Question about gears

[foshizl]

I posted a question on which i should get 3.42 or 3.73s... i want it to be fast... but also i will be going to college soon and driving maybe 300 miles back home 2 times a year... i dont know how 3.73s are on the interstate but i asked for someones opinion and they seem to run 50/50 and so now i dont know what to get i want it to be fast but i dont know how bad 3.73s limit the top end... so i can drive it on the HWy still... thanks/

[Harry94]

What gears do you have right now. If your going from 3.08 then I would say 3.42. If you have 3.23 then 3.73 gears. To me you have to go up atleast 2 sizes to feel a difference. Anything less isn't worth it. I went to 3.73 gears from 3.23 and I drive 60 miles daily on the freeway and milage isn't really a problem. Still getting over 20mpg. Top speed wise you can still hit 100 with 3.73 before the topspeed limiter kicks in. You just get there alot faster. Great pull from 70mph! [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[foshizl]

Thanks for the reply i have i problem though i dont know what gears i have for sure, i think they are 3.23 but not sure, and i dont have RPO codes on the driver door, and i didnt see any in the glove box

[Harry94]

That's odd If you have a 3.4 car then it will have 3.23 gears. If it's a 3.8 it depends on your tranny and if it is a y87 car. If it is a 3.8 and you can light up both tires it may have 3.42 gears already.

[foshizl]

its a 3.8 and its hard for me to tell im pretty sure it has one wheel squeel. see the thing is is i have no idea my friends and i think it has to at least have 3.23 but like i said before no RPO's = unsure about gears, as far as Y87 i dont think it does cuz it didnt have dual exhaust. or ground effects..

[ May 19, 2003: Message edited by: foshizl ]</p>

[satellite98]

Do a search for the codes. GU4 will be the 3.08's, I think GU5 is 2.23 (manual trans) and GU6 is the big daddy of 4th gen v6 stock gearing: 3.42.

I have a question. Should the 3.73 shift points be reprogrammed. I don't care about the speedo being wrong, I've gotten used to that in my truck (though miles will add up later), I mean, some people say you lose some speed without even realizing it because of the shift points. SInce I don't do much driving I could get away with the 3.73 higher rpm's and gas milage?

[ May 19, 2003: Message edited by: satellite98 ]</p>

[Harry94]

I'm not doing any reprogramming at the moment. The 3.4 has such a crappy power curve that an early shift is welcome unless you have a cam. Peak power is around 45-4600rpm. After that it's all downhill.

[Devilboy28]

3.73s own!

[foshizl]

do you think that if i change the gears and wheel size on my camaro it would be worth it to get JET SCU 2000

[Dominic]

For an auto I would run 3.42s if I did road cruising, theyre nice gears. 3.73s aren't horrid but I wouldn't want them if I cared about fuel economy over 70MPH.

[satellite98]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dominic:
For an auto I would run 3.42s if I did road cruising, theyre nice gears. 3.73s aren't horrid but I wouldn't want them if I cared about fuel economy over 70MPH.<hr></blockquote>

That's the beauty, this is my daily driver, work car, most of my driving is actually 60 mph. :D I mainly want want low end power for this beast [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Bliggida]

If you want low-end power, 3.42's aren't for you. You should be looking at 4.11's... 3.73's if you are concerend with gas mileage and driveability, but 4.11's aren't gas hogs, not on our engines/tranny combo's.

3.42's are the mid-grade performance gear ratio.

[Riles]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dominic:
For an auto I would run 3.42s if I did road cruising, theyre nice gears. 3.73s aren't horrid but I wouldn't want them if I cared about fuel economy over 70MPH.<hr></blockquote>

I dont know why, but when I swapped from 3.23's to 3.73's, my highway mileage went up a couple mpg. Granted, the rpm's were higher, but I had to fill up less.

And I cruise 79-95 mph for my 760 mile trip to and from school.