new to these c5's
 

hey guys new to the vette scene. i have tried searching for gear swap but unfortunately i have the 273's and there's only a 390 and 410 gear for this rear. in looking in to getting a 315 or 342 diff witch will you guys recommend? will it make much of a difference? t/a on my sig was a 3 speed 390 gear wont like to make this any where near that. id like a gear i can cruise with and still light the tires up.

future mods will be: 243 heads, 22x (about 8 degree split) 23x cam 113 114 lsa, nitrous plate kit, 42 lb injectors, stock ls6 intake might port in the future, circle d 3200 stall, 1 3/4 headers texas speed xpipe and dont know what muffers yet.

hoping for this thing to run low 7 s 1/8 on motor.

tell me what yall think about the set up...

3.42 at minimum

thanks ! i don't want to go to high of a gear but i didn't want to regret not going high enough. people tell me 342 is some what of a mid point all around good gear. my ta was mostly track and most of my cars have been the same. i want this one to be different id like to get good high way with this one.

I'm in the same boat! I e-mailed Texas speed and the answer I got was they didn't see a whole lot of improvement with a gear swap with my current mods.(same as u minus injectors) Definitely interested to see if u gain anything.

my brothers head cam formula made a big difference going from 273 to 373. but i don't want to go that high. im thinking i should be good with the 342. i was thinking 373 but a couple people have told me these things are lite and don't need a big gear go get things moving... i know the biggest difference is going to be the 3200 stall converter.

anyone else ? ? ?

2.73's are terrible. Thats what my C5 came with too. I just put in a diff off a Z06 (3.42) with hardened gears and never looked back. Also the 3.15 gears are available which was an option on base coupe models but i think 3.42 is the way too go. Plenty to come off the line hard but tall enough to still be alright on the hwy. Plus with a 4L65E and 3.42s youre still geared for like 210mph with 6500rpm shift points.

thanks! that's what i wanted to hear. i was thinking about 373's but i really want some high way miles on this thing. some people say it not much of a difference when swapping gears. i have seen drastic changes but it been big gear swaps from 273 to 373 and from 323 to 390.

6speed or auto
 

If you have an automatic use 3:42, if a 6speed do the 3:73.

yea that seems to be the option for each street/strip wise

3.42 gear is a happy medium for a stalled auto C5 while keeping it nice to cruise. It will make a noticeable difference from the 2.73s. I wouldn't go any higher then that if the car were for mostly cruising and be happy on the highway.

One thing I always kept in mind when modding my old C5, was whatever I do it must be enjoyable and I have to like it while safely cruising down the highway. That was the most important thing. How it performed accelerating took a back seat to that. Because it was a weekend cruiser/toy, not a racecar.

I'm running 3.73's in an auto with a 3600 converter and love it. Cruises at 70mph just above 2100 or so

Here's a link you can get a good idea what speeds you'll be at and see the difference between gears ratios.

http://www.f-body.org/gears/

yes i started that way with my t/a and ednded up a race car im really tolerant to to race car driving my t/a was heads ms3 th400 390 gear and i loved it but i hated the high way used that thing every day with a 5k stall :D 5k stall

im leaning to the 342 with the 3600 stall. that's a good speed you got with the 373. but id think 342 would be a more comfortable ride. id hope to cruise at 80 comfortable.

ill check it out thanks!!!

2.73's are fun with 800rwhp. ;)

not shooting that high 400 500 whp should be plenty fun with a 342 :D

3.42 is ideal. Also allows you to grow into it, should you add more then 500rwhp.

real goal is just about 420 440 whp and some spray. spray #s will grow with time! :devil: i dont think id spray more than 250 threw it but 150 200 i think is just fine. this thing is going to be a daily so i have ta take it easy...

That power, heads/cam/intake or cam/intake would get you there(my old 346ci setup had AFR 205's, decent cam and a fast 90 making 458rwhp). We've spray'd a couple of bills on a LS motor for a while, wasn't too bad on it. I'd put a controller on it if spraying more then a 150 shot. You can make really good power on these setups but spray is touchy....boost, is defiantly easier to make that kind of power, and live a long life.

Either setup, all starts with the right tune.

i agree im looking in to the mini controller from NOS they seem to be really good.and have 2 stages 150 and progress the rest it'll be at 150 for a while before i decide to go any bigger. i agree boost is the way to go but its way out of my budget! boost runs too expensive for theses types of cars. if anything in the future id love to procharge it but we will see how it plays. lil by lil i don't plan and getting rid of the car no time soon.