Hello,
I'm swapping out my 3.23 gears and rear end and going up to 3.73 gears. What performance gains can I expect with the gear change, if any? Some people told me I might end up going slower in the 1/4 mile, is that true? I will have slicks for the car that are slightly taller than the stock tires on the car when I race. Any information experiences with the gear change like that would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

 

Save your money for a Torque Converter , 323s to 373s if you hook up will net you only about 1 to 1 1/2 tenths in the 1/4 mile, a good torque converter will get you 4 to 7 tenths in the 1/4 mile. TCI super streetfighter is the best buy for the money and has proven its a performer And your gas milage will not suffer as it will drop with 373s. I think you will get alot of people telling you to leave the gears alone.

 

I would get a TC first. Yank ST3500 is my vote for the LT1 A4.
I did not pick up any in the 60' by switching from 3.23 to 3.73s but I did gain 3 tenths in the 1/4, was a 12.6 to a 12.3.
The TC will drop you ALOT!

 

I agree with the rest.....keep the 3.23's and save your money for TC.

I would go with Vigilante Torque Converters. My friends have used them and have turned out very good. They guarantee half a second off your time too.

 

How hard/labor intensive is it to install a TC? How many hours would I be looking at?

 

Hey,
It's a done deal about the gears, hence the post. Thanks for the replies so far, they have been helpful. So my next question is how do these cars that have these crazy 3000+ RPM stall converters drive around town?

 

I only have a 2800 stall.. but I plan to go higher..

My 2800 feels no different than stock driving around town. As far as performance goes, i gained about 2mph in the traps and knocked about half a tenth off my 60' times and a tenth or two at the big end.

 

As long as it's lock-up, you can put a 4000 stall on your daily driver. My good buddy has one on his all stock '99 LS1 and it really makes a difference! I personally just have a 2800, but I'm about to go with a 3200-3400 stall after my cam swap in order to match the curve...

Go with a lock-up TC so that it won't be functioning on the highway...

 

i gained .35 and 2mph with 2.73 to 3.73.. not sure about 3.23 to 3.73, but just to let you know

-Robert

 

i have a 3000 stall daily driver. another vote for the tci streetfighter.

on city streets, it's kindda annoying to drive it when it's locked up, because i can feel the cam loping. when locked, at 45mph, the rpm is like 1500, and that is NOT enough rpm for my motor. but, highway driving, it's fine.

 

i dropped about 2 tenths when i switched from 3.23's to 3.73's and that was on street tires

if you mash the gas and spin, yeah you probably will be slower

 

I went 2.73s to 3.23s and didn't gain. I went from 3.23s to 3.73s and the mid-range picked up a ton...not to mention the daily grin factor improvement. I also switched from a 2,400 to a 3,200 stall (yank). With the hot cam and stock heads my highway mileage hasn't changed much (about 26 or a tad more). Mixed highway and city (low-speed) driving sees the mileage down some.....but it's not horrible. Teh cam was not doing well with the 3.23s which is why I changed again. The stall made it just that much better. Daily driving is better with the 3200 yank that with the 2400 I had in there. Less heat, less low rpm slippage....quicker flash and subsequent lockup..... My 60fts dropped over 2/10ths with the stall alone.

So....it all depends. I can be driving my car at 40mph in 2nd (light throttle accel) and roll onto it hard and once coverter starts finding itself again (very quickly) the tires break loose. That.....is fun on dry pavement, but not in the ice (daily driver....all weather).

 

Doug,
Thanks for the informative response. I was curious how much the drop was from the 3.23's to the 3.73's. My car is stock cam and heads. I'm curious to know more about the drivability of a car with an aftermarket convertor. Because that's the next thing I'd be doing, I put about 5-8k on the car and only take it to the track maybe once to twice a year. I'll be running slicks with the gear change. Thanks for your help again.

 

With the Lock up TCs of today, Daily commutes or even weekend runs are easy. Car gets to 4th and it pulls the same RPMs as before. Depending on what TC you get the starting (stop light) revs may be higher to get the car moving but most of the TCs I have run require no extra throttle to get the car moving and there fore no change in driveability. Lock up is wonderful.

Now if you were to switch to a A3 like I have Daily driving is affected. I like it but i miss the lock up....but that is my choice...

 

my has had the yank 3200 in it for over a year now and I love it. I drive the car every day...in all weather.....and on all sorts of roads. Most of my 40 mi (one-way) commute to work is at speeds below 45mph (I program with tunercat) the converter doesn't lock. This converter is much less annoying than others I've used over the years with even lower stall speeds. Up a steep grade (I live out in the boonies in central KY) the car moves well up hill at about 25-30mph with rpm hovering in the 2k area.

Best launches have been with the car at about 850rpm (not idle and not pulling on the brakes) and then nail it. On nittos I have a 1.77 60ft going 1/2 thottle to about 10ft then WOT.

Driving around town is not a problem and it has actually helped me some on the snow and ice because of the slight slippage below 2,000rpm. I add about 250lbs to the back of my car in the winter and run 245/50-16 all-season tires. The curved and gravel hill leading up to our house is about 125 yards long and at a 15% grade. if everything is frozen....I get up just fine. If it's somewhat soft underneath (melting snow or ice) then it's a bit of struggle.

I have an aux cooler and even when hammering the snot out of the car in hot summer...temps stay in the 180deg range.

It took about three tires for me to work out the OBDI/hi-stall/no-shifting problem....but it works pretty good these days. I've thought about going to 3.42s and may still, but my finish line rpm is still a bit low and there's really no reason for me to change. On a normal week with my typical runs to 60-65 at stop signs and such...I get 230-240 miles from a tank which is exactly what I was getting without the cam, with 2.73s, stock stall, all the bolt-ons. Can't complain about that. Heads will be on in the spring and I suspect....my mileage will drop....as will the ETs. Might be time to switch to 3.42s then.