yellow1995Cobra said:
If you race the car at all, and plan to keep it n/a for a while, then get the 4.10's. 4.10's are ideal for an n/a 302, you will get the most out of it at the track.
When I bought my car, it had 3.27's in it. Needless to say I wanted more kick, so I ordered some 3.73's. Mistake! I bought into the hype of the shoddy gas mileage, high revving engine, blah blah blah...so I got the 3.73's put in and it WAS a step up, but not as big as I had hoped. It wasn't long after that before I had 4.10's in the car, and man what a difference!
Now, I wouldn't recommend going with 4.10's if you have big commutes on the highway to work or school...I wouldn't want to drive 45 minutes at 85mph with them every day. But for around town and the occasional long trip, they are fine! The difference in RPM's between 3.73's and 4.10's at 60mph is only like 200 RPM's so don't believe the guys who say you'll be crusing around at 4k all day.
Advantages of 4.10's:
- Gets you out of the hole much quicker than 3.73's
- Harder to bog the car (actually easier to pull out and/or launch)
- Top end speed goes down but you get there a HELL of a lot faster...besides don't be an idiot and go 140 on public roads anyway
- 4th gear pulls hard as hell, and 5th gear is totally useable; you no longer have to worry about downshifting to pass or to go up hills
Gas mileage isn't much worse than 3.73's and traction isn't the huge problem that people make it out to be. I find that 99% of people who bash 4.10's either have 3.73's and are trying to justify their purchase, or have never run a 4.10 gear and do NOT speak from experience.
FWIW, I raced a 95 GT about a year ago from a red light. We had similar mods at the time, except he had 3.73's and I had my 4.10's. I pulled him hard out of the hole and just kept on pulling. We pulled over in a parking lot to talk, and the first thing he said was "Damn, I tell you what, I'm getting 4.10's!"
