*4.10's and the highway*

i did a lot of reading up on this before i went with 4.10's. it all depends on what your planing to do to your car and your tranny. if your just getting bolt ons with an auto go with 4.10's bolt ons with manual go with 3.73's. with major power adders go with 3.55. im sure someone will disagree but there you go.
 
I got 4.10 gears back in October. IMHO, they are too short for daily driving. On a normal takeoff, 1st and 2nd go by really fast and still I'm barely moving. Before I know it, I'm in 4th.

But I have to admit, when I step on it in 3rd or 4th, it is really fun.

I usually end up cruising around town at 2200 rpms in 4th (about 40?) and about 2500 in 5th (about 70?) on the highway. I don't know exactly what the speeds are because my speedo is way off (thanks to the gears). I know it can be fixed with a SpeedCal, but I haven't gotten around to doing it.

So I would say go with 3.73s if the car is your daily driver. It's a good compromise. You'll still feel a huge difference.

Just my opinion.
 
Cavallo said:
2002 GT Vert here with auto, 3.73 or 4.10 ????

Mod motors like RPM'S more then my 89 Fox which has 3.55.

TIA
I have an auto too. When trying to decide what to buy, I was told that 4.10's were perfect for automatics, some even preferred 4.30's. On the highway, I cruise between 75-80, which puts me around 3000 rpms and makes my exhaust sound awesome, lol. On my last trip from MD to AL, I averaged about 21mpg, and that was through hilly terrain. At the track, my times improved from a 14.3 to 13.5, part of that was learning how to drive and the computer flash I had done. Nothing beats the feeling I get when I jump on the gas (except maybe a KB supercharger) and I haven't stopped smiling yet. :D Bottom line, I love the 4.10's and I personally wouldn't go with anything less.
 
WoW Stacy , thanks for your input.

See we don't speed in WA, top speed on freway is 70 MPH. Avg is 60.

We go maybe 5 mph over and have INSANE traffic.

All I know the car is a PORKER compared to my 89 LX.

Will look into the 4.10's for sure !!
 
Cavallo said:
WoW Stacy , thanks for your input.

See we don't speed in WA, top speed on freway is 70 MPH. Avg is 60.

We go maybe 5 mph over and have INSANE traffic.

No problem. Just glad I can actually give a little help for once. :) I used to live in Tacoma so I can definitely sympathize about the traffic. The only time I got pulled over for speeding was on the freeway out there, and I think I was doing about 72. The officer told me I was doing "well over 70mph". :rolleyes: He let me off with a warning though. WA traffic = :notnice:
 
4.10's around town are :nice: It was not the big of difference for me as some people on here state. It is not like you added a supercharger or something, but it definetly feels quicker. The most noticable thing is how fast it goes through the gears. Around town they really feel like the should of come stock.

For me, the highway is very different. I drive around 80-85 mph when taking road trips (it sure is nice living in FL some times). With my MAC prochamber and magnaflow catback 80 mph is just at the threshold of annoying. You start to get used to the sound since it is low pitched, but after 2 hours I was really glad to be done driving. It does not help that I have no rear seat and upgraded control arms.

My thought on highway driving is that 4.10's are fine if you have a relatively stock car with an exhaust that is not too loud. I would imagine that a stock car with 4.10's would be just fine on the highway. However, with my mods the 4.10's are IMO too much if you want to do a lot of 80mph driving on the highway. If you drive on the highway a lot, and like to drive fast then you would be much better suited to 3.73's.

Just MHO