Classic Mustangs (Tech) Technical discussions about the Mustangs of yester-year.

Which gears?

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Old 09-26-2013, 09:53 PM
  #11  
reldla1996
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With the overdrive, and not driving a lot on the highway, and you want the additional acceleration, the 3.80 would get my vote. I run a 3.73 in my 89 with a .68 overdrive, and have been very happy with it. you might want stickier tires....
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Old 09-26-2013, 11:32 PM
  #12  
Iskwezm
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not that its the same but i had 4.30's in my '06 GT and loved them, still got 24-26 mpg's on trips.
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Old 09-27-2013, 02:50 AM
  #13  
MonsterBilly
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Im with gun jam. I have 3.73s with my t5 and drive it hard. I would never want to go any higher. Sometimes think that 4.11s would have been better.
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Old 09-27-2013, 06:50 AM
  #14  
TexasAxMan
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Thanks for all the responses!

I'm leaning pretty hard toward the 3.80's now. I was thinking 3.55 before.
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Old 09-29-2013, 10:08 AM
  #15  
frdnut
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The overdrive trans lets you have your cake and eat it too..You can run a low rear gear and still get good mileage and low cruise rpms in fifth gear...I would go with 3.80s or 4.11s if you love to accelerate.
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Old 09-29-2013, 12:31 PM
  #16  
Diputado
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For what it's worth...I agree with the folks on the 3.70 to 4.11 ratio for that combination. The overdrive will let you get away with having a low ratio on the open road. I'm currently running a 3.50 gear with a Toploader 4-speed, and without overdrive that's about as low as I'd want to go with my combination and still run it at highway speeds.
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Old 09-29-2013, 03:06 PM
  #17  
musnicki
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My 5th gear is 0.68 and I run a 3.89 rear end with 26.1" tires. I hit 3k rpm somewhere right below 80. It also makes for a fun drive. I do a mix of highway and street race type driving.

James
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Old 09-29-2013, 04:08 PM
  #18  
TexasAxMan
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I think 4.11 might be a bit too much, given that I will be doing some highway driving. The main thing that bothers me is losing usefulness of 1st gear, that's why I was leaning toward 3.55's in the first place ...
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Old 09-29-2013, 08:16 PM
  #19  
Iskwezm
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Originally Posted by TexasAxMan
I think 4.11 might be a bit too much, given that I will be doing some highway driving. The main thing that bothers me is losing usefulness of 1st gear, that's why I was leaning toward 3.55's in the first place ...
You dont lose 1st gear, it just reaches the shift point sooner.

You'll like 3.55's, you love 3.80's. I drove yesterday doing 80mph to a show, still around 2500 rpm.
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Old 09-29-2013, 11:30 PM
  #20  
Gun Jam
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well said...if you are going to go through the trouble of changing gears you might as well make it noticeable.

I have done 2 gears swaps 2.75s (stock 66 v8) to 3.00 that made no real difference seat of the pants "feel" wise but obviously showed up on my tach with a c4 trans but from 0 to 60 I never noticed anything.

Then when I got the t5 the 3.00 were unacceptable to use 5th I had do 80 and with the taller 1st gear it was a turd off the line and not much fun I drove it this way for a few months then went with the 3.80s... Now that you could feel!
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