Need Advice on Gears!!!
04-07-2011, 08:57 PM
#22
Man... my 2:73 to 3:73s jump was one of the best moves I've made.. no more sluggish
2nd/3rd gear pull, it's a true sotp feeling... perfect for dd.. I know the 3:73s compared to 2:73s get me to 60mph twice as fast.
If I were to race myself with my old gears I'd have a whole car length by the time I hit 60mph....but 60 to 120mph the 2:73s would kick ***, I never seen any benifit outta 2:73s accept gas and driving 80-130mph which I could care less for gas... and maybe 5% of the time I'll punch it to 125 or so...
2nd/3rd gear pull, it's a true sotp feeling... perfect for dd.. I know the 3:73s compared to 2:73s get me to 60mph twice as fast.
If I were to race myself with my old gears I'd have a whole car length by the time I hit 60mph....but 60 to 120mph the 2:73s would kick ***, I never seen any benifit outta 2:73s accept gas and driving 80-130mph which I could care less for gas... and maybe 5% of the time I'll punch it to 125 or so...
Sounds like there were improvements made to your shift speed and/or torque management reduction/deletion with your tune. You would have noticed some SOTP improvement with those same tuning changes even with stock gears. 
There are certainly gains from a gear swap, nobody is denying that, but it's not something I would ever recommend before doing a stall (unless you're getting a killer deal on gears/install/tuning). If you think your car is a whole new animal with 3.73s, try doing a 3500-4000 stall. ET reduction from a stall is about twice what you get from a 2.73 to 3.73 swap (traction dependent). Trust me, I've been through all this stuff on several LS1 cars over the years.
Other than N2O/FI, a torque converter upgrade is the single best thing you can do to increase performance with an A4 car.
There are certainly gains from a gear swap, nobody is denying that, but it's not something I would ever recommend before doing a stall (unless you're getting a killer deal on gears/install/tuning). If you think your car is a whole new animal with 3.73s, try doing a 3500-4000 stall. ET reduction from a stall is about twice what you get from a 2.73 to 3.73 swap (traction dependent). Trust me, I've been through all this stuff on several LS1 cars over the years.
Other than N2O/FI, a torque converter upgrade is the single best thing you can do to increase performance with an A4 car.
04-07-2011, 09:13 PM
#25
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Any of you A4 guys ever drive the 6 speed version of the car? Just curious, I wonder how SOTP difference it is between the two. With a nice auto setup a fast car can feel so slow.
04-07-2011, 09:23 PM
#26
It is more Impressive winning than feeling like you should be winning.
04-08-2011, 07:35 AM
#27
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I know this is a bit off topic, but you mentioned you are installing shorty headers with your cam. Honestly, get long tubes or just keep the stock manifolds and save your cash.
Also, for a mild cam-only setup, unless you plan on running nitrous, I would do a 4000 stall/3.73 gear setup. You won't regret it!!!
Also, for a mild cam-only setup, unless you plan on running nitrous, I would do a 4000 stall/3.73 gear setup. You won't regret it!!!
04-08-2011, 08:06 AM
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For 273 cars 342s are an awesome choice for many reasons and very very few negatives. For 323 cars it isn't worth the time or hassle.
During a race sotp means ****. I guess if I owned my car to Impress people I love rides to I would care.
It is more Impressive winning than feeling like you should be winning.
During a race sotp means ****. I guess if I owned my car to Impress people I love rides to I would care.
It is more Impressive winning than feeling like you should be winning.
Hey Guys... So after this shower of nomeclatures and set ups. Im a lil confused.
Like i mentioned at begining of thread, Im having mild cam w/springs and headers installed. Already have flowmasters.
The gears is with the sole purpouse of reaching my goal of breaking 12's in the quarter mile.
Do you think gears are important, or the mods already in progress can get me there?...
by the way, whats sotp? Im new at all this.
04-08-2011, 08:33 AM
#29
Hey Guys... So after this shower of nomeclatures and set ups. Im a lil confused.
Like i mentioned at begining of thread, Im having mild cam w/springs and headers installed. Already have flowmasters.
The gears is with the sole purpouse of reaching my goal of breaking 12's in the quarter mile.
Do you think gears are important, or the mods already in progress can get me there?...
by the way, whats sotp? Im new at all this.
Like i mentioned at begining of thread, Im having mild cam w/springs and headers installed. Already have flowmasters.
The gears is with the sole purpouse of reaching my goal of breaking 12's in the quarter mile.
Do you think gears are important, or the mods already in progress can get me there?...
by the way, whats sotp? Im new at all this.
3600-4000 converter
Sticky tires
Yes, it Is that simple.
You want to run bottom 12s-high 11s, add intake exhaust etc all the bolt ons and tune.. you want to run mid-high 11s add a mid size cam and a retune, low mid 11s add heads.
Your setup will take a little more attention because of emissions but that's what will get you those times.
Sotp- seat of the pants.. how fast it feels like you are going. My current car has a slow sotp feeling, last one had an extremely fast sotp feeling, they are within one tenth and 2mph of each other. Gears help little to none but give an amazing sotp feeling. Converter doesn't add much sotp feeling but gives monster gains.
You need a converter and a cutout along with stocky tires and a tune. You will be low 12s as long as you pick a decent converter and everything else goes like it should.
04-08-2011, 11:28 AM
#30
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You want to break 12s in the 1/4?
3600-4000 converter
Sticky tires
Yes, it Is that simple.
You want to run bottom 12s-high 11s, add intake exhaust etc all the bolt ons and tune.. you want to run mid-high 11s add a mid size cam and a retune, low mid 11s add heads.
Your setup will take a little more attention because of emissions but that's what will get you those times.
Sotp- seat of the pants.. how fast it feels like you are going. My current car has a slow sotp feeling, last one had an extremely fast sotp feeling, they are within one tenth and 2mph of each other. Gears help little to none but give an amazing sotp feeling. Converter doesn't add much sotp feeling but gives monster gains.
You need a converter and a cutout along with stocky tires and a tune. You will be low 12s as long as you pick a decent converter and everything else goes like it should.
3600-4000 converter
Sticky tires
Yes, it Is that simple.
You want to run bottom 12s-high 11s, add intake exhaust etc all the bolt ons and tune.. you want to run mid-high 11s add a mid size cam and a retune, low mid 11s add heads.
Your setup will take a little more attention because of emissions but that's what will get you those times.
Sotp- seat of the pants.. how fast it feels like you are going. My current car has a slow sotp feeling, last one had an extremely fast sotp feeling, they are within one tenth and 2mph of each other. Gears help little to none but give an amazing sotp feeling. Converter doesn't add much sotp feeling but gives monster gains.
You need a converter and a cutout along with stocky tires and a tune. You will be low 12s as long as you pick a decent converter and everything else goes like it should.
My '00 Trans Am went 12.6-12.7 when it only had an air lid, catback, 3500 stall and drag radials. And that was a soft hitting, low STR converter too.
Gears are a great mod for the M6 cars, but it's not something I'd get too hung up on for an auto (especially when the auto is a 4L60E, with the super aggressive 3.06:1 first gear....if you're running a Powerglide or even a TH350/400 then gears matter a bit more). A stall upgrade will do so much more than gears ever will, and once you have the stall, gears barely give you any additional increases. At that point it would only be worth doing if you were looking to squeeze out every last possibile drop of performance, but it would be one of the last things on my list. Some people like to do gears with a big stall because it makes the coverter feel "tighter" driving around town, but personally I never felt like it was necessary.
04-26-2011, 10:06 PM
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