justin hover

I posted a couple weeks ago asking ..3000 stall or 3:73s..
(had 2:73s..99TA a4)

On this site a few said gears a few said stall
LS1 LT1s forums pushed more towards gears
Firebirds nations forums were all gears

So I got the gears...I just spent the last hr1 1/2 driving with the new setup.
All I have to say is F$#king WOW...huge differenc,no hint of any whine at all..the difference is undeniable, so much better..I was worried for the longest time that 3:73s would be too much for my DD..but I'm so wrong. Feels perfect...If anyone uses this for a reference to make this same decsion...I could only imagine if I got 3:42s I'd be kicking myself asking why didn't I do the 73s...and a stall was not initially what I was looking for.. I understand that a stall would get me huge performance gains with the 2:73s, but these gears suck ***...they do...It's like theirs no good throttle response and slugish as **** from a stop and a roll....first gear is nice and long but second and third pull like **** with 2:73s..yeah great gas and top end speed...but not for town by any means .I'm sure alot would agree..

Frost will tune for me in a couple day's...then the blistens and lcs from strano go on... but yeah ...awesome...the car should've came this way love it

and lemons12, yea, your crazy...lol...I've read your past postings..you really hate on the gears man...every forum that asked a similiar question..you bashed the gears and go for stall.....gears are good for a 2:73 at least just for a 2:73 car...........THESE GEARS SUCK.. I think i'd enjoy these before a stall...

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

glad you like the mod,I'm a gear person.
going 2.73 to 3.73 gave you a 37% torque increase to the rearend. I'll put it in 'seat of the pants' feel and change the torque to horsepower relativity,your 310 Hp car now feels like it has 425 Hp,right ?
your mpg,which was probably about 27-28 at legal speeds is now about 23-24,still gonna be very decent.
I'm also a torque convertor believer,now put a 3000-3600 sometime in the future and you'll understand the convertor threads.

Mighty Whitey

For a car that started life with 2.73's, a gear is the best option of the two.
A car that started with a 3.23, a convertor would be money well spent.

I never beleived in either personally, until I did both, and wow... Money well spent for both of them!

96lt1m6

iTrader: (31)

Wise choice, 2.73s are just plain rediculous! 3.42-3.73 make driving an A3 much more fun then add a converter you are way ahead of the game.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

Maybe you should go back and read my posts in your thread as well as some others.

Yes, I do hate on gears. Because performance aspect they do little to nothing. You will see a slight gain but.....
Here are your trade offs:
Worse gas mileage
higher exhaust note on HWY
weaker ten bolt
$ to performance gain extremely small (money better spent elsewhere)

I'm sorry but for the vast majority of street cars, those aren't very good trade offs. You spend 300-500$ depending on if you buy new/used and who you get to do the install. An ls6 will pick you up the same, if not more, et/mph wise and won't change driving manners at all, exhaust will pick you up more, converter will pick up the most, etc etc.. You get where I'm going? Gears are fine to do in an A4, but from a performance aspect, they should not be first on the list.

They are a good SOTP (seat of the pants) feeling but you did NOT pick up what you think you picked up et/mph wise, please prove me wrong with this. There are guys in the 1.3-.4 range with stock gearing.

Also, I told you to get 3.42s and a converter. Have you ever been in an A4 car with 273/323/342/373/410? I have, the difference between 342s and 373s is just as small as the difference in 373s and 410s. You would have kept a bit better mpg, not been quite as hard on the rear and got everything you wanted with the gears, at a much cheaper price to boot.

You have never had a stall... There is a reason why 90% of the people that have done both say do the converter first and also say that they HATE driving a stock stalled A4. I have yet to hear someone say they hate driving a stock geared A4 (with as much hatred that I hear coming from the converter guys).

Until you do a little more research and have a little more experience under your belt I wouldn't get your mind made up too much. You being happy with your decision and thinking you know what a converter is like does nothing to sway my opinion on the matter, a converter is THE mod for A4s, period. If you have 273s, move up to a 323 or 342... If you have 323s, stay there. When you have the money to move up to a Moser/Strange/etc, get a 370 gear.
"Been there, done that."

Glad you are happy, like I said, I knew you would be.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

Coming from a gear person!

Just saying........ I'm done.

justin hover

SOUR SOUR LEMONS.....

just saying 2:73s to 3:73 great choice...I like the feeling of quicker accel throughout my whole rpm shifting...I've read other forums where they had 2:73s and a 32 3600 stall, I keep hearing that word "loose" this I don't like, and I could just see it man....the looseness...i don't neccessarily have to know...to know... I like the fact that I ACCEL faster then ever..not lauch...the stall would do me no good in slow city driving WITH the 2:73s from what I've gathered..performance is such a toss up between the 2...For me..it depended on how I interperted performance..the gears were a no brainer..It's what I wanted outta my car, for my dd.....I don't want to debate with you....but you were right though "When you get the gears you will be like lemons is an idiot... The sotp feeling is awesome." your words....I'm just sayen...love it....thanks though lemons...your the reason I spent a couple nights reading everything I could about stalls....maybe in the future...but I couldn't be happier with the gears.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

Well Fwiw, if you go back to your thread.. I told you to get the gears because that's what you needed.

justin hover

Yeah... your right.....thanks for your help...Now I just wonder how it will feel after a tune and the shocks, lcas..and my ws6 hood is being put on right now.good year for mods...I placed 3rd in a 50,000$ guaranted tournament on poker stars last month..It paid out 7,900$, friggin great pay day...friggin great month......

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

Awesome in the poker..
What kind of shocks did you get?
I would look into some sub frame conn. If you don't have them yet.

LS1T56FTW

iTrader: (3)

Now its time for a 4000 stall. Seriously. Do it, and don't look back.

DadsZ28

iTrader: (1)

When I put my stall in way back it woke the car up like I couldn't believe! My 3200 vig and stock 3.23 10 bolt drives great and has performed very well for the past 4 yrs. I have always thought about going to 3.73s but it seems the cons outweigh the pros for the tenth of two that I might see.......either way glad the original poster is happy with his swap but for me a healthy stall and 3.23s are hard to beat!

justin hover

I talked to sam strano. He hooked me up with a set of blistens and some poly/roto LCA's..
I had wheel hop issues in the past and I knew the gear swap wouldn't help. So I figured I'd pair those with the gears for overall driveabilty...thought it was a good choice..The tune first then the suspension..man I bought this car last year at this time and it's nice to see it come alive one part at a time...Total in parts and labor was about 2300$ that's enough for this year.. but for the 1hr 1/2 and I had with it today, it was definitly a new car all over again...I lucked out though...the guy who did it has done differentials for
25+yrs and considered it very easy...charged 312$ not to bad. I thought I would here some type of whine, but I didn't here any...hard to tell how fast I was going with the speedometer off 20some mph though...just loven it right now...ya know

Mighty Whitey

A gear may only net .1 or .2 gain, no big deal, right?

Saying you have a 10sec car (like 10.90's) is WAY cooler than saying you have a low low 11sec car (like 11.1). The benefits out weigh the trade offs IMO, especially with the scenario above.

dannyz

Glad you like your gears.
BUT. I have to side with lemons.
Back in the day, I too, was on the fence.
Went with a stall, 3000, and was happy.
He advised that I go bigger, but worried as I was about fuel economy, the "looseness" and what not , I went with the smaller stall and kept the 2.73 gears.
Didn't notice hardly any diff from the stock stall to the 2.73 gears drivability wise.
But my 60' went from a 2.11 down to a 1.76.
Was thrilled!
Hoping to better that 60', put in some 3.42 gears.
Yuppers!
nailed a best [n/a] of a 1.75.
Didn't do a damn thing performance wise for me.
Now I am looking at a yank 3600.
Should have saved the money I spent on the gear swap.

Oldsmobility85

iTrader: (1)

Gears really only help when you have traction to spare. My 4.10's are the big difference between my car and my best friends car. His is way lighter being ls powered, has better trans and 4000+ converter with 3.42's and goes 7.00 at 103mph with a 1.6x 60ft. I have a sbc powered car with 700r4 trans and 3400 converter with 4.10's and it has been 6.94 @ 100mph with a 1.48 60ft time yet he would probably put a car or better on me on the street. Its all in your intentions.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

No doubt.. buy when you still have a list of mods to do and you're running 13s, there is a whole lore better mods than gears to do. For the money and performance part.

Nando92

Does a 3600 converter add any horsepower? i currently have 3.23 installed and i have 3.73 that i decided to sell to get a better converter since its not much different then a 3.23 i currently have a 2,600 lock up converter.
So back to my question, will getting a bigger converter and a tune add any hp/torque?

Oldsmobility85

iTrader: (1)

No it allows your engine to come into its peak torque area faster by not transferring power until the engine revs up to an area where it makes more power and keeps it from struggling.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

It will actually hide HP and tq on the Dyno. As long as you get a name brand, ptc yank circle d vig, it wont hurt your mph maybe even pick it up and will greatly reduce your et. The biggest thing is it cuts your short time In half and keeps you in your powerband with shift extensions. You dont actually pick tq up on the dyno but it does "multiple" your tq, str.

If you don't have a tune then yes a tune will pick HP and tq up.