blake0024

ok so i have decided to put in a set of 3.73 gears in my recently purchased 1998 z28 a4. i was told that it would give me the most bang for the buck at this stage of modifying my car (i currently only have intake and exhaust mods). just a few questions before i order them... any help would be appreciated

1.) do you feel this will give me the most improvement in acceleration for my daily driver (other than nos obviously)

2.) does anyone have an idea what kind of gas mileage drop i will experience? (i currently have 2.73 gears)

3.) i am assuming i will have to either have someone professionally tune my car or buy a programmer to fix my speedometer... is this correct, and if so is it the only thing i will need to have adjusted

4.) what brand for gears and what specs. i was told: richmond series 2/ 7.5 inch gm 10 bolt with the full installation kit. i plan to purchase these from summitracing.com

once again thanks to anyone who can offer any help!!!

Gold Z

iTrader: (3)

You posted in the wrong forum but I'll tell you that whoever told you that rear gears were the best bang for the buck was absolutely wrong. A midrange converter, 3200-3800 stall, will usually cut a full half second, .50, off your quarter mile times. The best you can hope for with gears is around .15 seconds.

blake0024

thanks for the info... the reason that i wasnt leaning towards a stall is simply because i dont really take my car to the track much, and most of my racing is done from a 30 roll or faster... i figured goin from a 2.73 to 3.73 would make a bigger difference... guess i was wrong, if a stall was out of the question what would you do... i have around 500 to spend already have intake, bellows, maf, ported tb, intake manifold, air lid, and a cut out. thanks again

blind527

iTrader: (8)

Not necessarily, with an upgrade from 2.73 to 3.73, you could see as much as a .300 gain in the quarter. But, technically, whoever told you that is wrong. Torque converters are much more efficient, and knock a shitload of time off your E/T's.

You'll do better from a roll with 3.73 gears in that auto.

blake0024

thanks... i guess the main reason i havent considered a stall much is because i am not clear on how they work... this is probably wrong, but i was under the impression that stalls only were beneficial from a dead stop where you could hold the car back with your breaks i wasnt sure if it worked like that, or if the car just didnt take off until you reached the rpm level of the stall. also i figured that a stall would cause me serious traction problems from the start. could you explain to me exactly how one works, or possibly give me the ups and downs of a stall, and will one help me from a roll like gears would? please help!

blind527

iTrader: (8)

You can drive the car normally with a stall, like you do now. A stalls main benefit is to LAUNCH at the given RPM *which would be in your powerband* instead of launching at such a low power level. Stalls won't give you serious traction problems, just get yourself some drag radials. It all depends on the STR, and the stall rate itself. However, with a stall, the transmission will slip a little, slightly bringing up the RPM's for your car to start moving. But the stall won't "stall" until you hold the brake, and then bring it up to the RPM's.

The pros of a stall are simply insane launches, and a half a second off your E/T's. The cons of it are little worse gas mileage *you're going to get the same with gears*.

If I were you, I would get both of them put in. I got a good deal on a set of AAM gears, and got them. Now I just have to get my stall, and have the gears and stall put in together.

Gold Z

iTrader: (3)

Before you take advice from someone who doesn't even have a stall......1. Read all you can on converters in this forum, go way back, read until you have a headache. It will be hard to seperate the facts from the BS. Ignore posts from people who don't have converters. 2. Call a few converter manufacturers and talk to their tech reps about what you want. Tell them why you are hesitant to buy a converter. Ask them lots of questions. Write down who they are and what they say to keep it all straight. 3. Go to various hot rod gathering places and find f-bodies with aftermarket stall converters in them. Ask the owners questions. People love to talk about their cars so don't be shy. Beg a ride so you can see and feel for yourself what a stall will actually do for you. 4. By this time you will be totally confused.....well, let's hope not, but you will have enough info to make an informed decision. If all that is too much work then just take the advice of someone who has been hotrodding and racing longer than 95% of this board has been alive, who has ran at least one of almost every brand of converter made for our cars, who runs a 4l60E tranny behind a 600+ rwhp engine and it lives while everybody else bitches about what a bad transmission it is (thanks Rock-On!), and who runs 6.7s in the eighth in his full weight, air conditioned, daily driver street Camaro. Like me for instance......and just buy a midrange converter, 3200 to 3800 stall, and you will be tickled pink at the performance gains from a stop and from a roll. We won't even talk about shift extensions.....

blind527

iTrader: (8)

Because I don't have a stall in THIS car means I don't know what I'm talking about?

Sunset'01Z

iTrader: (10)

from what i've read, gears will give you more of the "seat of the pants" feel while cruising around, while the converter will feel more sluggish untill you nail the throttle, and shine above the gears.