What Gears????

Wakes4Fun · Feb 14, 2007

^^^ See gas mileage does matter to some people.

Don't get me wrong I love the rumble and power of my V8 but I also want to be able to cruise around and get like 17mpg

final5-0 · Feb 14, 2007

Another Very Important Consideration about ratio selection
which
I completely omitted in the info above

The length of the power band

Ever notice on Dyno Curves how a stock Stang is outta breath
around the 5K point and droppin big time

Head/Cam/Intake Combos which have decent parts selected
that pull to 6K before dropping are not all that uncommon

So ... when you see a Stock or Bolt-On Stang owner make a
statement along the lines of .............

"Steep gears made my 1st gear too short"

Remember ... That fellow has less rpm to work with

Thats why ... Don't Ya See
Steep Ratios just don't work the same for all combos

Sorry about the omission of info above
but
better late than never

btw ... about that gas mileage thing .........

I got a bit more than 19mpg on a little trip several years ago at
Cruise Speeds of 75mph ... most of the time
even with
One little jaunt where I showed my t-lites to a F body of some kind

Grady

go-stang5.0 · Feb 14, 2007

If you dont plan on turning the car into a drag racer..I'd say 3.55's are perfect. Its the best balance of shifting (amount) and highway rpms. You will shift like crazy w/4:10's since your powerband dies out at like 4200rpm. If you could rev to 6k than maybe...but still not for me. But then again I like to turn (open track) and my 331 already has more than enough to overpower the tires in 1st and 2nd so to me any higher ratio is just more noise on the highway and engine wear. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Wakes4Fun · Feb 15, 2007

Thanks for all the help guy...........................................I think I've finally got my new gearing figuered out and hopefully this spring I'll be getting to swap them in

fiveoho · Feb 15, 2007

im pretty much in the same boat as you...or was. i have a 95 GT that is very close to stock. i had 4.10s installed about 6 months ago and i love them. BUT i also do not drive daily. i have a accord for gas mileage . i also done the gear swap because i am planning on a H/C/I 306 in the future. i had 3.55s in before and was pleased with those. very good all around gear i think. the 410s are a blast but my gas mileage did suffer a little.

if its your DD , i would suggest 3.55s maybe no more than 3.73s. just my .02. lots of other guys on here MUCH smarter than i am

yellowclone · Feb 15, 2007

I have 4.10 in my head/cam/intake car and they are perfect. Yeah, you have to work alittle to get traction but it can be done because I have pulled a 1.90 60ft time with 265/35/18 Pirelli street tires (not drag radials). I also get 18.79 mpg with this same combo. I think if you do alot of in town driving that your milage will improve because of less strain on the motor and the rest of the drivetrain. I think for a N/A car they are perfect for our heavier cars. I am, however, probaly not going to like them too much when I get my Procharger on in a few weeks because that will be a totally different animal. Hopefully my drag radials will help and also the fact that im going to a 28" tire.

yellowclone · Feb 15, 2007

Wakes4Fun said:
Thanks for all the help guy...........................................I think I've finally got my new gearing figuered out and hopefully this spring I'll be getting to swap them in

I see you are from Boone, NC. I have been there before and I was wondering how you check your oil because there were no flat areas

final5-0 · Feb 15, 2007

These ........... What gear threads
They have in the past
and
I guess they always will be .........

A hot topic of discussion.

Its kinda funny ... but ... not all that many years ago
and
Right here on this very forum

373's were considered to be ... "Really Steep"
and
A good many peeps were fearful of 355's

Now a Days ... you see many doing 390's & 410's

So you see ... more peeps are doing more research
and
Thinking more for themselves
rather than
Just going along with what ... "They" ... said

No matter if you are talking Ford or Chevy ..........
4 ,6, or 8 cylinder motors ... some things are a constant
when talking about this issue.

A rule of thumb with this gear deal is .......
A change of only 1/4 of a turn is barely noticeable
Soooooo
You typically would wanna do no less than 1/2 of a turn

The thing I've always wondered about
and
You see it talked about over and over

Is the 355 vrs 373 thing

Now you do the math to see ...........
the difference between the ratios of 355 and 373

But ... old thinking dies out hard
and
in this case ... I guess it never will

There is just such a subtle difference between the two

Go for that small bit of performance with the steeper ratio
simply because
There is so little to be gained with the more conservative choice

We are only talking about a difference of .18 of a turn
and
As for the highway RPM thing ...........

The typical range is gonna be ... 100 to 125 RPM difference
YET
You still see the same thinking passed around and around .....

355's are gonna somehow or the other yield a greatly reduced
RPM rate at highway speeds.

What ... "They" ... say
and
The math ... It just don't balance out ...

Just my opinion ... but my sig does show ...
I not only believe it ... I put it in place

Grady

TheDamned · Feb 15, 2007

Those gears threads will never get old

SVT_5.0 · Feb 15, 2007

3.73's

5spd GT · Feb 16, 2007

fiveoho said:
im pretty much in the same boat as you...or was. i have a 95 GT that is very close to stock. i had 4.10s installed about 6 months ago and i love them. BUT i also do not drive daily. i have a accord for gas mileage . i also done the gear swap because i am planning on a H/C/I 306 in the future. i had 3.55s in before and was pleased with those. very good all around gear i think. the 410s are a blast but my gas mileage did suffer a little.

if its your DD , i would suggest 3.55s maybe no more than 3.73s. just my .02. lots of other guys on here MUCH smarter than i am

Another guy with "daily driver" experience

I drove a guys car once with 4.30's...after I got out of it, I said "no thank you"

....

There is a very small difference between 4.10's and 4.30's and 4.30's to 4.56's...

Does that mean we should do it Remember it is just a small difference in rpm vs. performance...

The internet is full of "bigger is better" or "don't fear the gear"...I'm glad more people are thinking for themself and getting more friendly gears

fiveoho · Feb 16, 2007

my car was a daily driver when i first got it. drove it for a little over a year every day with 3.55s. i liked that ratio and probably would not have changed to 410s but i bought that honda. so with that said, i do have "daily driving" experience

rio95 · Feb 16, 2007

4.10 for sure.

Wakes4Fun · Feb 16, 2007

yellowclone said:
I see you are from Boone, NC. I have been there before and I was wondering how you check your oil because there were no flat areas

Luckly my driveway is pretty damn flat. lol

But anyways I've been thinking about it and I've decided I need to do suspension before I do gears and stuff. Eventually I will do gears, not exactly sure what set yet(it's a hard decision) I'm not really cofused about what set to get I just really want to make the right decision

trav_19 · Feb 16, 2007

4.10's no question.... i put 3.73's in my 93 and its a 5 sp and i hate them they suck i wish it had 4.10's ....70 mph with 4.10's your turning what 2600rpm i think its not bad and you should not nothing hardly any mpg loss...and who ever compared 2 to 20 mpg is just trying to be rediculous i know they were not saying those are the two numbers but come on...i noticed no difference it mpg at all if you do maybe 1mpg is a good realization if your concerned with 1mpg i think you need to sell the stang and buy a honda or something, in my auto im considering 4.30's if your cars a stocker go 4.10s their a good gear

5spd GT · Feb 16, 2007

trav_19 said:
4.10's no question.... i put 3.73's in my 93 and its a 5 sp and i hate them they suck i wish it had 4.10's ....70 mph with 4.10's your turning what 2600rpm i think its not bad and you should not nothing hardly any mpg loss...and who ever compared 2 to 20 mpg is just trying to be rediculous i know they were not saying those are the two numbers but come on...i noticed no difference it mpg at all if you do maybe 1mpg is a good realization if your concerned with 1mpg i think you need to sell the stang and buy a honda or something, in my auto im considering 4.30's if your cars a stocker go 4.10s their a good gear

That would be me that said that.

You did not get the point I was trying to make.

If you had two equal cars, same comfort, power, weight, etc for example, would you want to get 20mpg or 2mpg ceterus paribus (all things being equal). The choice should become pretty obvious. Many say, if you own a mustang, why worry about gas mileage. I then revert back to what I just said. We may not have the fuel efficiency of a geo metro, but we still want what we can get.

I see a funny thing, many say that there is not much of a difference between 3.73's and 4.10's, but then they say, my 3.73's "suck"...

Would that not make the 4.10's suck a tad bit less

70mph on the interstate is "slow" for traffic. Most of the time you will putt around at 75-80mph to keep up with traffic. That being said, look for rpms around the 2800-2850 range. Half of your rpm capabilites at just cruise!

Joe 5.0 · Feb 16, 2007

I was VERY happy with the 3.73's I had in my bolt-on 94 GT. 5th gear was usable on the expressway, but with dr's out back 1st was very nice. I would get the jump on LS1's all the time, until around 60mph.

4.10's would def accelerate better, but you'll be shifting alot more, and I dont think they would work as good in a DD.

I have 3.55's in my current car, and I miss the 3.73's. I am putting a blower on though, so 500rwhp + 3.73's would make for a lil difficulty hooking up even on DR's for the street.

Wakes4Fun · Feb 16, 2007

Before I start not caring about my fuel economy I'm going to buy a honda as a DD, then I won't care quite as much about my mustangs gas mileage. But until then it really does matter to me, I mean who wants to spend like $45-50 on gas a week driving back and forth to work and school?

trav_19 · Feb 16, 2007

5spd GT said:
70mph on the interstate is "slow" for traffic. Most of the time you will putt around at 75-80mph to keep up with traffic. That being said, look for rpms around the 2800-2850 range. Half of your rpm capabilites at just cruise!

i dont think 2850 is bad not at all and i could really give a care less about mpg myself i run 110 in my 93 everytime i get gas in it and my old f150 got 7 mpg i like my vehicles big loud and powerful

final5-0 · Feb 16, 2007

I think everybody has some good points here

This info is about the t5 and not aode trans Stangs
also
It is focused around Street applications mostly

I can certainly see how if your Stang is a dd
or
like mine ..... a weekend toy only

It makes a difference in ratio choice

Still ... I'd go 373 before going 355 with either of
those two above examples.

Now ... If I was stock or just bolt on mods only

I would go 373's
however
If I was gonna build a combo to the level of mine
and
It was not a dd ... I'd most likely go 410's

To my way of thinking ... for a stock or bolt on only dd Stang
and
With no plans for h/c/i ... I most likely would not go beyond 373's
because
The OEM power band is too low and short for 410's

It really is all about application IMHO

I'd never wanna go back to my hot rod being my only
mode of transportation

For me ... that would take away too many options I'd not be
willing to give up

A steeper gear ratio ... Well ... its just one of many

Grady

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