Witch first gear ratio in a TKO 5-speed (3.27 or 2.87) would be best suited for a 3.73 rear gear ratio?
Doug
Doug
choosing gears
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I have 4.11s and a 3200rpm stall converter and I turn about 3500 at 60. and its too much fun both top end acceleration and off the line
I've got 3.73s, no overdrive, and my tires are close to stock size (your rear tire height also makes a big difference). And I have taken the car on a few highway trips. And yes the high RPMs suck. Going 80 KPH (about 50MPH) I rev around 3000 RPM. And since at the time it was a stock 305, I didn't want to push it harder than that. A trip that normally takes 3 1/2 -4 hours ended up taking over 5 hours. But if you don't take it on the highway very often or not very far, then go for the 3.73s. It's the best bang for your buck upgrade you can make. I plan on changing mine to 4.11s in the next year or two lol.
M.Bailey said:
I'm sure the accelration is fun, but there is no way there is enough top end for my liking. Not dogging ya or anything, I know yours is pretty much a track car, all you need there is enough gear to go a 1/4 mile.
with the new motor i should be able to do 130mph or so maybe more. probly not in the quarter. on my 29" tall slicks i do 110 mph right now and I'm crossing at about 5700 ish rpm. how fast you wanna go?
M.Bailey said:
Faster, lol! Right now i'm more interested in running the standing mile or something like the Silver State Challenge. Or to put it another way, I miss the top end I had from my 2.41 gears.
well that makes a litle more sense lol i wanted to run the sivler state but decided against it with my regal. i may however get my MR2 goin and put a little money in that and go run it some day 🙂 if you are looking to go fast i would say a 3.42 gear would be a good choice. or maybe even a 3.08. I'm still considering doin the standing mile with my car i have a 3. somethin gear on another 3rd memeber i could pop that in and go play
The calculators are great play with them a while and you start to get a better understanding. Short story for a multi purpose but performance oriented use with ye ole 3 speed as said before 3.08 or 3.23 is generally ideal. 3.42 or even 3.73 with tall tires can work to get closer to maximizing your quarter mile but cruising & mileage will suffer plus wear and tear on your engine go up. It also taxes your cooling system harder. You can do any one thing you want with a three speed or you must seek the best compromise which is what i listed above. It takes the overdrive trans to accomplish both performance and wear/mileage/driveability etc. The overdrive transmissions are a hugh improvement for a real performance and driven car.
With an overdrive you try to get the right gear with tire height to get to or just over your maximum HP rpm when going thru the traps in third gear ie 1-1. This gives you your best quarter mile relative to the power your engine makes and saves wear and gives nice cruising & mileage in overdrive.
fwiw You use another calculator to tell you what mph your engine (if you know its peak HP) is capable of moving your car through the quarter mile. (If you know the cars weight.) Then as stated above you get the gear & tire height combination to accomplish that.
I have looked at doing the silver state classic. Up to the 125mph class makes sense to me as beyond that you get into some more serious & expensive mods in order to meet tech.
With an overdrive you try to get the right gear with tire height to get to or just over your maximum HP rpm when going thru the traps in third gear ie 1-1. This gives you your best quarter mile relative to the power your engine makes and saves wear and gives nice cruising & mileage in overdrive.
fwiw You use another calculator to tell you what mph your engine (if you know its peak HP) is capable of moving your car through the quarter mile. (If you know the cars weight.) Then as stated above you get the gear & tire height combination to accomplish that.
I have looked at doing the silver state classic. Up to the 125mph class makes sense to me as beyond that you get into some more serious & expensive mods in order to meet tech.
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