cam or gears?
 

Well the long tubes are in the mail and I am thinking what is next for the car. Looking at 3.73 gears or a Hot Cam. What would be the best bang for the buck? This is a weekend warrior so gas etc. is not a concern.

Mod list so far:

long tubes
3" dual exhaust
Madz28 full tune
Moroso CAI
Taylor 8mm
TR 55 plugs
TB air foil
160 t-stat
A4

Also, what HP/Torque do you think I have with these mods?

Re: cam or gears?
 

A4 or M6? I say gears. Wait until you can get a head/cam combo.

Re: cam or gears?
 

I completely agree. If m6 go 4.10 if a4 go 3.73. I wouldnt do a cam until you can get your heads ported and new components for them.

Re: cam or gears?
 

It's much easier to do all the cam/valvetrain/ewp at the same time, so I'd do gears first and start saving for the rest. Your cam will definitely benefit from them more as well.

Re: cam or gears?
 

Definitely gears......I'm in the process of putting gears in my A4 and once you do that, you can go on to bigger things.

Re: cam or gears?
 

I was never all that overly impressed w/ the gear swaps I've done, primary was from 2.73s to 3.42s in my 87Z.

On my 94Z, I've already got traction problems w/ 3.23s, I'd rather have the extra 30-40 hp up top from a cam over more traction problems down low with gears...

If the A4 car in question already has 3.23s I say skip the gear swap all together... If it's got 2.73s I guess a gear swap makes sense before a cam swap. You may come out ahead to shop around and see if you can pick up a complete 3.42 rear or something, if you score a deal you may come out ahead over the costs of buying the new gears, install kit, and paying the labor for the swap. With a complete rear swap you can do that yourself and possibly save some coin.

Re: cam or gears?
 

definetely gear.. if it is A4 and 2.73, put 3.23 or 73 gears and stall there you go, you gained 0.5 secs on 1/4 mile

Re: cam or gears?
 

Defiantly cam, then save up for a 9". ;)

Re: cam or gears?
 

Thanks for replies guys. I do indeed have 3.23 gears in my car, so the 3.73 install is not that big a difference? Will i get more gain out of a hot cam? The price tag is about the same for each.

Re: cam or gears?
 

Now that I think about it, this might make more sense. Do the camswap and everything up there, then when the rear goes out, do a bigger rear end with some gears then.

Re: cam or gears?
 

Agreed. I would either do the gears or just save the money altogether towards something bigger.

Re: cam or gears?
 

Not always as fun, but I believe that you are always better off hot rodding from the rear of the car forward.

1 - Shorter gears, stronger posi
2 - Driveshaft upgrade (if needed for vibration due to new gear ratio)
3 - Build the transmission, higher stall, or stronger clutch, address transmission cooling issues.
4 - stage 1 for the engine - improve air flow - cold air intake, headers, free flow exhaust, and programming.
5 - stage 2 for the engine - upgrade fuel system, and upper valvetrain (better ratio RR's, and better valve springs), more programming to take advantage of your higher rev'ing engine.
6 - stage 3 for the engine - cam (or cam & heads if you have the bucks), and more programming.

BTW - suspension upgrades should be peppered in there - as you car gets quicker, you need to improve handling by about the same amount to enjoy all the fruits of your labor - if fast and streetable is your goal, make suspension your hobby.



Building from front forward you break the next piece in line...stronger engine wipes out your A4. Engine and built A4 break your rear end.

Building from the rear forward you don't end up breaking anything, but you get to do the same upgrades as you can afford to do them, instead of being forced to do them because something broke - ready or not.
If you build from the rear frorward, each step removes the bottle neck that would be holding your next mod from living up to it's potential.