edram454

Have a 2000 a4 with stock tranny,engine and 2.73 gears. Have dynatech full tube headers with xpipe/cats and slp powerflo catback. vararam b2/predator tune with large air dam bridge etc.. dont want to add a stall tq but just want to change gears from 2.73. what performance gains will I see with 3.42/3.73/3.90 with the a4. what will be livable on the street but good for an occasional smokey blast down the 1/4 mile.

Just want to get in the 12's that's it. No nitrous or stall tq. I know my car is runing low 13...13.4 range. 35k miles black/black. Any ideas will be appreciated.

thanks, edram.

racerrob333

3.90 would be great but any of the gears u choose will pick your 1/4 time up

Patman

I think the 3.42/A4 combo is a nice combo for both the street and the occasional trip to the track. With 3.73s you'll have a lot harder time hooking up on street tires, plus it'll hurt the MPG too much.


You should already be in the 12s with the mods you've got though, unless you're at a higher altitude?

C5 Bandit

id seriously consider a stall, i went from 13.3 to 12.5 with a yank 3200 stall and dynatech headers

DA GOAT!

iTrader: (1)

3.42 and a stall!

will82

3.73 minimum, maybe 3.90

I wish I had gone more aggressive, and I have a blower.

500rwhp or less, and there's no point in limiting yourself to the 3.42

If you ever had plans for something more extreme, then yeah, 3.42 would make a lot of sense.

I have no plans for a forged motor/high boost, would like more gear on the highway, and low end I'm spinning anyway even with the 3.42, so I made a mistake.

Go aggressive with the 3.73 or 3.90 and get good tires for low end traction.

As for converter, better performance gains than gears, but more of a sacrifice in driveability. Find someone with a converter who will let you test drive. Mine is a Vigilante that stalls to about 3200rpm, and paired with the 3.42 gears it's slightly loose. I definitely liked the stock feel better. Other people don't seem to mind at all.

Larry

iTrader: (4)

If you don't want to go the stall route then listen to Patman. You don't say what tires you plan to run so I assume street and not drag radials. The 3.42 will be close to optimum for street use particularly on the highway.

You should still consider a stall. You would be surprised what you can do with the 2.73 gears and a 3600 stall. Definitely need stickys then!

30th t/a

iTrader: (51)

go 3:42's. My uncle went from 2.73s to 3:42 in his H/C C5....wow! you will love it. Plus it will still be fun to cruise on the highway with.

Ragtop 99

iTrader: (7)

What Larry said. If you are looking to go w/o a stall, don't go overboard on the gear, you'll compromise the car more than you want.

scramblerman

iTrader: (16)

no stall-3.73's
stall-3.42

VGLNTE1

iTrader: (1)

3.42

ls1290

iTrader: (20)

My old combo was 3.90:1 gears and a 3800 stall. IMO it was a really good combo. The tall gears compensated for the looseness of the converter at low RPMs when it was not engaged. Once the converted engaged fully, then it was like hold on. Of course DR where required for any type of street use

REDGAR

My car spent its early years with a 3.42 and 2800...very good drive and race combo with drag radials

Murder-1

My previous set up in the vette was 3.73's with a 3600 Stall. That combo on Drag Radials was able to get me a 10.4 second run @132mph. (383 Stroker + 175 Shot of Juice.) Absolutely loved the combo, just enough gear exactly when you needed it, on the street or track.

....Now running the same gear & stall set up with a 408 Stoker + 200 Shot of Direct Port Juice.) We'll see how that works out at the track.......9 sec run, here we come.

Beach Dude

3.42 gears with 3400 stall. VERY happy with it.

YankeeVert.

3.73 gears and 3600 stall here. Great combo. You will love it.

BADZOH6

iTrader: (3)

I have 3.73 and they work great. I would not go above a 3.73. Your not pushing a heavy car down the track, 3.73 is plenty for 1/4 mile. If your talking about 1/8 mile, then thats different.