are 4:11's a wise choice?

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
I am thinking of going to them because most shops are saying its a good way to make the car faster and it takes some stress off the hard starts.... I don't worry about top end....the less time I spend at 140 the longer ill live...the roads in the northeast suck , even the highways!! but it seems that I run out of gear so fast in first with the 3:42 s I have now that ill have to shift even faster if I go with the 4;11's.... almost as if 1st gear is a total waste... now im not a racer, but I try to act like one when ever I sleep at motel 6.....

I got into this question by deciding to go up in HP on my C5, just because I want MORE HP... no other reason...

I was behind the idea originally... but am wondering about the short 1st gear. if Im hoping to move up to 450 or slightly above horse power levels in the future....would I be better off with smaller gears? stay with the 3;42 or go with 3:73's.... I am thjnking now that the idea for 4;11 is even better for the guy not adding HP...

the correct answer of course will depend on an honest answer to several questions,

(1) what do you intend to do with the car after the gear ratio change?
(2)what makes you think a gear change will improve your ability to do that?
(3) have you bothered to use a couple different calculators and compare the projected results?
(4) will gas mileage , or emission testing,be a factor here?
(5)are you aware that youll most likely need better tires to take full advantage of the increase in torque multiplication
(6) is the cost of the parts , down time or labor cost worth the projected improvement?
(7) can you do the work yourself and save money?

http://www.wallaceracing.com/et-hp-mph.php


USE THE LINKED CALCULATORS

http://www.wallaceracing.com/gear-speed.php
http://www.race-cars.net/calculators/et_calculator.html
http://www.wallaceracing.com/calc-rgr.php
http://www.datsuns.com/Tech/whentoshift.htm
http://www.frontrange4x4.com/forums/sho ... nformation
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/cc ... to_01.html
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html
http://www.tciauto.com/tc/gear-ratios
http://www.5speeds.com/ratios.html

reading links and sub links will help
generally youll want the transmission first gear ratio multiplied times the rear gear ratio to fall in the 10:1-10.75:1 range
and ideally the 70 mph cruise rpm to fall at the lower end of the most effective torque curve, and yes this usually requires an over drive top gear ratio.
http://www.mirrockcorvette.com/corvette-parts-guide-wheels.html

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...nk-to-some-c4-corvette-wheel-tech-info.12099/
offsetdiagram2.jpg

Corvette%20wheel%20offset%20chart.jpg

if your doing the required calcs most c4 tires will be between 24.5 and 25.5" tall, most stock auto c4 transmissions shift under 5500 rpm








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