru 4th.