i've decided to change the gears on my 01'- 281SC. it's currently got 3.08s on there and i'm wondering what you guys recommend. my car is running 10lbs of boost on a Series II blower with a chicane pulley and chicane RIP kit, along with an x-pipe. i've got 295s on the rear tires so traction is no problem as of now. i spoke with Tom Dugan (Dugan Racing) personally in metro atlanta and he tells me that anything over 3.27s is too much for traction on a blown car. i want some ferocious pick up and i see that saleen is putting 3.55s on their cars now so i figure it shouldn't be a big deal. i mean, i see people with blown cars running 4.10s which to me is outrageous. i can get a set of new Rousch 3.27s cheap or buy FRPP 3.55s or better? what do you guys think will be the best bang for my buck?
Roush 3.27s or 3.55s? Spoke with Tom Dugan...
- Thread starter Probablecause
- Start date
Saleen201
Founding Member
Probablecause said:
I just took my 3.55s out and replaced them with 4.10s and i plan on putting a KB on my car
but i wont be using mine for a daily driver. You can have my 3.55s if you want, you just have to pay shipping. If you are interested PM me, i can take some pictures if you want, the gears look perfect.-Mike
00s281sc368
New Member
Hey,
sounds like the story of my life...
My car also came with 3.08 and the eaton M90. Then I put some 3.55 which was great. After putting the KB, I was loosing traction like crazy so went back to a set of used 3.27s. 6 month later I just switched back to 3.55s and plan for a T56 soon.
I think 3.55 are the best gears for a torquy blower (roots/twin screw) and still get you 2500rpm@80mph on the freeway.
If you look around, 3.27 is still way too long gear unless you have a 8-liter viper engine...
sounds like the story of my life...
My car also came with 3.08 and the eaton M90. Then I put some 3.55 which was great. After putting the KB, I was loosing traction like crazy so went back to a set of used 3.27s. 6 month later I just switched back to 3.55s and plan for a T56 soon.
I think 3.55 are the best gears for a torquy blower (roots/twin screw) and still get you 2500rpm@80mph on the freeway.
If you look around, 3.27 is still way too long gear unless you have a 8-liter viper engine...
marcus95
Active Member
00s281sc368 said:
Yea, what he said. Go with 3.55's or even 3.73's. You wont be sorry. 4.10's may be alittle gnarly since you are so used to your 3.08's! There could be worse problems than having less traction. You don't just feel your gear ratio from a standing start but downshifts on the highway and roll on throttle also.
S351R"Animal"
20+ Year Stangneter 
3.55's would be the most gear I would go with. I wouldn't go 3.73's just because of the torque on the low end that the roots blower produces. I have been running 3.55's in my car for years and have managed to get it down in the low 9's.
thanks for the responses, i'm planning on going ahead and buying 3.55s first thing next week. the one thing i'm curious about though is will the speedometer be off after putting the new gears in? i know that by adding something like a diablo chip, you can correct that. does the Saleen Powerflash chip do the same? will it automatically adjust or do i need to worry about that? if i have to get that worked on will somewhere like MV performance or Dugan Racing be able to take care of that for me? any help on this would be appreciated.
00s281sc368
New Member
Probablecause said:
yes your speedo will be way off and you'll be putting 20% more miles to the car than what you really do...
The easiest, quickest and cheapest is to send your computer to saleen for recallibration. They do it for only 50 bucks and ship it back the next day. I know many aftermarket chips are not able to recognize and reprogram the saleen computers
Saleen201
Founding Member
00s281sc368 said:yes your speedo will be way off and you'll be putting 20% more miles to the car than what you really do...
The easiest, quickest and cheapest is to send your computer to saleen for recallibration. They do it for only 50 bucks and ship it back the next day. I know many aftermarket chips are not able to recognize and reprogram the saleen computers
To be honest i would probably rather not deal with Saleen. I am about to install some new heads and i was going to get a dyno tune, can they completely override Saleen's tune? What are my options with the Saleen tune?
-Mike
00s281sc368 said:yes your speedo will be way off and you'll be putting 20% more miles to the car than what you really do...
The easiest, quickest and cheapest is to send your computer to saleen for recallibration. They do it for only 50 bucks and ship it back the next day. I know many aftermarket chips are not able to recognize and reprogram the saleen computers
is this something that you did personally? or do you know of people that have? i also am weary of anything but the basics with Saleen. i've heard many stories of generally bad overall service with them. is it as simple as that?
and saleen 201, what heads are you putting on? 2V or 4V? i've got people who yap all of the time for me to put some FRPP 32V heads on my car. it seems to me that i'm better off leaving things as they are than screwing around with anything major like that. i mean, the car is fast as it is and it's my daily driver, i don't need problems.
Saleen201
Founding Member
I bought the SHM Stage 1 P&P PI heads with street/blower cams, i bought the heads about 1.5 years ago but i am in the military and always deployed (first to kuwait then to korea). Knowing what i would do now, i would probably have gone with the 4v heads, or better yet, got a used 4v engine. My car isnt fast, i just had it dynoed a whopping 190 hp 
2001Saleen181
New Member
- Mar 20, 2004
- 193
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Since you are in Georgia, take your car to T&J motorsport. They are well known. I took my Saleen down for a new motor. I know that they just finished a new rear end on one of there cars. They can also re-program your computer.
http://www.modularfordpowerhouse.com/
http://www.modularfordpowerhouse.com/
Saleen201
Founding Member
2001Saleen181 said:
waaittt a minute, your sig says you are in Dover, DE
you might be interested in this: http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?p=4320957#post4320957 -Mike
Dover, DE
2001Saleen181 said:
hey man, i looked around the site. they look like they have their act together... the dude with the Saleen on there, geez, that car means business. that thing would smoke me! i think i'll either call or run over there in person and have a chat. looks like they can do the gears, adjust the timing, recal the computer and then dyno tune. exactly what i need....
00s281sc368
New Member
Probablecause said:
Yes, that was about 2 years ago. I sent my computer to saleen and got it back just 3 days later re-programmed for the 3.55 gear.
