DeViOuSwOn

Before I dump money into full exhaust, cam, Tc...How bad are these 2.73's hurting my car? I see so many cars switching to 3.42's or bigger, but then again I see so many people sticking with their small *** gears because they claim it does not make that big of a difference.
My goals again are full exhaust, cam, TC and a tire... Low 12's...
TJ

josh99ta

iTrader: (1)

With all of that stuff, a decent cam, and some tuning, you should easily get low 12s unless your car is just a slug (like mine). 3.42s really woke my car up. It was making me mad shifting into third gear just a few hundred feet before the finish line. I had a converter, and I was getting good shift extension, but it would just take forever for the car to get through a gear. Driveability hasn't suffered one bit from my change from 2.73s to 3.42s, and the car is much more responsive to throttle input, and it gets through the gears much quicker, which eliminated "dead spots" like my 2.73s had, even with the converter and shift extension. I think its the general opinion that LS1s like to rev. They peak high in the RPM range in torque, and they can breathe very well up top. Getting some gear that will get them into that range, through it, and into the next gear right back in the sweet spot does wonders IMO, converter or no converter. Best single mod I've done, even over the converter (and I've had two converters, 3200 and 3500 stalls).

DeViOuSwOn

Thanks for the advice...
TJ

Martingale

I've never owned a 2.73 car, just 3.23 cars. When does the 2.73 cars shift into 3rd? My car with 3.23's will run second gear up to about 85. I think the A4 needs more gear then 3.23's with the stock converter.

Ragtop 99

iTrader: (7)

2.73 car makes it to about 100 mph in 2nd.

I agree; a stock converter car needs 3.73s. however 3.23s and a 3500 stall are a killer street combo.

DeViOuSwOn

What about a 3500-3800 TCI/Midwest with a stock 2.73? I like the fact that a 2.73 is not breaking anytime soon, but it's an auto so that decreases the chances anyway.

TJ

BBQLS1

I'd figure putting in some 3:73's or 4:10's would put you into the 12's in the first place. Go on and get a 12 bolt with the gears and you will be well on your way.

BBQLS1

https://ls1tech.com/forums/gears-axles/284012-a4-gains-seen-switching-3-23-3-73-a.html

Maybe this thread will help.

GM Muscle

iTrader: (9)

That's actually a pretty good all around combo. If you go with a 2.5 STR the converter will still work well if you wanted to jump to 3.23s or even 3.42s (you'll need a sticky drag radial). If you want to stick with 2.73s or 3.23s, Midwest has a 2.66 str converter that just came out and sounds like it would work well. I'm sure TCI can do just about anything you need too. I would put the money into the converter and full bolt ons before I started throwing money at the rear. Athough, depending on what size cam your looking for you will more than likley end up doing a gear swap.

Ragtop 99

iTrader: (7)

A Yank SS 3600 or TCI 3000 - 3500 or Vig 2800 would do wonders to your car.

DeViOuSwOn

The more I think about this gear issue... I keep remembering racing my buddies 02 Z. I had him out of the hole, and up until 70 or so he began to catch up ( I was stock and he had a lid and catback, not a big difference but 98 vs 02, wasnt expecting anything different with him pulling back up) but once I hit about 90 it feels like my car shuts down. I also think of going to the track, right before the 1320 mark, it's going to shift into third and the rpm's are gling to drop out of the power band. i think in my case a bigger gear would be more beneficial over a TC, if im not mistaken.
TJ

Ragtop 99

iTrader: (7)

The converters I sugested will eliminate the 1-2 dead spot and help a bit on the 2-3 dead spot. I'll admit that to total cure the 2-3 upshift takes a 4000 stall and drivability would suck on 2.73s. Overall, a 2.73 car with a decent converter will whip a 3.73 car with stock converter.

If your car is dying on the top end, maybe headers and/or a tune should be your next mod (after the converter). My car pulled nicely to 6200 when I was bolt-ons (pre-LS6 intake too). Remember his 02 compared to your car, his car had: lid, LS6 intake, better exhaust manifolds, catback, and slightly different cam. You would really hope that he would have at least a 20 HP advantage on you, with a lot of the gain on the top end.

DeViOuSwOn

Here is where I am at now. After talking to a few guys I have come up with a plan. Tires are first but here is what I am looking at.
-Nitto 555R's
-Fuddle racing TC-3600-3800 with a 2.6 or 2.7 STR ( make up for that lil *** gear)
-Longtubes, H-Pipe, No cats
-Tune for converter and Longtubes

How does this look?
TJ

GM Muscle

iTrader: (9)

Looks good, probrably stick with the 2.6 str just incase you do step up the gears alittle. That might save you the trouble of having to send it out for a new stator. It should be a nice tight combo though and I'm sure you'll be really happy with it.

rotwiler

iTrader: (1)

Switching from 2:73's to 3:42's gave me a .5 gain in the 1/4 mile. My typical times with a lid and catback and 2:73's were 13.7 with a best of 13.54 on a very cold day and great traction. With just the addition of 3:42's I ran a best of 13.15 and typical 13.20 even on very hot days on street tires. I bought a cheap yank stealth stall and so far have been running 13.3's due to traction. But car is alot better out of the hole. Once the Drag Radials go on in the summer I should easily hit 12.8's. My 60 foot times with the stock 2:73's on Dayton Datona Zr tires was 2.2's, with no other mods and just the 3:42's my 60 foot times were 1.95's, with the addition of just the stall converter my 60 foot time went up to 2.0's to 2.1's becasue traction is a issue now, but will change in better weather and tires. With the stall in my times are about the same as before even with a worst 60 foot time, so it shows I have more power hitting the wheels, I just need to get it to hook up now.