Street Gear Poll

Which street gear?

  • Total voters
    443
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67autocross said:
I have 3:91's in my Valiant and will swap them out for 2:94's the first chance I get, deep gears where cool in 1989 when I drove up and down the same street all night.
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I getcha. I remember those days well.
My GV od turns my 3.55s into 2.77s. Hooray!
And the 3.09 low turns my 3.55s into 4.12s(as compared to the std. 2.66low).
My way of making a 5-speed; 3.09-1.92-1.40-1.00-.78od
 
Impossible to answer...reason I say this is because when I was younger I had 0 troubles listening to/feeling a motor turn 3600+ rpm cruising down the road. Now ain't no way I would put up with it. My chopper has a 6 speed gear box. With the pulleys it has the only way I can use 6th gear is on level ground at 65+mph. 5th gear on level ground at 60mph, even with the quiet exhaust, the bike just feels/sounds busy. Years ago this would not have bothered me...now...drives me nuts. Seriously considering, when I swap everything over to my new frame, changing the pulleys so I either first gear become unusable or 6th does.

All depends on your tolerance of things.....
 
For what it is worth my car will have a GM4l80e in it with a lock up converter, 325/50/15's and probably something in the neighborhood of 3.90-4.10's in the 9" rear end. Folks can say what they want about a lock up converter but they are no where near as weak as they used to be. My diesel truck has a multi disk t/c in it. With the programmer I have I can monitor t/c slippage. With 10k pound behind it, the t/c locked up going up hill I had 1% slippage. When it locks up my cruising rpm drops 250 or so.
 
I think it all depends on what you can put up with. I have run 5:13 on the street. It makes anything into a stop light bandit! But cruising at 45 to 50 is all it was good for and 5 miles to the gal. I had a 2:94 in it too. Doggy bottom end but once you got it rolling .... omg .. 2nd to 3rd change gear came in at about 120 on the speedo. 3:23's were better on the bottom but nothing to write home about, but drive it anywhere. 3:91 Poor mileage but now she got her performance back. I used to drive it on the super slab to the race track (50 miles one way) race and drive it back. Cruising around 55 60 mph. Tire height? I don't know. Tires were L60 15 BFG T/A's. Depends how far a trip you want to take it on. 3:91 for me... I really never considered gas mileage as a factor.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Well, well,well.
At least you gave us a tranny. If that low gear 904(2.74-1.54-1.00) has a loc-up, Shazzam!! The ratios are a bit better than a regular 904(2.45-1.34-1.00).A well built (not over-cammed)teener will have no problem with the splits. But the 12% better first gear really helps an LC teener or big-cammed teener. 12% is about 2 diff sizes, and turns a 3.23 into a 3.61, a 3.55 into a 3.97, and a 3.91 into 4.37.
I already discovered, for me, that 4.37 is a terrible street gear for a stick car. I can't see it being any better on an automatic.
A LC street-teener likes a starter gear of about 11.0 to 1.With the 2.74 tranny gear, this works out to......11/2.74=4.01; which I would round down to 3.91s. But if you bring the compression up;a 10.0 to 1 starter gear works pretty good. That would then be 3.65s, which could be rounded either way; 3.55s or 3.73s. You could match the 3.73s with a stockish TC (depending on your cam), or go 3.55s with a slightly looser TC. Since Ima willing to bet you're gonna go with a loose TC,in any case, I'd go 3.55s. Plus if you don't like those , they're easy to sell.
But if you're sharp on the engine rebuild, bringing the Dcr up to where it needs to be, then the extra torque by that move, can be used to motivate the car instead of gears and hi-stalls.And that may allow a 1size smaller diff.
-3.23s aint't all THAT bad with a sharp Hi-comp teener, a low first gear and a nice TC.
The starter gear works out to 3.23 x 2.74 x TCratio = 8.85 x about 1.1 = 9.74. Thats pretty close to 10.0/1. Of course the 3.55s will multiply the engine torque another 10% which could be 30 to 40 ftlbs,more. Yummy.

-The point is this; build the engine first. Build it right. Then let it tell you what rear gear it wants. Thats my opinion.I didn't vote.
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Darn good info, appreciate it.
 
Both cars have 26" tire. 440 has 3.91. small block has 3.55. Both run about 3000rpm at 60. A bit much for road trips (do it anyway). Happy with all around street driving and 1.70's 60 ft times at the track with street slicks for 440. Have only ran small block/3.55 combo with hard street tires. Very traction limited. 2.0 60 ft times rolling out of the hole. Before I had truck and trailer to haul cars to track 1 1/2 hours away I was thinking of stepping down to 3.55, 3.23 respectively. Just cruising around being a stoplight to stoplight killer. Perfect just how they are!
 
Since gas mileage and noise aren't a factor, i voted 4:10 gears.
Personally, i would run 3:55s if it were my car, but i have different needs than you have.
It should meet your goal of burning a ton of gas, roaring around at high r.p.m.s, and blowing some street cars away at the stop lights.
When you get into your 50s, your gears will too........lol, that's why i run 3:55s in my '74 Dart Sport 360 4 speed (1:1 4th gear) with a 255 50 15 tire about 27.5'' tall.
It's actually a decent overall ratio for what i do........
 
I am running a Ford 9" with a 3.89 gears and when cruising down the highway at 65 mph with my tach reading out 3500 rpms , which I am not too fond of, I pretty much dont do much highway running, tend to stay on the secondary roads. I had thought about swapping out my gear set to something a little higher but since the gear ratio is set to match with everything from the 509 purple cam, 727 tranny with B&M quick shifter, custom JD 3500 stall convertor, going to a higher gear set would have an effect on my overall quick start out of the gate performance. So guess I'll stay where I'm at..
 
I agree, Doug. Got 3.73's in both my Ford trucks. One's a direct three speed and the other is a ZF overdrive (one of the worst transmission set ups I've ever owned... first isn't steep enough to be a granny low and the overdrive set might as well be a lock up converter). At 65 the direct drive three speed truck sounds like it's going to come apart and the other one, at 65, has me reaching up and trying to shift into an imaginary 6th gear.

I like 3.55's and 3.23's for anything street driven, but that's me. With the 3.55's behind the 383 the motor hummed but didn't drone at highway speeds, had enough off the line to leave a lot of "performance" cars sitting, and triple digit top ends runs were a blast.

There was a reason the Duster had 3.23's in it. Wasn't afraid to get in the car and drive it to Florida. The 360 had enough power to overcome the gearing that it would pull the headlights out of a lot of big block powered GM's, and the top end was there. Which is where Pop liked his happy spot. Sure, there were a lot of cars out there that would be faster off the line and could beat it in the 1/4, but Pop set the car to run triple digits for mile after mile, not just a 1/4 mile at a time.

I like 'em for longevity, too. High RPM for a long period of time is the death knell of an engine.
 
My thoughts about streeters; not stop-lite racers, but just plain fun streeters;
If your engine,by itself, makes plenty of off-idle torque, or at the very least;torque where the TC flashes to, then it makes taller gears like 3.23s bearable. And if it makes enough to get wheelspin with 3.55s, personally, I don't see the need for more gear.In fact, if I wasn't so lazy these days, I'd swap my 3.55s out for 3.23s. And thats a 360 with a 230* cam, and an od. It has plenty of torque to roast the 295s to well past any speed limit in Manitoba.
-See, smaller cams, like the 230*,properly tuned,almost invariably make plenty of low-speed torque. The 223* cam I had earlier was gangbusters.The 292Purple was my first choice, and not a good street choice. And streeters spend most of their lives at lower rpms. Now the 230 cam does make more on top, and pulls longer and harder up there, but whats the point if you rarely go there. A 904 with 3.55s will be speeding at the top of first gear, and a 360 will smoke the 295s all the way there. So what would I need more gear for?So I can shift into 2nd at 45 and keep spinning to yet more mph. By trading the 3.55s away for bigger gears I would be trading away cruising comfort for more tirespin. Hmmm
-See, a streeter is not a racecar. At the track I would gear the car to trap at the top of the powerband in top gear, usually direct. This gets the best chance at a max. for the combo,mph.
-But for a streeter,without an od, I want the smallest gear that gets me at least some wheelspin.That leaves me some gear left over for cruising.If you do have an od trans this conversation is pretty much pointless, but for most guys, a 5 speed or od trans is just not justifiable.
-So there are many ways to solve this dilemma, but My thoughts have percolated down to this;
-Since my streeter is so much fun to drive, I want to drive it a lot, and that includes hi-way cruising to out of province locations and car-shows.That means I have to be able to cruise comfortably, sometimes for several hours.( The nearest big city to me is over an hour away). So that kinda puts a limit on the rear gear.With only an oem tranny as the starting point, that immediately sets the starter gear choice. From there, knowing about how much torque is required to motorvate my FormulaS with that said starter gear, it kinda leads to the engine of choice, and its tune.
-a 400 plus cuber, makes the choices easy, and the engine doesn't need to be running on the edge.
-a 273 cuber can be used, in this scenario, because we are not considering racing. If your car never goes past 60 mph, then a little engine can be made to work.But it will need to be very carefully engineered, or dropped into a lightweight chassis.
-a 360 is very nearly the smallest engine that will cover a lot of bases, from fun streeter to able cruiser to modest racing. It can do the streeter thing with a small cam and modest gears. This makes sense if fuel-mileage is also on the table.And it will,at least, mph well at the track with those modest gears.Should you be wanting to chase ETs a gear swap will get you started in a hurry.
-a 318 is probably a little small, cuz now you have to bias all your choices, one way or another. To get wheelspin will require more torque-multiplication through rear-gear, or more engine torque, possibly through less cam or more compression; or skinny tires. Well skinny tires is really not a good choice.So if you are limited to a teener, IMO, its best to start with a modest cam and as much Dcr as is possible. If that means running a top-grade fuel at certain times, then thats a small penalty to pay, for stretching the little teener into territory it might not normally want to go.
IMO, too many teener-owners, for street applications, are chasing horsepower numbers, when chasing out-of-the-gate torque would make the car so much more driveable and fun. While it may sound good to quote a big number, in the end, with 3.91s, and a 3500 TC, That hp number really limits the when, where, and why of cruising, and the car ends up being parked for way too often.I wonder if quoting torque numbers wouldn't be more satisfying. Hmmmm.In any case, these numbers are just snapshots of engine performance at/over a very narrow range. For a racecar these numbers are useful. For a streeter;not so much.

So to all you teener guys, I really sympathize with your plight. I know I probably harp on this a lot, but it really is, IMO, key; good street heads, a modest cam, and plenty of Dcr.The smaller the engine, the more key it is.

And to all you 408/416wners;...I'm........... not............ jealous............................much........ lol
 
Go with the highest cruise RPM (lowest gear) that you can stand.
 
Street traveling gears, 2.76 - 2.94
Street gears, 3.23/3.21 - 3.55
Street strip gears, 3.91 - 4.56

Strokers can use the low side of the range.
O.D. Trans cars can go to the high side of the range.
The biggest thing you or anyone should to achieve is getting the engine to cruise at a rpm that it is happy in. This, IMO should be an area where best mileage is found at a low rpm just under peak torque.

This isn't so advantageous for big cam engines since peak can be a bit high if not ridiculously high. But the idea of hitting the gas and going immediately is the idea. No waiting. Just GO! And right into the beginning of the HP curve that goes up and up.

The engine size, cam installed help dictate this ratio and tire size. Moving up or down a size changes the action/reaction of the car and it's feel. That choice is drivers choice. My choice for my solid cam street strip '73 4spd Cuda w/a 248* duration @ .050 is 4.10 w/a 26-1/2 inch tire on the street. I say jump Judy and it responds with how high up on the way up. If it were a overdrive trans, it would be 4.88 & a larger tire.
 
Last two posts by A/J and RRR make good points. RRR short and sweet post is about the bottom line. The question to yourself is; What are you OK with?
 
If I were just noodling around town, or taking the car to Sears Point (I refuse to call it Infineon Raceway) I'd go with 4.10. Realistically though I'd have to give the nod to 3.55 due to all the highway driving.
 
Its been said many times that a 3.23 gear is the best all around gear you can buy.
 
Johnny Dart said:
Its been said many times that a 3.23 gear is the best all around gear you can buy.
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I feel the same.....and have recommended it numerous times. But of course have been argued in the dirt by all the experts.
 
If you are limited to a factory tranny, then I agree on the 3.23 being an all-round good gear, with typical 14 inch tires (25/26).

Or 3.55s with taller 15 inch tires (28s), which are often a little hard to fit on A's.
 
im running a 408 that's 500hp and 540 ft lb at 4000 rpm
Its also got a 4000 converter , and although probably too low , im running 3.23 gears.
Its a street car that has a run at the strip occasionally , will still do a 1.6 60 ft with 26'' tyres .
I've had 3.9's in it but couldn't stand the high rpm on the highway.
The 323's are a good all rounder for me , i can do the 300 mile round trip to the track and run a low 7sec 1/8 mile with a minimum of fuss .
If you're happy to flog the engine into an early death , go the 4.10's !
 
Got a friend with a '68 dart slightly built 360 running 3.55's..got another friend with a "smog" 318 running 3.91's guess who kicks whos arse all the time..thats right the guy with the 3.91's both street cars that run at the track...
 
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