2.73 vs 3.23
 

Well my old Trans Am had 3.23 gears and my Formula has the 2.73 gears.

I am friends with the owner of my old car and we raced last night and I beat him everytime. From a stop and from a roll.

Just this summer it ran very consistant times, on average 13.9 to 14.1

Both cars are stock except for K&N drop in's and he has a dynomax muffler.

I am not stupid and know my gears but why do the 2.73 cars seem to pull so much more?

Cody the 2.73 gears are good for top end, most likely if its a automatic car, it will hit 90 or so before shifting into 3rd gear, while the 3.23 gear car will shift into 3rd before yours, and will still be in a power band while you kind of struggle to get into your power band again.. but the 2.73 car should not pull until very top end , if the mods are equal and both cars are making equal power, weigh the same, and are both autos. hope that helps. Hey but what do i know i just have 3.73's in my 93 M6 and i'm wishing i still have my stock 3.23's back in.

All F-bodys are different so there's no real way of telling why yours is faster. What year's your old one?

Describe the race in detail. What speed did you shut down at, where did you pull on him, did you get a better launch than him everytime? The 2.73 cars are definitely easier to launch so theres an advantage to you. Also what years are both cars? Most T/A's come loaded with more luxuries than Formulas and don't have the ground effects the T/A's do so the T/A's are slightly heavier, but truthfully I doubt that would make a T/A slower than your Formula.

Jason

Present car:

1996 Formula A4 / 2.73
All options and T-Tops
K&N Drop in only non stock part

My Old car:

1994 Trans AM GT A4 / 3.23
Most options and no T-Tops
K&N Drop in only non stock part

0-70 = Formula
0-110 = Formula
25-100 = Formula
65-100 = Formula
115 + = Trans AM Damn speed limiter

The only difference is the 96 has Dual cat and the 94 has Performance shift. Each time I was ahead by at least a car length.

And know my new car is all stock beacuse I knew it's previous owner who bought it new.

I also raced another local guy with a 2002 WS6 6- Speed and lost to him by 2 car lengths in the marked 1/4

Not to mention within the last week I have killed all three of my friends Mustangs too.

2001 GT auto
200? Bullit
2002 GT 5-speed

hmmmm interesting I can't figure that one out either. Everyone says on here that the 96 and 97's don't generally dyno any higher than the single cat 93-95's. Your T/A must be factory freak slow LT1 and the Formula being normal. All the best times I have seen out of a stock auto LT1 have been 3.23 cars. Anyone else on here have any similar experiences?

Jason

Beavis!! You wanna trade rears?!?!

To be honest, I always lost to all my friends 2.73 cars when I had 3.23's and we were all pretty much stock. I've actually always been a little afraid of 2.73 cars...
I raced my friends stock 96 Z A4 2.73 from a dead stop. We pulled fairly even outta the hole, but he pulled me about a half a car to 110 mph. I had CAI and a catback.
Me and another buddy w/ a 96 Z A4 2.73 went to the track and he ran about 1 tenth and 1 mph faster than me all day. I was going about 14.0 @ 98.00 and he was going 13.9 @ 100. We also raced from a 70 roll on the highway on the way home, and yeah, I got my ass handed to me;).

I have had 7 F-Bodies now and still don't understand.

My 86 IROC had 3.42 gears and my 90 had 2.73, in that case my 86 would've ate my 90.

All of my TBI cars had 2.73 (autos) or 3.08 (five speed) They were all kinda slow anyway, 3.08 were just to offset the higher 1st in the T-5.

All of the 2.73 cars I know of run a better quarter than 3.23 cars.

This is pretty interesting... I guess when you think about it a 2.73 really isn't a bad gear for the LT1 because it does have enough low end to pull well out of the hole without posing too big of a traction problem then once the 3.23 gets into 3rd thats when the 2.73 will pull away slightly. Kind of ironic when its the 3.23 car that will consistently chirp 1-2 at WOT and it being standard on the SS and WS6 packages... Am I wrong but are there still more out there with similar results?

Jason

Mine is all stock with a virgin transmission and first to second at W.O.T. easily braek them loose!

it must be a traction thing...

My old 96 T/A A4 had 3.23's, and while it was decently fast, my current 95 T/A M6 with 3.42's feels WAY faster...it might be the M6 vs A4, but I feel I could easily spank my old T/A and I think its partly due to the gears...on the other hand, I can't get traction at all in 1st, whereas my old T/A I could nail it at 25mph and sometimes get barely a chirp out of it.

My friend's 97 30th anniversay Z with 2.73's doesn't chirp em 1-2 unless on a nice smooth blacktop and even then its not a guarantee. the car has CAI, jet state II chip, 52mm so its not stock but not modded alot either. It's also in good shape and has been well taken care throughout its 82k miles. Another guy I know with a 95 stock Z with 3.23's barks em pretty good on every 1-2 shift at WOT. I've also driven both gears and the 2.73 car never really did but the 3.23 car always did.

Jason

that 97 z28 i just bought is completely stock and has the 2:73 gears in it. i can tell it's not as explosive off the line but i believe it would blow away my previous car, a 94 Z28 M6 with 3:42's.
this 97 with 2:73's just pulls so hard at high speeds.

when i was thinking about buying the 97 i frowned upon the 273 gears and figured i'd switch to 373's but i think i like them. i mean, think about it. from what i've heard, the LT1 is weak on top end and strong on low end...is this correct? if that's true, then the higher gears would, in theory, help the top end and at the same time, help traction on low end....so maybe these gears aren't so bad:think:
in theory, you'd be helping the weak point (high end) and maybe not hurting the strong point (low end) with the added traction.

i think on the street they're probably better than 3:73's and at the track it may be pretty even...but i won't get to take mine to the track until spring to test it out....:(

I've got a 97 formula with 2.73's. Only mods include CAI and weld wheels with nitto 315 drag radials out back. I really do love my 2.73's. My car shifts out of 2nd at 96 mph and 6k rpms. They are really nice when a car pulls up next to me when I am running 75 down the highway and I downshift to 2nd. DAMN :metal: ....and since gears are "mulitpliers" 2.73's multiple slower than 3.73's and I stay in my gear longer and just keep pulling.

Drawbacks come at around 40mph. I dare you to race the t/a at 40. It will pull immediatly, but you will probably catch it. Think about this. My car WON'T downshift into 1st at 40. So, if I race somebody at 40 I get stuck in 2nd gear and can stay in that gear for another 55mph. They will pull at first, but once I get in the higher rpm's watch out.

As far as traction. When I had the stock tires, 245's, I could easily light them up from a stop, between 1st/2nd, and at about 25 I could romp it, downshift to 1st, and light em up with ease again. Although, now that I have the 315 drag radials they HOOK good and I can stall myself from a stop if I heat them up, and between 1-2 grab sweetly, and their is no more spinning with a 25mph downshift to 1st.

Plus.....can't beat running down the highway at 75mph and under 2100 rpms. I was considering 3.73's but now I believe I might go with a decent stall and leave the gears the same. With the stall it should get me off the line sweet, and hopefully eliminate my dead spot around 40 mph. Also, does anybody have a stall and 2.73's?

Also, Whats the highest speed you can get your A4 to downshift into 1st hear?? I get out of 1st gear at ~47, but with my new tires I can only get a downshift at around 33mph. They are 315*35*17 and slightly taller than old tires even tho they are supposed to be the same height. :metal: