Why dont people run higher gears?

beaterstanger · Jun 17, 2005

A new 05 GT with 4.55 gears and slicks ran real low 12's. People say that 4.10's and higher are "not streetable". WTF??? Just for comparrison the final drive ratio on a honda civic is 4.31. I used to have a civic and I guess it feels wierd to not shift so often, just the opposite of what i'm reading here. Stock gearing has a top speed of like 160 mph, but who needs it. Your a f**king idiot if you go any faster than 125.

300bhp/ton · Jun 17, 2005

beaterstanger said:
A new 05 GT with 4.55 gears and slicks ran real low 12's. People say that 4.10's and higher are "not streetable". WTF??? Just for comparrison the final drive ratio on a honda civic is 4.31. I used to have a civic and I guess it feels wierd to not shift so often, just the opposite of what i'm reading here. Stock gearing has a top speed of like 160 mph, but who needs it. Your a f**king idiot if you go any faster than 125.

I agree in principle, but there's more to it than that.

What you need to do is look at the mph per 1000rpm for each gear.

Also you'll find that unless setup running a really numerically high ratio will cuase the engine to 'over rev' easily.

Also gear box ratios, wheel size and engine rpms all have a bearing. Also I'm not sure what bearing it has but fwd and rwd will also require different ratio's.

beaterstanger · Jun 17, 2005

Sorry, I got kinda bitter that last part. If I get gears I am gonna get 4.30's because its like people say a civic is real good at acceleration. It's all because of the gears. 4.30 gears in a mustang is a lot like a civic with 300 horsepower.

hotdog71 · Jun 17, 2005

If your talking about 0-60 mph racing then 4.30 is probably the way to go but @ 70 mph your going to be running around 3000 rpm so be ready for really crappy mpg and if you race at the drag strip you will most likely get spanked by 3.73 and 4.10 owners if your both running the same hp.
The 3.73 trap sightly faster then 4.10's a couple mph.

If you only want to spank civics you can do it with stock gears anyway

FalconGuy016 · Jun 17, 2005

I agree the stock gearing on our cars is pretty damn low. But when upgrading, you cant compare gear ratio's on different cars because there are so many factors in what actually hits the wheels. You can't just compare the 4.10 vs 4.31, but 300 bp already said that.

Gas mileage, people dont want to run 5 mpg all day long because of their gear ratios.

You can rev small 4 cylinder engines higher all the time and not hurt it like you would a V8 like ours.

cougar694u · Jun 17, 2005

beaterstanger said:
A new 05 GT with 4.55 gears and slicks ran real low 12's. People say that 4.10's and higher are "not streetable". WTF??? Just for comparrison the final drive ratio on a honda civic is 4.31. I used to have a civic and I guess it feels wierd to not shift so often, just the opposite of what i'm reading here. Stock gearing has a top speed of like 160 mph, but who needs it. Your a f**king idiot if you go any faster than 125.

There's no one that said you can't do it, it's a matter of preference. Most people out there want to change their gears and not loose so much MPG. If you change to 4.10's, it's still streetable, but your gas mileage is going to suffer, and you'll be running in the 3000 rpm range, vs the 2100 RPM range.

The reason 4 cylinder cars have different gear ratios is for a few reasons. One is that they can turn higher RPM's and are still economical at higher RPMs. My eclipse redlined at 7250, so cruising at 3200 wasn't a big deal (came factory with 3.94's). When you're in a mustang that redlines at 6000 (or 5800, or whatever), you're at over 50% of the motors usable RPM's, it starts to kill your gas mileage.

Another reason is that 4 cylinders don't have the torque that we have, and don't start building power until higher in the RPM range (3500+), so they need different gearing to help it pick up better.

Look at diesel engines and their gearing. They typically only turn < 4000 RPM's.

**EDIT**
If you go from stock 3.27's (or whatever stock is), to 4.30's, or even 4.10's. Try driving around without using 5th gear and see how it is. It may be a little higher in RPM's than that when cruising.

edbo · Jun 17, 2005

It's mainly preference. I got 4.10s and very happy as compared to the stock 2.73s I used to have. But I should have listened to my mechanic and got the 3.90s which he said seemed the better choice between 3.73s/4.10s. I would have at least like to have tried something a little different, not that I'm complaining but seems I get pretty 'trigger happy' on the 4.10s now. I think 4.55s are just pure racing gears and I have only one track run and don't plan to run much more except to time future mods.

mrvax · Jun 17, 2005

I had 2.73's stock. Unless you do a lot of highway driving and snow driving, I see no reason to go for less than 4.10's on a GT. I am happy with my 3.73's but would go higher if my situation was different.

DBMSTNG · Jun 17, 2005

beaterstanger said:
A new 05 GT with 4.55 gears and slicks ran real low 12's. People say that 4.10's and higher are "not streetable". WTF??? Just for comparrison the final drive ratio on a honda civic is 4.31. I used to have a civic and I guess it feels wierd to not shift so often, just the opposite of what i'm reading here. Stock gearing has a top speed of like 160 mph, but who needs it. Your a f**king idiot if you go any faster than 125.

4.55 gears aren't going to be very street friendly unless you are light on the gas or have an awesome rear suspension and tires. plus that 05 GT makes a hell of alot more power at higher rpms than a 2V.

4cyl cars have short gears because they have no torque. they need shorter gears.

people also don't use higher gears because of gas mileage.

04GT · Jun 17, 2005

I turn 2,500 RPM @ 75 MPH and I still get 18-20 MPG.

twogts4us · Jun 17, 2005

beaterstanger said:
People say that 4.10's and higher are "not streetable".

Who are these people saying this? 4.10's are perfect for the SN95. I'd even consider 4.30's.

lgndracer · Jun 17, 2005

The other thing is tall gears can upset the car going into a turn as you let off, unless you are really smooth. You want to be able to roll and to keep your speed up.
Oh, I forgot, 98% of this fourm only dirves in straight lines....

I have 3:55's now, and really don't have much 1st gear if I'm really in it. I may do 3:73 though, as I wouldn't mind a little more acceleration through 3rd and 4th.

Magius231 · Jun 17, 2005

I like my 4.30 gears but they are really on the ragged edge of streetable. Few things I don't like about them:

taking off from a stoplight is like getting into a race everytime because you shift so fast

MPG sufferes on highway travel, not so much around town though I noticed. I still get ~20-21mpg going to work but on highway trips I get ~22-23mpg instead of ~26-27mpg like I used to get

forget about highway races. Anything starting at 70+mph you run out of gear way to early and end up shifting into 5th, which is where the other guy smokes you. Keep in mind with stock tire size 4th maxes out at like 104mph with 4.30's...of course thats more than enough speed to get you killed or in a lot of trouble.

overall if your staying N/A and mainly race the 4.30's are ok, street cars probably want to back it down some, and anything with a blower is going to be useless with 4.30's unless you like running slicks all the time.

Dark Knight GT · Jun 17, 2005

I drive my car on the street quite frequently with all the mods in my sig. A set of 4.30's with a high stall torque converter is quite bad ass on the street. You should see what happens when I punch the gas from a dead stop.

I guess I should also mention I can still see better than 20mpg on the interstate cruising at steady speeds of 65-70mph. If you're really concerned about gas mileage, then you have the wrong car. Just my .02 cents.

BlackenedSVT · Jun 17, 2005

twogts4us said:
Who are these people saying this? 4.10's are perfect for the SN95. I'd even consider 4.30's.

STREETABLE..yes. Practical? That depends, on the highway they are almost useless. 4.30s would be even worse. Try racing on the highway, you wont last past 100mph. Not to mention half the time you might be cruising at like 80 at a unecessarily high RPM.

Cobra Jay · Jun 17, 2005

4.56 gears and a t-56 6 speed with a .50 OD is the way to go if you're worried about hi revs and freeway driving.

That is, if you NEED 4.56's!

hognutz · Jun 17, 2005

there is more math too it than you are posting.

with stock redline and limiter in place you will run out of gear in 1:1 eventually.

there is also the function of gas milage, driveablity etc. your cruise rpm gets worse as the gears get deeper.

I am pretty sure 4.56 would be to low with stock limiter in place on 99-04. I think 4.30's are what you would want.

now in cobra with more rpm potential that is not the case.

I don't know what the rev limiter is at in the 05's.

BlackenedSVT · Jun 17, 2005

GT JAY said:
4.56 gears and a t-56 6 speed with a .50 OD is the way to go if you're worried about hi revs and freeway driving.

That is, if you NEED 4.56's!

I would LOVE to get a 6spd cobra and some 4.30 gears

hognutz · Jun 17, 2005

4.30 would be fine racing down the highway.

5th gear .67 that is really high. go check out the gear calculators with that gear. you sill have 150+ top speed.

as for .5 to one 6 speed that would have to be custom ordered. the cobra 6 speed is .62 6th gear. the f body's, vett's, vipers have .5 6th

4.56+ .5 6th +450lbs+ =200mph though that kicks ass.

Mike97gt · Jun 17, 2005

beaterstanger said:
people say a civic is real good at acceleration

the only people that said that are retards and civic owners.

4.30's is the most i would go with the stock height tires. because you will run out of gear in the 1/4 you can't use 5th in a drag race. with a taller tire you can go higher. see the taller the tire will act as a numerically lower gear ratio.

Why dont people run higher gears?

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