Question on Gears
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 87
Likes: 0
granted my perspective is more from the heavy truck world, but with the 3.73s your engine doesn't have to work as hard to move your car, that's why the mpg difference really isn't that bad. If you kinda put it on a balance, I'm sure almost everyone would agree that the extra pep from the gears far outweighs the sacrifice in mpg's. If you're still upset about your mileage, my burb gets 15.2 around town and it's still slow. Feel better?
So going from 2.73's to 3.73's what's the expected fuel economy change?
The Camaro SS in stock form had 3.23's or 3.42's, not sure which, but people say it always posts better track times than an LS1 with 2.73's, so isn't that worth it?
I want to feel a difference without sacrificing too much fuel economy, this is still my DD, and as gas hovers around $4 a gallon and my commute to work may be tripling in the coming months, gas is very important to me, until I can buy a smaller better MPG's car.
The Camaro SS in stock form had 3.23's or 3.42's, not sure which, but people say it always posts better track times than an LS1 with 2.73's, so isn't that worth it?
I want to feel a difference without sacrificing too much fuel economy, this is still my DD, and as gas hovers around $4 a gallon and my commute to work may be tripling in the coming months, gas is very important to me, until I can buy a smaller better MPG's car.
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 34,648
Likes: 2,574
From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
I have to disagree. When it comes to an LS1 automatic, the single best mod for performance (short of N2O or a turbo/blower) is a higher stall speed (3500+). Gears, as a single mod, won't give you the sort of gains that a stall will on an LS1 car.
I've said it many times before and I'll say it again: If you take a stock LS1 car with 2.73s and put a 3500 stall and drag radials on it, it would be quicker than the same exact car with a stock stall and 3.73s with DRs. Of course this doesn't necessarily matter if you intend to do both, but for people looking to do one mod at a time and get the biggest gains, stall before gears...every time.
I know that some guys haven't experienced enough of these combos on LS1/4L60E cars to know the results, but I'm here to tell you that the gains will always be bigger from a good stall swap versus any sort of reasonably streetable gear ratio swap.
I have to disagree. When it comes to an LS1 automatic, the single best mod for performance (short of N2O or a turbo/blower) is a higher stall speed (3500+). Gears, as a single mod, won't give you the sort of gains that a stall will on an LS1 car.
I've said it many times before and I'll say it again: If you take a stock LS1 car with 2.73s and put a 3500 stall and drag radials on it, it would be quicker than the same exact car with a stock stall and 3.73s with DRs. Of course this doesn't necessarily matter if you intend to do both, but for people looking to do one mod at a time and get the biggest gains, stall before gears...every time.
I know that some guys haven't experienced enough of these combos on LS1/4L60E cars to know the results, but I'm here to tell you that the gains will always be bigger from a good stall swap versus any sort of reasonably streetable gear ratio swap.
From a price perspective, it was more affordable to do a gear swap than a stall install for me. It Cost me about $1000 4 parts & labor for the 3600 to be installed, and only a 1/4 of that for a gear swap.
