97snakebite

So not too long ago, if anyone happens to recall, I made a post asking y'alls opinion on rather or not I should sell my paid off 97 cobra and invest in a terminator or not. Well, I've decided to stick with the 97 and thus the mod-fest begins. Two of my biggest questions/queries are ....[/align][/align]T-45 Tranny: If I were to go as far as to build this car with f/i and the works, would the stock tranny be up to handling all that added power consistently? I ask because I saw one fellow who has the same exact car as mine, except procharged, and he dropped a t56 into it at the same time he supercharged it. Would I probably want to look at upgrading or would the t45 get the job done?[/align][/align]Gearing: I feel like the cobra's biggest weak spot at the track is taking too long to get into powerband. I'm seriously looking into 4.10s and I'm sure that would fix the problem and everything, but this car is probably gonna be a daily driver for quite some time and I do a lot of interstate driving, so would it be absolutely ridiculous going a consistent 65 mph with 4.10s? About what RPM would I be looking at going that speed? Over 4 grand? I'm really not sure so if anyone can enlighten me I'd really appreciate it, thanks[/align]

2000GT4.6

the 4.10s won't be anywhere near 4K in 5th at 65 MPH. With 3.73 I tach under 3000 RPM at 70 MPH, and 4.10s are only another 300-400 RPM in 5th.

So far as the trans, its a crapshoot, but being a 45 it definatly won't last forever. My advice is to drive it till it breaks, and then replace it. More than likely, with a 45, what will happen is you will damange a sync shifting hard etc and it will start to grind a gear, at that point you know its time to think about getting another.

I have a thread in the tech section about doing 56 and TKO swaps, has most of the info your looking for including gear ratios of the the trannys etc.

97snakebite

that sounds about right. I know I hear a lot about how much gears radically effect gas mileage etc etc, but with a jump to 3.73s or 4.10s is it really gonna be a dramatic difference under normal driving circumstances? How has it effected you?

2000GT4.6

With the 3.73s, cams, full boltons, and blower (with a TKo, which is basically the same as a 45 in 5th) I get between 20 and 21.5 MPG on the highway.

In town, its a differn't story, but thats just because I can't keep my foot out of it

97snakebite

nothin wrong with that; that's what you built it for :-p

97snakebite

think you could link me to that article? cant seem to find it

2000GT4.6

https://mustangforums.com/m_2832353/tm.htm