3.73 or 3.42 for a 95 trans am with a A4, gas mileage doesnt matter

 

Go with the 3.73's they will give you a little more ummph off the line!

 

Guess it depends what you want... higher top speed or faster acceleration. I have 3.73's with an auto. The car pulls hard through 100mph. It starts to peter out a bit above 120 and probably tops out at 130 or so. The old 2.73's I had gave the car a top end over 155 (all legally tested on a track for anyone questioning the method of my findings ).

I'm getting around 18/23 on the fuel mileage with these as well.

Schantin
1997 CAmaro Z28

 

I have 3.73s in my 1995 A4. I run around 2800 at 80 mph and get 18 mpg around Houston. They are a blast for driving around town and the second gear scratch is more like a rip.

However, I am wanting a specific setup and will swap rearends for a 3.42 as soon as I can find someone wanting to do a swap.

the extra rpms I will save will be what my final combo needs.

 

David, i may be intersted in trading gears. How many miles are on your gears? Why do you want to go with 3.42s?

 

I am emailing someone in Florida now about doing a swap.

The reason I want to change is that I will eventually install some sort of power adder and in Houston, I need a potential greater than 130 mph with the radials. If I were going to 28" slicks, things would be different. I just also have quite a commute everyday and the 3.42 puts me closer where I want the engine's RPMs.

 

I dont think you would run out of gear with the 3.73's till 167.... That's atleast what i got from this page:
http://www.f-body.org/gears/

I am trying to get some 3.42's put in my car. My reasons for leaning towards those instead of the 3.73's is:

I do alot of highway driving at around 75-80 mph...my exhaust will be too loud with the 3.73's, and gas mileage will be allitle worse with the 3.73's. I will have more problems hooking up with 3.73's than 3.42's. And the 3.42's will be easier on the rear end and less prone to breaking then the 3.73's. (The differences i just listed are very small)

 

I'd go with 3.73's for a NA car, 3.42's if a power adder is in your future.

 

I'd say it depends on the bulk of your driving. If it's city driving, I'd go with the 3.73, if it's highway, I'd go with the 3.42.
I have a 4.10 in my Z along with a three-speed TH400 transmission and it's basically useless on the highway.
After a few runs with the 4.10 rear, I'm probably going to switch to a 3.42. I'll need it for the highway since I bought the car to be a daily driver.