whats a good size gear for the street

[pontiacgp]

if you never take it on the highway and you like the 3.73 then why not stick with that ratio

 

[dogsht]

Hmnn with the right stall probably not. You would lose some but a 400 has some torque. Just saying if its a driver. But I agree with Pontiacgp in that if you never take it on the highway then certainly a 3.73 would be quicker but maybe not a great amount and or worth it if you drive the car places other than stop light to stop light stuff. Just saying if you are trying to just build a fast enjoyable driver generally 3.08 is a great compromise gear ie most of the acceleration. If its drag biased keep the 3.73. If you use an overdrive trans then you get the best of both but you know everything is time and money.


Follow the concept here:
Also fwiw if you go from say a 2.41 to a 3.08 and say you knock 4/10ths off your 1/4 mile ETs then you make a similar jump from 3.08 to 3.73 you may only knock off another 2/10s. There is a diminishing return here. On top of that again follow the concept only, say you lose 1 mpg HWY going from 2.41 to 3.08 but you lose another 2 mpg HWY going from the 3.08 to the 3.73. I have not tried to figure out where your cams sweet spot of peak efficiency is just saying because a lot of people are not aware of this and its useful to know when picking a gear.

 

[pontiacgp]

this may help you...with a 3.08 rear and 25.7" wheel diameter in 4th (which is my 1-1 ratio) at 60 mph I'm reving 2600. I gauged my speed with GPS and I have a VDO tach which is pretty accurate as far as I know. With an automatic my revs would be higher.

 

[robhowardiii]

Driving on the street on a 65 mph (75 actual speed) highway everyday I hate the thought of anything lower (numerically higher) than my 3.08s. I noticed a night and day diffrence from my 2.41s but I pay for it in fuel and it runs noticeably hotter down the highway. I turn roughly 3000 rpm at 70 on 225 60 16. Lowest gear I would consider if hiting any highways is 3.42 in my opinion.