Thankyou...

 

Hey, I wasn't trying to call YOU out personally ... sorry for any personal "flaming" .

But I've posted in a lot of threads about gear swaps in A4's, and it's like "everybody" says but only half seem to have real/actual experience with the matter . It's EXPERIENCED feedback like yours that helps out in these type of threads, but there are a lot of guys who HAVE 3.73's, have never HAD 4.10's and they'll say they're too low ..... I mean c'mon! I have had both, and there's actually not much difference between the two. I just don't like blanket statements being made like that sometimes I guess??

But you're very right ... deciding which gears to go with can vary case-to-case, and you have to weigh all of the variables, and what matters to you most. While I may be all for running 4.10's behind WHATEVER transmission you've got, there is a limit to when you should/shouldn't run them, and that's why my first statement above was

 

No problem. I did take it a little personally but I don't have a lot of posts on here since I just in the past 6 months really switch to the Camaro build up from the Jeep build up. I understand exactly what you mean about people posting with no experience or just hearsay because it happened all the time on the Jeep boards. I don't post anything unless I have actual experience with it or something to back it up but that reputation hasn't been established on here yet. I just wanted to better explain myself so that it didn't come across that I was making an uneducated statement or opinion with no reasononing behind it. I also worked 16 hours yesterday so I was a little short with everything. Now that I've had 6 hours sleep I'm much better.

 

I had 4.10's in my 98 Z that was an auto. I hated them. I could never hookup right (lots of after market suspension parts), shift points always seemed off (I spent lots of time with a HPP), it just wasn't right.

I could smoke the tires from a stop with WOT into 3rd, but spinning doesn't win races. The car was a DD, and only saw the track once.

Just horrible.

I ended up going with 3.73's and it was a match made in heaven for the Auto. Still good use-able power, I could still smoke the tires if I wanted, but I could also hook up.

The times in my sig are with the 3.73's. For the time, I went easy going from first to second for two reasons:

1. I just finished the break in period
2. I was scared to get on it, as with the 4.10's I would always go sideways.


If it was a track only car, I could see going with a step gear. If you like near 3k RPM's at 70, and horrible traction in the rain, go with 4.10s. The 3.73's are a great match for an Auto. It was night and day difference (for the best) switching to the 3.73's after I had the 4.10's. It just felt right.

For the best of both worlds for a daily driver, I'd suggest going with the 3.73's.

 

do you have to have any supporting mods if you get gears? just wondering.

 

No, you don't have to have anything ... gears can be a stand-alone mod, but if you have any traction issues, then things like LCA's, aftermarket TQ arms, etc., will all help alleviate the problem. IMO, tires are the biggest single improvement you can make.

Unlike 'one wicked element', I actually had very few problems getting traction when I had 4.10's. I had more problems when I had 3.73's, but it wasn't anything to do with the gears, it's because I still had the factory RSA's when I had 3.73's out back, but when I had the 4.10's, I'd replaced the tires on the car with a set of Hankook HR405's ... they were relatively "cheap", but they hooked really well ... I was posting consistant 1.9's in the 60' with them, and even on the street (rain or shine) they worked not too bad . That was just my experience. Even at the track, the car would still bog off the line, so I was still planning on investing in a stall converter!! (things have obviously changed since then ).

 

If it makes a difference... she has a ford escape that she drives in bad weather, unless of course she gets a suprise rain fall... so really its only a dry weather car.....

 

No one has mentioned rear tire height (which is also a major factor here) along with either 3.73s or 4.10s. If you're running 3.73s and have really small 25" tall rear tires, you my be geared lower on the street than someone with 4.10s and tall 27" tires.

My 1997 Z28 A4 is mostly a bracket car, but still street legal. Next season I'm planning to go to 4.30s w/ 28" slicks. With the tall 28" slicks that should place my trap RPM around 6400, which isn't too extreme.

WD

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2189634

 

For the most part though, I'm sure guys are running the factory ~25.6" tire?

 

good post I am watching. I have the same idea have a 97 ss ragtop auto now have a 342 gear wanting to goto a 373 or 410 mostly a cruiser but go to the track 2 to 3 times a year some work done on it its puts 283 hp on a mustang dyno please keep the post going

 

Not sure what the rear tire height is.... right now it has the salad shooters with stock sized tires... but by the time the gears go in, it will have the 19" rears and tires from a 2006 Vette, that I bought for it.... SO they should be taller. Good point that will probably counter against the gears....

 

The salad shooters are 16" rims and the typical street tire height with those rims is around 25". It will be interesting to see what the tire height will be with the Vette 19" rims and the tires you go with???

WD