373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

I am among the minority here but other than to rip out and burn rubber the 373 gears suck. I basically now have a 4 speed car with 1st being only to lauch for a race. I can easily leave stop signs in 2nd gear from a dead stop and take the same turns I was taking in 2nd now i have to take them in 3rd. I used to use 3rd from like 20mph to as high as 70 when merging on the expressway. Now I am always shifting and 4th and even 5th are getting used on 50 mph 2 lane roads. So what the hell did I accomplish here? To top it off it squeeks and whoop whoops a little on fast right hand sweeping turns,so tomorrow it has to back. I hope the installer screwed something up and ruined the gear set so I can say just put back my factory gears. The dallas mustang speedcal does work but is not a 20 minute install, you need to get under the car to disconnect the vehicle speed sensor and then take the switch apart then some other wiring which has no diagram just written directions which are fair at best. To be fair to the 373's though if you don't mind shifting alot they are fun and Yes they completely change the cars powerband. I dont know if they will grow on me or what but I doubt it. I guess the engineers who made the car really know a thing or two about it. Imagine that. The correct way to drive a manual transmission vehicle is to shift up through the gears and keep the rpm's reasonably low unless your accelerating. Plus you save engine wear and fuel (if you care,I don't). Even through turns you could come out in 3rd at about 22 mph with barely any engine lugging with the factory gears. Like I said the factory engineers really know a thing or two about the car.

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

If your spinning alot you need to either learn to launch the car better or get a sticky tire. It all boils down to wheather you want to go fast or not, factory gears are made for the majority of people (most don't care about racing thier car). FWIW 99% of the people here are happy with thier gear swaps (and most of us get 4.10's)

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

You should get a softer compound tire or drag radials. See if that makes accelerating a little more forgiving. If you still don't like them, then you may have just lost the speed bug. There is no remedie for that. Trade it in for a V6;)

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

are you kidding? You lose like 5mph off each gear. 3rd gear went up to 100 in my car with 3.73's. Ur just gonna have to learn to cruise like 200rpms higher. Maybe you got some 4.56's by mistake or something. If there was no change in acceleration, I could barely even tell i was geared lower.

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

so.. if youre completely upset with the feel,, and had NO urge to go faster or make it more fun to drive..

why did you change the gears in teh first place?
please elaborate...

thats like me goin out (if you really didnt want to make it faster that is) and buying a set of DR's, then complaining because i cant squeel the tires as easily and the tread is wearing too fast, then saying that the manufactures knew something about the car.

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

I wonder if he changed the tire size at the same time or somthing, because what is happening with his car is not typical at all of such a mild gear swap.

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

I also have a feeling he hasnt adjusted his speedo to match the new gears....he didn't mention anything about that.

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

I agree. What was your ultimate goal with the gear swap?
There have been a lot of gear posts, and the case you make goes a long way in showing that going to shorter gears has its disadvantages. I agree with you. You loose some drive-ability of the car when you go with short gears, and have to deal with a higher freeway cruising rpm. You'd probably like 3.55's better. I think those are a great balanced gear, and that's what I run in my 01. Even though the difference isn't tremendous over 3.73's, I think you'd like the 3.55's.
-One thing about doing short gears is that the ONLY benefit you get out of it is a slightly faster accelerating car. They can sure keep you busy with the clutch, which doesn't make the clutch any happier, not to mention the synchros.

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

But there are easy ways around that, like skipping gears. ;)

Personally, I found it easier to drive a car with 4.10's vs a car with factory 3.27 or taller gears. A whole lot less lugging and not having to put your foot in it to get it going from a light...

RE: 373 gears are in - really dont like them
 

I am not spinning the tires (unless I want to) they are stock size and relatively new. I've put 147,211 miles on it (1998 Gt vert).I think by now I know how to drive/launch it. Only the second clutch ever (factory and this one) and it still chirps second on a power shift.The mileage and wear on the ring/pinion set and particularly the bearings were the reason for rebuilding the rear, so I figured while its being done let me have some fun for the last 50,000 miles or so I put on the car. I just didn't realize how low it would make my first gear feel. I'll have to drive it a few more days after I let the installer fix whatever may be making that whoop whoop whoop on sweeping right handers. But my first impression is that while the car accellerates quicker and pulls alot harder than stock-- I still feel like I have a 4 speed tranny now because the car leaves stoplights in 2nd with the 373's just like it did with the stock gear in 1st. I should have waited and got 355's but mustangtuning was out of stock. Oh well not a tragedy.Yes I did get the speedo corrected and the dallas tuner does work very well, but the instructions could have been a lot better.