Blacksmoke

If you are going to gear it from what you are I would go with the 3.55's.
NOT the 3.31.
That way you can feel the difference to the extent it REALLY felt worth it and
was a real performance upgrade. I would not feel that way if I went with the 3.31
As far as stirring on the street..... bah!
You should get used to the way it drives in NO TIME.
The 3.31's will leave you wanting more very soon if not right when you got them I believe.

If it was me though I'd go 3.73's even with the V6.
Your car will be ok driving on the street. You'd just have to get used to it.
Don't worry about this. You are not supercharged or anything to cause real concern about driveability and gear ratio.

If someone was doing a 5.0 I would DEFINITELY go 3.73. FORGET the 3.55's
then.

hogasswild

I personally will eventually go to 3.73s after I replace the driveshaft.

Upsh1ft

well, having the 3.31s from the factory on mine and with my relaxed driving style having me shift at 2000rpm(plenty for relaxed driving and keeping up with stoplight to stoplight "traffic") I end up in 6th gear at 50mph.

If you wanna shift higher, say 3000rpm, I think like 62-65mph is the point at which you end up in 6th.

I personally find that the ratios are close enough if you do a lot of city driving. By the time I hit 26mph with my 2000rpm personal shift point I'm already in 4th gear and hit 5th usually at 37mph(My uneven numbers are due to me converting from KM) but will sometimes shift into 5th earlier to keep RPMS really low in steady 50km/h zones(aprox 31mph).

However, if you wanna suddenly accelerate and you're in the wrong gear(and thus below 2500rpm, with the exception of 1st gear), it seems like it takes forever to get into the powerband. Of course once there, all is gravy.

Overall, the 3.31s are what this car should come with factory, it's a good compromise between factors like the closeness of the ratios, power and low RPM highway cruising for fuel economy without being extreme in either one.

Upsh1ft

Wait, don't you have the procharger? If so, the shaft has been holding up nicely?
How about the trans, is it the MT82 and if so how is it shifting?

EDIT: I think I may have you confused with someone else in regards to the procharger.

hogasswild

I would love one but no I don't have a procharger.

Boy Howdy

Upsh1ft, i do the exact same shifting patterns (ive got 3.31's also) but I usually hit 6th at 40 mph. Its great for cruising, as most speeds limits in my town are 40 mph, and i can keep rpms at around 1100 at 40mph in 6th. It's cool to see someone else doing the same pattern. Although i have never calculated it myself, the gauge in my car reads about 22-23 mpg for city driving.

Upsh1ft

well my 50/50 is about the 22mpg. But for all the ultra conservative shifting I do, I drive her hard in the morning on my way to work. Mornings are at 80mph and the rest of my highway commutes are at 75. Oh and for all the people I pass at those speeds, I get a few who either keep up or end up going faster lol. Highway is the only time I do in excess of the limit. I get some stop and go traffic jams thrown in as well.

Personally I doubt i'd want any better than 3.31 for myself. But really gearing is all a question of driver habits.

sketchy00

Well, the verdict is in. I'm going with the 3.55s. I figured since I'm getting it replaced, I might as well do more than what I think I need; which is what got me into this predicament in the first place! :-). Oh, and yes, the aluminum driveshaft is scheduled to show up on the doorstep tomorrow. Will have the shop throw it on while they are changing out the gear. Time to get the tunes revised...

scottybaccus

I have a reputation for raining on the parade with my friends. I always bring reality, maybe when unwelcome, so here's a litte to consider...

Model-2011____GT500_____GT_____V6
Trans(stick)___TR6060____MT82___MT82
1st___________2.97______3.66____4.17
2nd__________1.78_______2.43____2.34
3rd__________1.30_______1.69____1.52
4th__________1.00_______1.32____1.14
5th__________0.74_______1.00____0.867
6th__________0.50_______0.65____0.691
final_________3.55_______3.31_____2.73
Option_______3.73_______3.55_____3.31

Look closely at the first gear and sixth gear on each one. The V6 is not like any manual transmission to come before it. It basically has a granny gear in 1st to pull that 2.73 decently out of the hole, then it has the .69 overdrive on that 2.73 to get the best mileage. Trying to gear this like a V8 car while only considering the rear gear will take you down a bad road. There is a whopping 25% difference from the 1st gear in the V6 to the first gear in the GT500. There's no way you will enjoy rush hour when you are putting around like a dump truck. Now look at 6th. The GT500 is using a 50% overdrive to cover the 3.73 and get a good highway cruise. That's HUGE! Last thing, now ask yourself if you are going to be running your car at redline in 6th. Short answer is NO. It's very unlikely that a naturally aspirated V^ could pull to redline against real world drag in 6th. If you could, the speed would be enough to get airborn. (watch some Bonneville runs sometime)
If you are thinking about drag racing, you really want to gear so that you come to redline in 3rd at the finish line. Any more shifting and you are giving away time to change gears. Ok, one more, Look at how the option gear is the step up to the ratio of the next power level. Do you really want to jump into GT500 gearing without the power to go with it? Remember those high paid engineer types in Las Vegas and Detroit?

OK, I'll shut up now.

hogasswild

Doesn't seem like you're losing too much time shifting into 4th with 3.73s. AM's 3.73 geared v6 does 13.3 seconds in the quarter vs 14.2 seconds with 2.73 gears stock.