It's a numbers thing ; 3.91/2.45=Plus 60% gearing
When you take off, two things are gonna happen;
1) the engine is gonna rev up right after it starts moving, no more waiting, AND the 4bbl is gonna open much much sooner, PLUS, if it doesn't, you can adjust it to, and NOT get into the dreaded bog right away.
2) an additional 60% torque multiplication, on the start-line, can be thought of as your 318engine with 3.91s, having just gotten 60% more torque . If your engine makes 160ftlbs at 2000 rpm , that would be
61hp. Adding 60% torque would be 256 ftlbs and at 2000 rpm feels like
98 hp. That's pretty impressive.
But I'll tell you what , you can do better.
Stick a higher stall TC in there and you won't need as much rear gear to do the same thing except the car will launch harder yet.
Say your new TC launches at Plus 30% torque, so 160 grows to 208ftlbs, lets say at 2800, and that would be
111 hp.
Now lets put some 3.23s in her, so you can run the hiway without going broke on gas. Ok so; 3.23/2.45= plus 32% torque multiplication so your 206ftlbs is gonna feel like 272 ftlbs or
145 hp. Ok sign me up;
but remember this, the Higher stall helps get your car moving, but once your car has used the stall up, the gears and 4bbl have to carry you thru the rest of the gear. And beyond. The thing is, with a streeter and 3.23s, top of Second gear is pushing 80 mph, so yur gonna be shut down about 99% of the time long before that.
So here is the question I think you should be asking ;
Which combo will will be quicker in the Zero to 60 speed contest:
1) nothing but the 4bbl 318 with 3.91s, or
2) the 4bbl 318 with a 2800 and 3.23s
I don't know the answer to that, but I do know which one will make you want to do it over and over and over
That would be #2;
