ok so whats the real deal with this???
ive heard a few people talkin about it and alota people say you will have no traction...rpm too high for the freeway...but heres my deal i get on the freeway mayb once a week for about 10 miles maybe...i normally drive around my neighborhood which is 40mph zones...is it going to KILL gas mileage??? is it too much gear??? going to lose traction or top end???
Daniel

 

4.10 is the way to go if you ask me. I'm happy with mine. Freeway driving is a bit of a bear, but its nothing I havent gotten used to. MPG is down maybe 2 or 3 on the highway. Same around town.

 

Spinner, just wondering how many track passes you have on your 4.10's? I'm contemplating on moving from 3.42's to 4.10's since I'm so low in the rpm range. I have numerous other means of transportation so gas mileage doesn't matter at all. I'll use 26" tires NA and 28" on the dope. Just trying to see if they will last awhile with an auto. 60fts should be low 1.5's on the dope. What's your take? Thanks.

 

I had 3.73's in my car for about a year and loved them, so I have decided to put 4.10's in this month. I can't wait. I don't do much highway driving but if I have to make a long trip I will have the extra 3.23 rear end sitting in the garage.

 

Enough passes. Set them up and they'll live a long life. It's still only a 7.5" gear in a 10 bolt though, thats always going to be your weak link.

 

I hear they tear up your rear end like no other. I could be wrong, I have thought about going from 3.23's to 4.10's. What do you guys mean when highway driving is a bear?

 

Until the 4.10's in my car grenade themselves, I have no comment on that!!

AFAIK, aftermarket gears (ie: Richmond, Strange) are supposed to be built strong? I hope that the gears don't actually break, just because they're 4.10's? I'm more worried about shearing an axle at this point?

On the highway, 4.10's aren't a whole lot different than 3.73's.....yeah, they're turning the motor an extra couple hundred RPM's, but when you move from 2.73's, even 3.73's seem extreme, so why not go the extra mile?

 

did any a4 cars come with 3.42??? and is there a way to check besides pulling the cover besides the rpo code
my car should have 3.23 but im cruisin down the freeway today at 70 mph specifically at about 2300rpm...im not understanding...i did always get the other lt1's though
Daniel

 

GU2 = 2.73's
GU5 = 3.23's
GU6 = 3.42's

I think that 3.42's may have come in V6 F-bodies as an option?? Don't quote me on that, but I know that they used 3.08's which don't come in the V8 cars, and I think I remember a gear ratio that was used with the opposite tranny that it's used with in the V8 cars?

3.42's ONLY come in 6-speed V8 F-bodies though.

 

If your shifter goes [D]-D-2-1 you have 3.23
If it goes [D]-D-2 you have 2.73

 

i kno that guys...my code says 3.23 and my shifter goes into 1...i was just wondering because i guess i need to open the diff and see if it has 3.23 or 3.42 because im cruisin at 70 at about 2300
daniel

 

At 70 i'm crusing ~2250rpm with the 3.23s, about 2400 at 75. SO i'd say you have the 3.23s.

If you're still curious, next time you're running 70mph down the highway pull it into 3rd and you should be turning around 3200-3300rpm with 3.23s... 34-3500 witrh 3.42s... and around 37-3800rpm with 3.73s (the rpms almost correspond with the rear ratio on stock tires at 70mph in the 1:1 tranny gear)

 

F-body tach's are notorious for showing more rpm than the engine is actually turning. I have 3.23's and I seem to remember my Scanmaster showing 2100 rpm at 70 mph. Haven't had the car out for a while due to winter and snow.

 

I know my tach is off 300rpm at 5700rpm since it has always shown 6k rpm shifts.... it did it when the car was bone stock with 2.73s and it does it now with the 3.23s and Ion's program (which is just a factory 3.23 program). I always heard that it was fairly accurate at low rpm, but gets off worse and worse as the voltage to the gauge increases.

If you don't mind, can you check it again sometime and let us know for sure? Thanks

 

The tach is not affected by programming and thus cannot be corrected through programming. It's just cheap design and you can only get more accurate readings if you get a digital readout from the PCM or use an aftermarket tach.

As for A4 and 4.10s, I don't know guys, it's just too much RPM (=loud) for me on the highway. I am switching to an M6 right now, but if I ever had an auto (doubtful) again, and it was daily driven, I'd definetely get 3.73s.