InfiniteReality

iTrader: (6)

Kicking a few mods around and wanted some input.

My car is mostly driven on street and 2-3 track trips per year on street tires... Car has lid, filter, no cats and QTEC. Which should I do first? 4.10s or 3200 Stall??

TIA!

12secSS

iTrader: (30)

I would go with the converter first and foremost. That way you can keep your gas mileage when the TCC locks, yet put a hurting on cars that currently either keep up or just barely edge you out. The gear will need programming and will seriously affect your mileage. Plus it will turn higher rpms, which could be come annoying while cruising for you and/or passengers.

SmokingWS6

iTrader: (1)

Converter for sure.

I'm not sure you'd enjoy a 4.10 auto car if you on the highway a lot.

Urban Legend

iTrader: (5)

Do converter and 3.73 gears. You will not regret it.

Scotty-Z

iTrader: (5)

Converter for sure. It will get you better gains than the gears ever could.

Mike2000Z28

I'm in the same situation but for an everyday driver isn't a converter going to be just as enjoyable hittin lights then the highway with the gears.

Roarin_8

iTrader: (5)

Converter first. I still have the 2.73s but the car has awaken sorta speak, she pulls alot better.

blue2000Z28

I would also say coverter....

InfiniteReality

iTrader: (6)

Just curious but why choose a converter over gears?

blue2000Z28

because your converter has the opertunitony(sp) to drop the most et out of anything you can do. I have heard some guys even say they got more bang out of there converter then they did a cam..now granted they went with a pretty big cam, becuase of the the size of the converter...so put 2 and 2 together, your one happy dude....remeber if you plan on getting a cam on down the road, depending on the size, your going to need the right converter

KraZy

iTrader: (4)

I dropped .5 in the quarter with a 3500 stall. On stock tires, if I put better tires on there it would have been more

blue2000Z28

See, See what I tell ya?? huh? go witha converter..youll be happier....

nuzee

iTrader: (2)

If you get most of your driving enjoyment from full throttle acceleration, then a converter will be the better choice. If you get most of your enjoyment from part throttle acceleration, then gears will be better.

4.10 gears are steep to run with a 4l60e & 26" tires. 1st gear will come & go very quickly. You might run out of gear before you hit the 1/4 mi traps and have to upshift into 4th depending on your shift points etc. 3.73s are better matched to the 4l60e & 26" tire for the strip. 3.42s are a nice street/strip compromise. I roll thru the 1/4 traps at ~5500 with the 3.42s. Also, the 3.42s improved my around town gas mileage vs. the 2.73s that I had originally.

Scotty-Z

iTrader: (5)

Yes indeed. It is pretty easy to see that a converter is the next best gain after nitrous. Nothing else can get you such an amazing gain unless you go with just an absolutely massive race cam.
Some people gain as much as .7 or .8 with a stall and some good tires. Almost a full second! The bare minimum that I've heard in terms of gains is .4. Even that is an amazing gain, but the average seems to be about half a second.

Scotty-Z

iTrader: (5)

As untrue as that first sounds, I think I can believe it. Lower gears like the 3.42s would normally decrease mileage, but since they'd be tightening up the feel of a converter and therefore making it not take as much throttle to get going, I can believe it.

The Sad

iTrader: (8)

I disagree with your first statement a little. I guess it depends on how much part throttle you use. I love my converter, changes the whole feel of the car. WOT it is a blast, but even part throttle gradual acceleration, the RPMs stay up higher, not the huge drop when it shifts (some people can't even tell mine shifts if they aren't paying attention), and is fun.

Get converter first.

nuzee

iTrader: (2)

During slow speed traffic with 2.73 gears, I would spend alot of time in either 1st or 2nd gear. With the 3.42s, I would get into 3rd gear much quicker and lug along at a slower rpm. It is very traffic speed dependent if this gear change can improve gas mileage, it did for me.

deauxt

Well Del, there ya go. Go for the converter. Go ahead and order it and I'll help you put it in.

josh99ta

iTrader: (1)

If yo've got 2.73s I'd do gears first (gasp). My converter did help the car alot as I did it first (3200 stall), but the car still sucked because of the 2.73 gears. Not really an issue on the street but it just annoyed me at the track shifting a few hundred feet before the traps and having the car fall on it's face (even with the converter). My 3.42 swap made a heck of a difference and while its not as SOTP as the converter is, it made the car more peppy and responsive, and it's a good "base mod" in that once you get the gears you can see how the car feels, and choose your converter after that (I wouldn't go with the 3200 unless you had 2.73s and planned on keeping them).

Maybe I just say that because I did a converter first and gears later, and dont know how much of a difference a gear swap can make by itself. I know from stock-> converter and then later on doing converter->gears, the gears made more of a difference IMO.

If you've got 3.23s it's a no-brainer, converter all the way (3500 minimum). I just HATE 2.73 gears.

nuzee

iTrader: (2)

I respect your disagreement. It does depend alot on how much throttle is used. Imagine if you had your TC but could never go WOT, not as much fun. But with gears, low-throttle, mid-throttle, & full throttle acceleration is improved.

IIRC, gears initially improved my ETs ~0.15, then after finding traction it gave me a solid 0.25 improvement. My 3500 TC gave me an initial ~0.35 improvement. I'm thinking I can get another 0.1 when I find more traction.

No dispute about the performance gains from the TC being better than gears. But for some people, who do not go to the track and just want an overall driveabilty/responsiveness improvement at all throttle openings, gears can be a better choice.