question about rear end ratio as pertains to drag racing.

[LS1nut]

is a 3:73 better, or a 4:11 ?

keep in mind im talking about a 6 speed car.

with the 4:11, im gonna have to shift into 4th before the end of the run........with the 3:73, it would be one less shift, which should save sime, yes??

I realize the 4:11 will probably get me better 60' times, but is the trade off worth it?

:confused:

[1BADFIREHAWK]

Unless you have changed your rev limiter you still have to shift into 4th with 3.73's and even 3.42's. 4.11 are awesome for the street and can be great at the track if you raise the limiter a tad so you can stay in 4th gear. :D

[jmd]

You want to cross the finish line at near redline in 4th gear in an M6 car. Depending on where your engine combination spins to, and takes you in that 1/4 of a mile, 4.11 might be a far better choice than 3.73.

2.05 final drive ratio in 6th is totally livable so I'd say the 4.11s are "worth it."

[thechef]

if you plan to stay NA go 4:10s if you plan to use NOS go 3:73s

[FastAl]

Originally posted by jmd
You want to cross the finish line at near redline in 4th gear in an M6 car. Depending on where your engine combination spins to, and takes you in that 1/4 of a mile, 4.11 might be a far better choice than 3.73.

2.05 final drive ratio in 6th is totally livable so I'd say the 4.11s are "worth it." This pretty much sums up my feelings on gears. The only thing I would add is play around with a gear calculator like this one http://www.f-body.org/gears/ . Take a guess what you will trap and what size tires you plan to run and what your red line will be. Then play with gear sizes and maybe tire sizes until you get a couple hundred rpms or less below redline and that will be your ideal track gear. Now this may not be a street gear using this method I ended up with 4.56 gears :D

[LS1nut]

thanks for the very informative replies guys.

I went ahead and ordered the 4:11s

I am spraying NOS, and the rev limiter is already rasied to 6,600

I figured by starting out with the 4:11s, if I ever decided I wanted to go to a 28 tire instead of 26, I could do it without losing too much.

I will let you guys know what I run thursday night, if the weather holds. the track is gonna be open for TNT and I cant wait.

:D