UKCamaroChick

Hi all, my first post here, but I'd like to think it's an interesting one. So I went to see a Z28 over here in the UK a couple of weeks ago and whilst on the test drive the guy selling it commented that the speedo under-reads and blamed the tyre sizes. I liked the car and bought it but after a bit of digging it turns out that the owner before him had a place in France and used to like driving the Camaro down there (why wouldn't he), so for better gas mileage he fitted even taller gears than the stock 2.73. I've not had a chance to get the car to a garage to work out what gears it's running but, roughly speaking, 68mph on the speedo equates to a real 76mph, which I worked out to be a 12% difference or thereabouts. Does that mean that my gears are 12% taller than the stock 2.73, which would put them at approximately 2.43, or am I way off on my calculations?

Also, where do I go from here as far as gears are concerned? I'd like to turn it into a fun weekend toy and while I know a 3600 stall with the 2.73 gears is a good combo, are my current gears just too tall? Any advice welcome, thanks!

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

Your figures are correct by the info given... A 2.43 gear set in the rear with the speedo still calibrated for the original 2.73 would give the approximate 68mph reading at 76mph.

As far as what gear is good for you depends on use, but by the definition of "weekend toy" I would assume a more aggressive gear like a 3.42 or 3.73 will work great.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

So based on those figures I'm guessing it's probably a 2.41 gear then? I don't recall a 2.43 ever being offered for this rear, but 2.41s were a common ratio in the '80s for the 7.5" 10-bolt behind a TH200 trans and NA 3.8L V6 (such as in G-bodies.)

In any event, I wouldn't keep these. 2.73 with a 3600 stall is a fine combo and if yours still had the factory installed 2.73s I would leave them and certainly do a stall before even considering a gear swap. But with ~2.41s, the fact the speedo is off and requires a tune anyway, and that the rear has already been messed with previously, I would swap them out - and at that point you might as well consider a 3.42 at least.

UKCamaroChick

Thanks for the reply I'm going to take it out with a GPS speedo and use an online calculator to be sure.

I had been thinking of going 3.42 initially, though people were saying that a stall and 2.73 is a good combo, but I'm wondering if a stall will be enough to wake up the 2.43. I get the feeling going to 3.42 would make the car feel a lot more exciting and fun to drive and I can stall it at a later date.

UKCamaroChick

Thanks for the extra info And you've confirmed what I was thinking, that the 2.41 is just no good

Funny, when I went out with the guy I bought it from and floored it, he looked at me from the passenger seat and said "Yeah, what do you think of that?!" with a grin on his face and I was just thinking something is not right here because this does not feel anywhere near as quick as I was expecting...

Any particular gear set you guys would recommend? I spotted the Summit Racing 2 Series 3.42s for $144, which seems pretty good?

blackandgold

iTrader: (2)

If you're going to swap the gears I'd go up to at least a 3.73 unless you're going to daily drive the car.

UKCamaroChick

Definitely not a daily! Guess 3.73 it is then

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

what brand 3600 stall ?

UKCamaroChick

All the recommended ones seem to be about the same price so I guess a Yank or a Vig, something like that.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

If it still had the factory installed 2.73s and the rear was in perfect working order, then yes I would definitely recommend a ~3600 stall swap (something high end such as Yank or Vig) before even considering touching the gears. To me, a 2.73 + 3600 stall setup is considerably more fun (and significantly quicker, all else equal) than a stock stall and 3.42s/3.73s - so if you're only going to do one at a time then go with the stall before gears IMO.

BUT, again, since you already have an issue with the speedo, and unknown quality of gears and install (though I guess it must be decent if you're not having any issues with noise), and the fact they are only ~2.41s rather than 2.73s, I would probably do something with the gears first or, if you have the cash, just do gears and stall together and get it tuned once.

UKCamaroChick

I don't think I can stretch to a stall and gears in one go, unfortunately. I was going to get a lid and ported TB but I think my money would be better spent on gears at this stage!

I had a question about reprogramming the speedo for the new gears - what's the cheapest/easiest way to do it? Here in the UK I haven't got any Chevy dealers anywhere, just GM/Vauxhall and I wager none of them have ever seen a 4th Gen Camaro and I wouldn't trust them to do anything.

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

tuning for the gear ratio change is a simple change in the tune the big question is who in your area would have tuning software such as hp tuners or efi live. What is around you for GM performance enthusiasts ? corvette's duramax diesels , etc...it sounds like your saying theres no f body scene over there so you need to figure out if any gm late model tuning activity is in reasonable distance from you on any platform.

UKCamaroChick

Well the only American specialist near me that might have been able to help is currently closed as they're moving premises. What about a used handheld tuner? I found a couple of Diablo Intune i1000s on eBay for not too much ($250) and it looks like that could do what I need?

SteenH

Realistically if you're going to spend that much, you'd be better off grabbing your own copy of HPtuners.

And in my opinion you'd enjoy the 3600 stall with the current gears (which are not helping your case whatsoever) vs the stock stall with a lower gear for the time being if you absolutely can't do both at the same time.

UKCamaroChick

So you reckon a 3600 stall could wake up my current gears? I was worried it was just too tall to work with.

98CayenneT/A

You will absolutely hate it imo. The car will feel loose as **** with a 3600 and 2.41's. If ya ask me do the 3.73's now and go from there. Going from 2.41's to 3.73's will massively wake your car up.

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

2.41 should be pretty similar to 273's with a stall only 10-12% difference in ratio , either one will feel loose but I still think the gain would be large with a stall if drag racing it

but if your not looking for drag racing results that then the gears will feel better as far as driving on the street. Go 373 or 390 and you will be happy and leave enough room for decent traps if you taking modding past the bolt on level.

It sounds like you will be doing both gears and stall in the not to distant future , I don't think a handheld will help you much with the stall and bolt ons to follow.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Going up from 2.41 to 2.73 would be more like a 14% increase, though going down would be a 12% decrease, so going numerically higher is a slightly greater change in terms of a percentage. Only point being, I think there will be a noticeable difference in street feel between 2.41s and 2.73s with a 3600 stall in front of either. 2.73 + 3600 stall (assuming STR ratio of or similar to the Yank SS3600) is not a problem at all on the street and much more fun than 3.73s with a stock stall (and certainly much faster at the track as well.) But doing that same 3600 with a 2.41 will likely feel more like having a ~4000+ stall speed with 2.73s - and that might be borderline for some folks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm almost always the guy who will advise people to forget about gear swaps until after they've experienced the road manners of a higher stall and THEN decide whether gears are worth it for them - but in this case I think it would probably be best to do the gear swap first if both can't be done together. Additionally, the shift points are probably less than ideal with a 2.73 tune and 2.41 gears, adding a stall into this mix might make it even worse, and it really doesn't make sense to tune for the 2.41s when the plan is to swap them out later anyway.

blackandgold

iTrader: (2)

IMO, I think gear first then a stall would be more fun on the street. If OP is planning trips to the strip that may be different. But what do I know I drive a 6-speed

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Not under normal circumstances with a 2.73 or 3.23. The explosive acceleration of the stall upgrade greatly eclipses the feel of a common 3.73 swap with the stock stall, and a high quality converter in the mid-3k range won't feel too loose with either stock ratio. But the 2.41s and tuning issues change the situation in this case.