Both car's were Fox bodies. My buddy went from 2.73's( think the lower of the two available stock gears) to the 3.73's. He also did 30lb injectors around the same time so that might have something to do with it. His car wasn't making nearly enough power to need that big of injectors. I'm sure his right foot made a difference. But when my Z was stock I'd cruise at 75-80 down the highway and he'd do no more than 55-60 cause his car revved so high even in 5th. Yeah I bed with the mod motor 3.73's would be perfect. I wasn't thinking about it when I typed I guess but the tq of a 5.0 made a lot of difference in gear choosing.

 

I have always heard that going to 3.55s or 3.73s in 5.0s keeps the gas mileage about the same because the cars were undergeared from the factory. Yes stock gears were 2.73s or 3.08s. 30 lb. injectors are way to much for a nearly stock engine. The 19 lb. ones will take you safely to about 300 rwhp n/a. 3.73s at 70 mph in 5th gear is only 2300 rpm with a .675 5th gear. That doesn't seem high at all. What was the deal with his car?

 

I wondered the same myself. His car was definately very very quick, but not as fast as I thought. I think it was just the higher tq of the 5.0 that made it feel strong. He had Mac headers,off road H-pipe, flowmaster catback,3.73's,pro 5.0 shifter, 30lb injectors, K&N CAI,also I think a couple other things but I can't remember. The day I bought my 95' Z I was bone stock and we raced. It was over for him before we got to 45. My car is an auto also. Almost the exact same launch. Then we switched drivers. We both agreed I'm probably a little better driver with the 5spd. The outcome was about the same accept it was just a little closer. Held my own with his car til about 60. I have no idea why his car revved so high but it did sound very very mean. Even with my cutout when we both were on the E-way his sounded much much better. Mostly because it was louder though. He got horrible gas mileage, like 10-14mpg. We were comparing to my Z which averages 20-25+mpg so it was obvious his looked even worse than it actually was, but still it was bad. FYI in my stang when I went from 3.08's to 3.55's I also went from auto to 5spd at the same time. I actually think gas mileage improved when I wasn't on the throttle all the time.