I have been on this forum for awhile now and have noticed that alot of questions get asked over and over again. One of the biggest is about gears. What gear ratio should I get? What brand gears should I get? Will gears lower my top speed? How much will my MPG suffer with gears? Well I have decided to try to answer them all and stop the reaccuring threads.

GEAR RATIO
Your stock gears are 3.27
3.55 gears are stock in the 03-04 cobras
Upgradeing from 3.27 to 3.55 is really a waste of money and you will be upset with your choice.
3.73 gears are great for daily drivers that have alot of highway use, Roots style or twinscrew style blown cars (instant boost= instant torque and very bad traction with a bigger gear), and if you are concerened about MPG.

4.10 gears are great for daily driver that is mostly city driving, Nitrous cars, supercharged cars (with supporting suspension and tire upgrades), and NA cars.

4.56 gears are great for drag cars
gear ratio = (rpm x tire diameter) / (mph x 336)



BRAND GEARS
Most people will say that FRPP are better then all other brands. This is just not true. Motive and Richmond gears are both very high quality gears. All three brands are all givin the same guidelines by the government that they all must adhear to. In other words the same level gear is just as strong as the other. The only difference is if they are called "Performance Plus" or or something to that effect. The reason most people say to get the FRPP is because alot of mechanics won't install anything but them. The reason for that is that FRPP are easy to install. Movtive and Richmond are harder because it takes more shimming to set the backlash and pinion depth.

NO GEARS SHOULD WHINE if they whine then it is the installers fault and you need to bring it back to him.

GEARS AND TOP SPEED
Yes gears will effect your top speed but how offten do you need to go over 140mph. Gears will lower your top speed but not by much and the more horsepower you add the more your top speed will climb back up. mph = (rpm x tire diameter) / (gear ratio x 336)

GEARS AND MPG
3.73 gears will not lower your mpg enough to notice
4.10 gears will lower your mpg by 2-3mpg depending on your driving style.
rpm = (mph x gear ratio x 336) / tire daimeter
The biggest thing about gears that kills your MPG is your right foot.

IMO if you are that worried about MPG then don't get the gears. You drive a V8 mustang! I really don't think you cared about MPG when you bought it so why care now.

Gears should be one of your first Mods and will be the one you feel the most.

If I have made any mistakes feel free to correct me. If you think of any more questions that always come up about gears add it. I hope this thread becomes a sticky.

 

Good stuff man, but don't be too dissapointed if it never gets a sticky. My thread about backpressure and what it really is was quickly forgotten.

Hey code, how about a tech section where we post articles and threads like this? Hm??????

 

Good Idea I think it would also be great if there was a HOW TO section people can post their how to's they made or found.

 

there is still going to be tons of gear theads popping up.

 

i want to see that one if you can find it, we dont have a backpreasure thread, but we have a gear sticky

 

^^^^ Defintely needs to be a sticky^^^^

 

+1 good stuff man but you have way too much free time! Go outside! Enjoy your car! Get some fresh air! haha jm

 

I would go outside and enjoy my car but it is on the other side of the world and the air here isn't very fresh. I do have to much time on my hands because I have a 12 hour radio watch shift everyday because I cought some shrapnell with my leg about 3 months ago[sm=headbang.gif].

In about 2 weeks you wont see anymore threads like this from me just the ones that say "I F$*ked this up how do I fix it"

Watch for my thread tomorrow all about suspension.

 

+1
its useless to have stickies... people dont read them anyway

 

So what should I go with?

3.73 orrrrrrrrr possibly 4.10?????






















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