SOTP feel slower after Gear Install?

S

svogt

Member
Oct 21, 2002
36
0
6
Chicago
#1
Hey all,
I had the gears in my car changed from 3.23 to 3.73 in a 2000 Gt.

Q1.For some reason the car does not feel as quick or smooth when I accelerate. It feels as if the engine is straining harder to do some of the same stuff. I also though it would be real easy to light them up and it seems that this is untrue. I am unsure of what to expect? I thought the gears would give the car more tourque and acceleration. I know I will lose out top end but the I thought the SOTP feeling would be great?

Q2. How far off will the speedo be now? I had somone pace me and they said they were doing 55 while mine read 60. we did this through different MPH it varied at certain points but seemed to maintain a constant 5-6 MPH off.
I thought the gear change would be more drastic(ie i would feel it faster). Is there a way to check the ratio by turning the wheels or something?

The car has the following:

70MM TB
Accufab Plenum
CAI
This weekend
Long tubes
BBK X pipe w/Cats
Flows American thunder cat back
Steeda Pulleys

Next summer CAMs (comp# 262ah)

What HP could I expect? (without cams) Should I get a Chip/Diablo Tuner
Are they worth the money?

any help :shrug:
 
#5
svogt said:
Hey all,
I had the gears in my car changed from 3.23 to 3.73 in a 2000 Gt.

Q1.For some reason the car does not feel as quick or smooth when I accelerate. It feels as if the engine is straining harder to do some of the same stuff. I also though it would be real easy to light them up and it seems that this is untrue. I am unsure of what to expect? I thought the gears would give the car more tourque and acceleration. I know I will lose out top end but the I thought the SOTP feeling would be great?

Q2. How far off will the speedo be now? I had somone pace me and they said they were doing 55 while mine read 60. we did this through different MPH it varied at certain points but seemed to maintain a constant 5-6 MPH off.
I thought the gear change would be more drastic(ie i would feel it faster). Is there a way to check the ratio by turning the wheels or something?
any help :shrug:
Click to expand...

this might be a bit silly , but what does SOTP mean ? is it Step on the peddal!?
 
#11
svogt said:
Hey all,
I had the gears in my car changed from 3.23 to 3.73 in a 2000 Gt.

Q2. How far off will the speedo be now? I had somone pace me and they said they were doing 55 while mine read 60. we did this through different MPH it varied at certain points but seemed to maintain a constant 5-6 MPH off.

any help :shrug:
Click to expand...

That's about right, if they were going 55 mph and their speedometer is correct, you should be showing just under 63 mph if you changed to 3.73s from stock 3.27s (not 3.23s).

Yes you can determine the gear ratio by jacking up a rear wheel and counting the approximate number of revolutions by the drive shaft per complete rotation of the rear wheel, then comparing that to known Ford gear ratios (2.73, 3.08, 3.27, 3.55, 3.73, 3.90, 4.10, etc.).

A flash tuner would be a good idea, both for HP and to correct your speedo for the gear change.
 
#13
svogt said:
Hey all,
I had the gears in my car changed from 3.23 to 3.73 in a 2000 Gt.

Q1.For some reason the car does not feel as quick or smooth when I accelerate. It feels as if the engine is straining harder to do some of the same stuff. I also though it would be real easy to light them up and it seems that this is untrue. I am unsure of what to expect? I thought the gears would give the car more tourque and acceleration. I know I will lose out top end but the I thought the SOTP feeling would be great?

Q2. How far off will the speedo be now? I had somone pace me and they said they were doing 55 while mine read 60. we did this through different MPH it varied at certain points but seemed to maintain a constant 5-6 MPH off.
I thought the gear change would be more drastic(ie i would feel it faster). Is there a way to check the ratio by turning the wheels or something?

The car has the following:

70MM TB
Accufab Plenum
CAI
This weekend
Long tubes
BBK X pipe w/Cats
Flows American thunder cat back
Steeda Pulleys

Next summer CAMs (comp# 262ah)

What HP could I expect? (without cams) Should I get a Chip/Diablo Tuner
Are they worth the money?

any help :shrug:
Click to expand...


Is your car an automatic? I'd imagine it must be. My 98GT had 4.10 gears and it honestly didn't feel different AT ALL to me when I drove it. The only time I would notice the change is when I would launch off the line, and be able to gain ground on some cars easier.
 
#16
my_03GT said:
I believe when I went to 3;73's my spedo was off 7 MPH, I would show 62 while actually doing 55.
Click to expand...

That's about right. 3.73s are a 14% shorter gear than 3.27s. Therefore, one could expect the indicated MPH to be about 14% higher than the actual. 7/55=12.7%, close enough to 14%... Given those numbers svogt supplied, he's probably got the 3.73 cogs in there too.

There's no question that "even just" 3.73s (as opposed to 4.10s or 4.30s that others recommend) should supply a better punch in the back. Assuming 1st gear and 300 peak crank ft-lbs, 3.27s would give 3316 ft-lbs at the hubs. 3.73s would give 3782. From an instantaneous torque perspective, this would be the equivalent of leaving the 3.27s on and bolting a mod onto your engine that gave 42 ft-lbs more torque at the peak (i.e. 342 ft-lbs versus 300.)

You'd definitely feel that.

Is it possible the guy doing the job did it poorly? For instance, were the brakes re-assembled properly and aren't dragging? How easily does the car roll in neutral?
 
#18
UDTBadkarma said:
Is your car an automatic? I'd imagine it must be. My 98GT had 4.10 gears and it honestly didn't feel different AT ALL to me when I drove it. The only time I would notice the change is when I would launch off the line, and be able to gain ground on some cars easier.
Click to expand...

Same here. The most noticeable difference (as far as improved acceleration) for me was that my car pulled harder on OD (4th).
 
#20
svogt said:
Hey all,
I had the gears in my car changed from 3.23 to 3.73 in a 2000 Gt.

Q1.For some reason the car does not feel as quick or smooth when I accelerate. It feels as if the engine is straining harder to do some of the same stuff. I also though it would be real easy to light them up and it seems that this is untrue. I am unsure of what to expect? I thought the gears would give the car more tourque and acceleration. I know I will lose out top end but the I thought the SOTP feeling would be great?

Q2. How far off will the speedo be now? I had somone pace me and they said they were doing 55 while mine read 60. we did this through different MPH it varied at certain points but seemed to maintain a constant 5-6 MPH off.
I thought the gear change would be more drastic(ie i would feel it faster). Is there a way to check the ratio by turning the wheels or something?

The car has the following:

70MM TB
Accufab Plenum
CAI
This weekend
Long tubes
BBK X pipe w/Cats
Flows American thunder cat back
Steeda Pulleys

Next summer CAMs (comp# 262ah)

What HP could I expect? (without cams) Should I get a Chip/Diablo Tuner
Are they worth the money?

any help :shrug:
Click to expand...
I think you need to recalibrate your butt dyno

-wade
 
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