What gears should i run on my new Yank ss3800 its a A4 with boltons borla and cut out.....what gear setup should i go with?BTW i got a MTI X1 cam also installing with my Yank... thanks in advance

 

How serious are you (not very if you're running a 3800 stall)? Your stock 3.23s will do alot more than you might think. I take it this is for 1/4 mile drag racing with slicks?

I'd stay where you are. There's very little to gain with gears.

 

Save your money for a 12-bolt or a 9in and get a gear when you upgrade. 3.73 for 12 or a 3.70 for a 9in.

 

That X1 cam will like to be revved. I think a 3.73 or 4.10 would be worthwhile as long as you have the tire to hold it. I've had good luck with 26X10 Et Drags. I've also had good luck with the factory 10-bolt, as have many other light A4's

 

Hey Colonel, I have a Turbo 400 w/ 4000 stall in my car now, and I need to be able to cruise @ decent speeds on the highway, cuz the car is still my daily driver, since you think his stock 3.23's will do good and that he wouldn't get much out of goin to a 3.73 or 4.11, would the same go for me, like would I be good with the 3.42's or do I need to get a gear vendors overdrive and step up to like a 4.11 or something? I'm just curious, cuz I have a lot of friends that are tellin me i'm gonna be a dog on motor cuz I don't have enough gear, and then I have other friends tellin me that the 3.42's are perfect and it's gonna be real fast! Thanks in advance for any info you can give me!

 

Devon, it depends on what kind of 60 ft times you expect.

Your TH400 has a 2.48 1st gear stock but it can be changed to a 2.75.

2.48 x 3.42 = 8.48

This would be the same overall gearing as an A4 (3.06 1st) with a theoretical rearend ratio of 2.77. So basically it'll be like an A4 with 2.73 gears when you launch...not that that is too terribly bad a thing if you're using the right converter and if your goals aren't extremely lofty.

Make it a 2.75 1st gear with 3.42s (9.405 final drive) and that's like an A4 with a 3.07 rearend gear. That's getting better.

I guess the question is, how hard do you want to launch?

 

It has the 2.75 first gear, sorry forgot to mention that, my bad! I'd like to really get some good times out of the car, so what do you suggest, the gear vendors and like 4.11 gears, or higher, 4.30? Or do you think i'll do ok with the 3.42's? And when I get a rear, i'm probably gonna get a Ford 8.8" conversion, I was gonna get that and get 3.55's in it, and then maybe start savin for the gearvendors and then up the gear, but if it's not necessary, i'd rather save the $2200, could use that to get myself a set of heads!

 

On another note, do you think that i'd be able to cruise at a decent speed on the highway (w/o the revs bein up too much) with a 275/60-15 tire out back if I upgraded to 3.73's, if the 3.73's would make a big diff and a better setup, and I could still cruise, i'd definately be willing to upgrade (or 3.70's with the new rear when I get it)!

PS - Just so you don't think i'm weird or something for getting a Turbo 400 when I only have cam and bolt-on's, the reason I got it, was because I was sick of constantly breaking and replacing clutches and tranny's w/ my 6-speed, so I just decided to go overboard and get something that shouldn't break, and I do plan on having a bigger motor in the car sometime in the near future with a lot of spray or just built stock cube motor with a lot of spray, still undecided and it depends on budget, so I figured why not get something that will be able to handle it instead of having to lay out more money in the future!

 

"I'd like to really get some good times"

What's your idea of good times? Are 1.5 60 foot times good enough or are you shooting for 1.4s? Possible low 1.4s? It just depends on how serious you are. If you're looking for 1.4s or even low 1.5s, I'd probably suggest a 12-bolt rearend as well.

 

Sorry I wasn't more specific, i'm not sure what kind of 60' times I can get on cam only and didn't want to sound too over optimistic, but yeah if I could cut 1.5's cam only, that would be sweet, but don't know if that's possible, is it? You don't think the 8.8 would hold up? I was only thinkin of gettin it cuz I heard it's lighter than the 12-bolt and 9" and doesn't rob as much power as the 12-bolt and 9", and figured if it holds up, it would be nice, cuz then I wouldn't have two power robbers as I already have the one power robber in the Turbo 400. If the 8.8 won't hold or i'll cut better 60's with the 12-bolt for some reason, i'll get a 12-bolt. So what do you think the best combo would be for me? Do I need the gearvendors? Thanks for all the help Colonel, and sorry bout all the ?'s, just tryin to get the best setup for the car I can, and can't afford another car right now!

 

Ok, with 359 RWHP in really good weather and a TCI 3500 stall in a full weight car, I pulled low 1.6s (best of 1.61) with an overall gearing of 9.88. This was on drag radials. I am almost positive that I could have pulled high 1.5s with more traction.

You would have a final drive of 9.4 with 3.42s and that's not really far off from 9.88. Your 4000 stall should EASILY make up for it if it's a hard hitting converter plus you'll be running a transbrake, more HP, and lighter weight (and I assume you'll be taking some more weight off it.) You'll be pulling mid 1.5s before you know it.

A 12-bolt doesn't rob the HP that people sometimes would like to believe. If you're really worried about HP robbed, then you should trade that TH400 in for a TH350 (which is what I would have suggested in the first place but that's just my opinion.) I'd dare to say that a 12-bolt wouldn't show more than 5 RWHP (if you could even measure it) on a dyno compared to a 7.5" with the same gearing. I once went from a stock rearend with 3.73s to a 9" with 3.90s" to a 12" with 4.10s and couldn't tell a difference in trap speed with any of them.

But yes, an 8.8 would take 1.5 60fts with no problems...most likely even 1.3s.

 

Wow, thanks for all the help Colonel!!!!!! I can't wait to get some nice 60's in this beast!!!! So I guess i'll leave the 3.42's until I buy another vehicle, and you sold me on the 12-bolt for when I get a rear, again, thanks for all the info!!!!! Oh and yeah, a little more weight will be coming out of her, the car w/o me in it with just backseat, and spare and jack removed weighs 3250. The Turbo 400 is lighter than the T-56 (or at least that's what i've heard), so that should take out some weight, the draglites will take off some weight, removing the front swaybar, egr and air will lose some weight, and I was thinkin about putting in lightweight carpet, and a race seat on the drivers side and takin out the passenger seat when at the track, but that's about it, i'm not gonna totally strip it, still want full interior in the car, so i'm assuming when all the weight reduction is done, the car will be somewhere in the high 3000 - low 3100 range, and then I usually fluctuate anywhere between 220 - 240, but i'm gonna see what I can get out of it, and then throw my buddy in it who only weighs like 120, and see what he can get, and if there's much diff!