Gear or No Gear

[Luds2000GTS]

I have a completely stock 2000 GTS I'm going to install "catbacks" this spring and am considering a new gear, is there a noticible diference or am I wasting my time? Also any recomendation on gear size if I do decide to get one?

 

[jdoc7]

Depends on what you plan on doing with your car. If you are looking to increase 1/4 miles times, don't bother. If you just want a nice 'seat-of-the-pants' pull, then go 3.55 or 3.73 as most do. If you plan on supercharging, don't bother with re-gearing. The stock 3.07's will allow you to hook up better. Do a search on 3.55 or 3.73

 

[JUCD VPR]

Depends on what you plan on doing with your car. If you are looking to increase 1/4 miles times, don't bother. If you just want a nice 'seat-of-the-pants' pull, then go 3.55 or 3.73 as most do. If you plan on supercharging, don't bother with re-gearing. The stock 3.07's will allow you to hook up better. Do a search on 3.55 or 3.73

Well said, also if you plan on going the Nitrous route just stick with the stock 3:07's.

 

[Luds2000GTS]

Deffinetly like the "PULL" and am not looking for 1/4 mile times, is a 3.55 noticable differance?

 

[jdoc7]

Deffinetly like the "PULL" and am not looking for 1/4 mile times, is a 3.55 noticable differance?

Yes it is!

 

[00prowler]

Definitly more pull...6th gear becomes usable. If you do go with gears, stick with the 3.55s...3.73s are good for gen 1 cars..Remember you will lose around 20 mph off of you top end with your setup with 3.55s...I have a Roe S/C with 3.55s and I like them very much.. it is easier to control the wheelspin with gears once you learn how and its easier on the clutch too...AL...

 

[DEADEYE]

What gear will a 3:33 ratio trap in?

 

[JUCD VPR]

You could just add Nitrous
But yes i hear a 3:55 is noticable maybe if your not worried about 1/4 mile times you shoould go with a 3:73.

 

[a-mechanic]

Yes there is a notable difference. 3.73 is more to my liking in gen 1/2 cars 3.55 in gen 3's. I installed 1 set of 4.10's in a 2nd gen. and it was way too short,and almost uncontrollable. 3.55's feel like an additional 50+ hp.

 

[V 10 MAFIA]

I've had 373 and now have 354. My car doensn't have power add on's, only intake and exhaust. 354's I feel is the perfect gear for all around performance. If you are thinking about putting 373 or higher, it is worthwhile to drive a car with that high a ratio. With 373's 1st and 2nd gears feel very short. 1st is almost a waste because it its span becomes so quick. It's only good for shredding tires without using the clutch.

 

[Hissses]

3:54 gears worked great! Like stated 6th gear now usable and still get 20 plus mpg crusing at 80. Makes the car alot more responsive.

 

[Jim Wilson]

I have a complete 3.55 assembly with Unitrax speedometer calibrator that I removed after about 5,000 miles since I installed a blower. Let me know if your interested.

 

[RTED]

I am interested, please e-mail me with price for gear and speedomter calibrator.

[email protected]


thanks!
RTED

 

[Newport Viper]

If you are in CA this is the only way to go. Drop the car, go play a round of golf at Black Gold. Presto new gears!

http://www.gounitrax.com/main.html

 

[99 R/T 10]

http://vca1.viperclub.org/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?session_key=&search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=7224&query=retrieval

 

[Nuck]

Depends on what you plan on doing with your car. If you are looking to increase 1/4 miles times, don't bother. If you just want a nice 'seat-of-the-pants' pull, then go 3.55 or 3.73 as most do. If you plan on supercharging, don't bother with re-gearing. The stock 3.07's will allow you to hook up better. Do a search on 3.55 or 3.73

This has come up before with similar answers mostly, but nobody has ever explained why. Unless the car is a stock Gen 1 how can the lower gearset not drop the ET? Do 3.55s somehow put you past the powerband in 4th? Are the cars not hooking up as well off the line? Has any ever compared 60' times?
Is this also true in cars that might make a bit more upper RPM power like with full exhaust and Vec 1/2?

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Depends on what you plan on doing with your car. If you are looking to increase 1/4 miles times, don't bother. If you just want a nice 'seat-of-the-pants' pull, then go 3.55 or 3.73 as most do. If you plan on supercharging, don't bother with re-gearing. The stock 3.07's will allow you to hook up better. Do a search on 3.55 or 3.73

This has come up before with similar answers mostly, but nobody has ever explained why. Unless the car is a stock Gen 1 how can the lower gearset not drop the ET? Do 3.55s somehow put you past the powerband in 4th? Are the cars not hooking up as well off the line? Has any ever compared 60' times?
Is this also true in cars that might make a bit more upper RPM power like with full exhaust and Vec 1/2?

Good point. 3.55s will not require a lower-power car to have to shift to 5th in the quarter so unless traction is just totally pathetic 3.55s HAVE to be quicker than 3.07s. I have 3.55s and would never go back on my bolt-on car. Caveat though is I run Kumhos on the rear so if the weather is warm I have all the traction I need. Given my hook-up, without any doubt my car is at least a full second quicker to 60 mph with the short gears and sticky tires, and when the weather is cold and the tires will spin, the the shorter gears make it easier to pedal the car and get the traction back. Unless you are big power I cannot see how you would not like shorter gears. I mean even driving a parking garage speeds is a lot nicer than the stupidly tall stock gears.

 

[jdoc7]

Given my hook-up, without any doubt my car is at least a full second quicker to 60 mph with the short gears and sticky tires

Sure, 0-60 times will improve will lower gear ratios but 1/4 mile times are usually the same since there is typically an extra gear shift which negates any time improvement.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Sure, 0-60 times will improve will lower gear ratios but 1/4 mile times are usually the same since there is typically an extra gear shift which negates any time improvement.

That's not quite true. Even a stock rear end needs to go into 4th gear to maximize the power band. There is a lot stuff on this subject. I finally decided on a 3:45 Unitrax assembly. Had a 3:33 gear from Unitrax been available at the time (2 yrs ago), I probably would have gone with it. I believe it is probably the most versatile gear for moderate mods to your car.


With a 3:33 gear and stock tires, 4th would top out around 140 MPH. A 3:55 gear is done at 130. The reason that the times are not dramatically different in a 1/4 is because of the overlap between the gear sets. As the lower gear shifts, the the higher gear is still pulling. It's a see saw game back and forth throughout the power band. My little computer program shows only a second or two advantage for the lower gear (3:45 to 3:07) to 150MPH. That being said....from 150 to top end, there is a huge difference in time, with the advantage going to the lower gear sets. Of course, with a 3:55 rear end, you're all done at about 177 MPH. For my current HP, the program shows me actually topping out 2 MPH higher than the stock rear end due to being able to go higher up the tach before hitting the wall.

From a SOTP feel, the lower gearing was definitely noticable to me--up to 120MPH or so. ....Then, with the 3:45, you have to go the .74 gear while the stock rear end is still pulling hard at that speed. From a SOTP feel, the stock rear end seems to pull harder from 120-150MPH. The lower rear end in 5th gear does not offset the 1:1 ratio of 4th gear with a stock rear end.

Steve

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Sure, 0-60 times will improve will lower gear ratios but 1/4 mile times are usually the same since there is typically an extra gear shift which negates any time improvement.

Nope. Any ratio from 3.07 to 3.55 is going to go through the traps in 4th. You might be able to argue that where the car is in the power-band matters but that is going to probably favor the short gears also.

 

[99 R/T 10]

I even went thru the traps in 4th with my 3.73's in my 96 RT, I think they were good up to 128 in 4th(6100 RPM).

 

[Nuck]

I would think that a lot of the "gears don't help" stories originated with gen one cars which may have been able to squeek through the traps in third.
A lot of people will tell you with Gen 2 cars that they felt SOTP but it didn't show in the ET. My thought there is that there is only a couple of tenths to be gained so unless you adjust your launch to maximize the new gear ratio, it remains only hypothetical. If you think about some of the faster stockish guys at the track they have had to do a lot of work to get their launch down just right.
If they use their perfected stock ratio launch with the new gears and don't do a lot of track or Gtech tinkering to adapt to different gears that.2 or whatever never shows up and they think the gears were a waste. That's my theory anyways

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Of course, with a 3:55 rear end, you're all done at about 177 MPH. For my current HP, the program shows me actually topping out 2 MPH higher than the stock rear end due to being able to go higher up the tach before hitting the wall.

Just to make things more confusing regarding my particular car, I have short 5th and 6th gear ratios (.80 and .64 as opposed to .74 and .50) so my car with stock height rear tires in 6th at 6,000 rpm would be going 200 mph. Of course it will not go this fast, but if you do the math, 300 kph/186 mph is right at the sweet 5,200 rpm sweet spot of power in 6th, so my car would surely go faster top end in 6th than in 5th (the reverse from stock gearing) and it sure in the heck would get there a lot faster due to having optimal ratios helping it all the way (my 4th-to-5th and 5th-to-6th steps are nice and even just like 1st through 4th not like droppign off a cliff with the stock 5th and 6th ratios). Of course the problem is to find a place to actually test this theory!

 

[00prowler]

Deffinetly like the "PULL" and am not looking for 1/4 mile times, is a 3.55 noticable differance?

The 1/4 mile chat is not important to Luds original post...Install the 3.55s..you will have no regrets...I am certain...AL...

 

[sbkim]

Ok so I am convinced 3.55 is the way to go for my Gen2. Now which should I get? Unitrax gears and have a shop build into factory or just buy a 3.55 carrier from Mopar???

Any shop recommendation for Chicago area?

Thanks!

 

[Asp Man]

SOTP feel is probably more important than 1/4 mi. times for most of us.
From personal experience: stock 3.07s in mine, 3.73s in my bro's car. From dead stop through 3rd gear, I pulled about 1 full length on him well before I had to hit 4th. Why? He wasn't shifting more, though he was in 3rd before me. My fresher tires may have played a part. Though he's not one to cry foul and say he's spinnin'
His car does 'feel' livelier when behind the wheel, but that doesn't translate side by side.

 

[npeifer]

I installed the Mopar 3.73 gear and love it ! Definitley makes the car more driveable at highway speeds as well.

 

[Bratatatat]

QUESTION: "with 3:55 gears, you'll gain a full second in 0-60" ... is that true???

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

I favor the stock 3:07 gears, As there is no reason to switch to a lower gear combo. Put 3:55's in my 97 GTS, the additional shifting on road courses was a real pain. It was also harder to keep the car balanced (shifting in turns is not a good idea to go fast). The longer gears make very good use of the Viper's massive torque making the lower gears of no value.

If you like to shift a lot, or plan to run huge slicks at a drag strip lower gears my be ok. Otherwise a waste of $$$ in my opinion.

 

[Bluvenm97]

My car came with 3:43's supposedly, and I love them. That or 3:55 is about as steep as
I would go..