A4 Guys with 3.73's - Come in
A4 Guys with 3.73's - Come in Guys,
Let me start off by saying my car is my daily driver. I have a small Cam (216/231 -.604/.589) that I'm about to put in, stock 3.23's, and the rest of my mods are in my Sig.
Bascially I'm trying to decide if it would be more practical to just go ahead and get like a 3200 stall for my current setup and keep relatively close to stock gas mileage, or get some 3.73s and maybe a different stall.
What type of hwy gas mileage are you guys seeing with your 3.73's and current stall/cam set up?
What RPM are you guys hitting at a cruise speed of say 70mph with your setup?
I know my gas mileage will suffer some with the 3.73's, but I'm trying to figure out if how much will depend upon the stall size i choose for those gears?
I've always driven manuals, and this is the first auto i've had so I'm trying to figure out how this works.
Let me start off by saying my car is my daily driver. I have a small Cam (216/231 -.604/.589) that I'm about to put in, stock 3.23's, and the rest of my mods are in my Sig.
Bascially I'm trying to decide if it would be more practical to just go ahead and get like a 3200 stall for my current setup and keep relatively close to stock gas mileage, or get some 3.73s and maybe a different stall.
What type of hwy gas mileage are you guys seeing with your 3.73's and current stall/cam set up?
What RPM are you guys hitting at a cruise speed of say 70mph with your setup?
I know my gas mileage will suffer some with the 3.73's, but I'm trying to figure out if how much will depend upon the stall size i choose for those gears?
I've always driven manuals, and this is the first auto i've had so I'm trying to figure out how this works.
Damn....I would hate to see a big cam if thats small.....you may also consider calling Joe at Vinci and see if your tuner is goin to be able to handle that cam. Im ordering a cam from him next week, and the reason i am is because I agree on thier opinions and their custom grinds that produce fantastic torque curves and useable power under the curve. As far as gears, i have them and they are no problem at all on the Hwy and real good in city traffic, really lost no MPG and sits at about 2200 at 70. I would go with the convertor, much more noticeable. I really did not see a jump in the pants meter with just a 3.23 to 3.73 gear change. 
good luck
good luck There was a noticable difference of a few mpg when I changed to 3.73s. The best combined mileage I can get now is about 19mpg. (that was with the 3200 stall). I remember losing about 2 or 3 mpg. BTW, my cam is 221/221.
Using a calculator, it says I am turning almost 2400rpm at 70.
It does pull a lot harder on the highway, I like that a lot better. Also, at the track I dropped .3 from doing the headers and gears. My friend with and auto liked them enough to get 3.73s as well.
Using a calculator, it says I am turning almost 2400rpm at 70.
It does pull a lot harder on the highway, I like that a lot better. Also, at the track I dropped .3 from doing the headers and gears. My friend with and auto liked them enough to get 3.73s as well.
Originally Posted by kazfan30
Damn....I would hate to see a big cam if thats small.....you may also consider calling Joe at Vinci and see if your tuner is goin to be able to handle that cam. Im ordering a cam from him next week, and the reason i am is because I agree on thier opinions and their custom grinds that produce fantastic torque curves and useable power under the curve. As far as gears, i have them and they are no problem at all on the Hwy and real good in city traffic, really lost no MPG and sits at about 2200 at 70. I would go with the convertor, much more noticeable. I really did not see a jump in the pants meter with just a 3.23 to 3.73 gear change. good luck
good luck Once the cam is in I will probably have someone around here dynotune the car for me...but my crane/vinci programmer has come handy though.
with the stock rims/tires i turn ~2550 @ 70 mph. if you have 323s now, you wouldn't gain much at all by getting 373s. i'd just get a stall and spend the money on something else. i got 373s because my car is a factory 273 car. i have a 4k stall and rarely get more than 60 miles per tank of gas on the highway, it's all in-town/wot runs...so my input with mileage wouldn't be worth anything. with that small of a stall, if you kept your foot out of it, i bet you'd be over 18 mpg combined.
kazfan30, if you barely noticed a difference in gas mileage with your 3.73s and 3600 stall, and The Sad only lost a little bit with his 3.73s and a 3200 stall (when he was using that one), I may actually consider doing both gears and stall instead of just a stall.
Thanks for your responses guys...
Thanks for your responses guys...
Originally Posted by s346k
with the stock rims/tires i turn ~2550 @ 70 mph. if you have 323s now, you wouldn't gain much at all by getting 373s. i'd just get a stall and spend the money on something else. i got 373s because my car is a factory 273 car. i have a 4k stall and rarely get more than 60 miles per tank of gas on the highway, it's all in-town/wot runs...so my input with mileage wouldn't be worth anything. with that small of a stall, if you kept your foot out of it, i bet you'd be over 18 mpg combined.
Last edited by 2002BLKWS6; Jan 27, 2006 at 03:37 PM.
Trending Topics
TECH Resident
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 943
Likes: 0
From: Barbaria
If you have to pick one or the other, go with the convertor. You'll go much quicker with a cam and convertor instead of just cam and gears.
You have to think about what tire you want to race it on. If you want to go with a nitto, stick with 3.23s for now.
You have to think about what tire you want to race it on. If you want to go with a nitto, stick with 3.23s for now.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
I'm running 3.90 gears in a 9" rearend with stock size tires on the street. 72 mph is 2450rpm which is whee I usually set my cruise. My engine is a race built 370 iron block using a 232/240 cam. Tranny is a 4L60E with a Vig 3200. I still get 20 to 21 mpg on the highway with the a/c blowing. I would suggest getting the convertor first then after driving with it for a couple of months you can make the decision to change to a lower gear or not based on the cars performance and mileage.
TECH Regular
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 427
Likes: 0
From: B'ville, New York
I like you was in spot of gears or converter. I put the 3.73s in and really liked them, gas mileage really doesn't seem all that down, maybe a mpg or 2. I'm going to install a 3500 stall in the car in march along with a H/C, so I will not be able to give you a 1/4 time to backup the stock vs. 3.73s. I went with the 3.73s cause I have 2.73s to start with but wasn't able to take it to the track after the gears and dynotune.
So I would go with the converter. The gears you have will be the best of both worlds.
So I would go with the converter. The gears you have will be the best of both worlds.
Originally Posted by 2002BLKWS6
kazfan30, if you barely noticed a difference in gas mileage with your 3.73s and 3600 stall, and The Sad only lost a little bit with his 3.73s and a 3200 stall (when he was using that one), I may actually consider doing both gears and stall instead of just a stall.
Thanks for your responses guys...
Thanks for your responses guys...
Yeah i say if you have the extra cash do both, but if you dont just go converter. Im glad i went to my 3.73's it really tightened up my 3600 for everyday driving......
Yeah i have heard great things about the Cheatr cam, i looked into it but wanted to use my Vinci tuner. I think im gettin Joes "XXX" cam its shown great results and seems to make good midrange(222/228 .551/.551 114). Good luck yeah, i was off..for me it is 2,450 @ 70 mph, not what i stated beforehand. just get the converter man, the gears aren't worth the money when you already have 323s. spend the extra ~$500 on stickier tires, i would suggest bfg drag radials or moreso, the mickey thompson et street drag radials. you'll need a good tire with your converter.
i cut my best 60 on bfg DRs with 14#. i think i could've gotten better times by adding some air, but i broke out first round and didn't have time to tinker with the tires. going from 12-14# i went from 1.74 to 1.70 60'.
i cut my best 60 on bfg DRs with 14#. i think i could've gotten better times by adding some air, but i broke out first round and didn't have time to tinker with the tires. going from 12-14# i went from 1.74 to 1.70 60'.
11 Second Club
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 936
Likes: 0
From: Fort Greely, Alaska
lets see i used to get 24 mpg with my 3.23s and now i get like 21-22 mpg with 3.73s.this is with a stock cam full exhaust cruising around 65 to 70 with some WOT runs... what can i say i get bored. this is also with AIR/EGR delete which also hurts mileage. id say around 70 mph im around 2300 to 2400 rpms.
keep your 3.23s. Put a mild stall in it such as a 3200 - 3600 with a low STR. That will keep it nice as a daily driver and not hurt your highway mpg.
As far as rpms go, look at the sticky in the gears forum.
As far as rpms go, look at the sticky in the gears forum.
I remember I took a trip in the car this last summer. Hot rodding on the way down I got 21 mpg. Relatively conservative on the way back, I got 24 mpg. I like what Gold Z said about getting the verter first, then see if you still want gears. The only problem I really see with that is the gears will tighten up your verter, so then you'll have to pull it out and get it restalled 
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 137
Likes: 1
From: Texas
Umm, I don't believe that would be considered a small cam. Anyway, can't help you much on the gas mileage part, because I didn't want gas milage to hinder my performance decision, although I understand it may concern you(mine's not a DD). I'm pretty much on board with the other posters regarding rpms @ 70 mph, but I just can't bring myself to consider gas mileage when considering a performance upgrade. It would be like tuning down your set-up to be able to use 89 octane fuel, in order to save money. I know a lot of people still get good gas milage with their mods, which is cool.
Originally Posted by black 2001Vette,Nightmare
Umm, I don't believe that would be considered a small cam. Anyway, can't help you much on the gas mileage part, because I didn't want gas milage to hinder my performance decision, although I understand it may concern you(mine's not a DD). I'm pretty much on board with the other posters regarding rpms @ 70 mph, but I just can't bring myself to consider gas mileage when considering a performance upgrade. It would be like tuning down your set-up to be able to use 89 octane fuel, in order to save money. I know a lot of people still get good gas milage with their mods, which is cool.
