Best Gears for an LT1
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 9,464
Likes: 1
From: Modesto CA
Best Gears for an LT1
What is the best gear ratio for an LT1? It's an automatic and it has the Dana36 carrier still. It's currently got 2.59's, and I KNOW those things gotta go. I'm just confused on whether or not I should get 4.10's or 3.73's. Any suggestions?
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,765
Likes: 0
From: na
Re: Best Gears for an LT1 (MCPOWHITE96)
How are you going to use the car? Beach Bum went thru this for drag racing and tried the low gears and is back to 3.07.
At 70 MPH mine with the 3.07 (G-44) is at 2000 rpm. The tires spin, with ASR off, from a start.
Unless it's a dedicated racer I don't want to wear out my engine any faster than that.
On the highway the 3.07's accelerate really well. Can you find one with the factory installed 3.07's or 3.45? When I was shopping last year I came accross a 90 A-4 with what the owner said had 3.55 gears.
At 70 MPH mine with the 3.07 (G-44) is at 2000 rpm. The tires spin, with ASR off, from a start.
Unless it's a dedicated racer I don't want to wear out my engine any faster than that.
On the highway the 3.07's accelerate really well. Can you find one with the factory installed 3.07's or 3.45? When I was shopping last year I came accross a 90 A-4 with what the owner said had 3.55 gears.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,141
Likes: 1
From: McKinney Texas
Re: Best Gears for an LT1 (TIMSPEED)
I agree with both these people.
Since you obviously arent going to be a drag strip or full blown racer, I assume you are looking for a little street performance above those horrible stock gears from hell.
3.54s are all you need, and those are plenty fast, and still Dana 36.
Since you obviously arent going to be a drag strip or full blown racer, I assume you are looking for a little street performance above those horrible stock gears from hell.
3.54s are all you need, and those are plenty fast, and still Dana 36.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 1,911
Likes: 0
From: Waukesha Wisc.
Re: Best Gears for an LT1 (TIMSPEED)
Actually, I'm going to be a 60% drag racer. The 3.75's will still fit in the Dana36, so I believe that's what I'm going to go with.
3:73's for the "street" are best w/auto and the LT1........2000rpm @ 60mph......3000rpm @ 90..........top end speed 150+......
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 3,891
Likes: 2
From: Houston, TX
Re: Best Gears for an LT1 (TIMSPEED)
If I remember correctly, you are looking for 10 second timeslips. The Dana36 is going to have a lot of trouble keeping up with that.
First, there is no one magic gear for a type of car. The gear selection should be based on a few different things. First thing that should be looked at is a dyno graph. How much power are you planning on making down low? or are you going to build mid and high end power? How big of a stall are you going to go with? What size rear tire are you going to go with? What type of tire will you be racing on? What RPM are you going to cross the lines at?
There is a lot more to gear selection that just saying 373 ro 4.10. If you are going for a drag car and building a lot of high RPM power, I would lean towards a 4.30+ rear gear. If you are going to build more power down low, I would leat to ~3.73. Of course all the questions above need to be answered and you will not really be able to answer some of them until you have your motor built.
Good Luck,
First, there is no one magic gear for a type of car. The gear selection should be based on a few different things. First thing that should be looked at is a dyno graph. How much power are you planning on making down low? or are you going to build mid and high end power? How big of a stall are you going to go with? What size rear tire are you going to go with? What type of tire will you be racing on? What RPM are you going to cross the lines at?
There is a lot more to gear selection that just saying 373 ro 4.10. If you are going for a drag car and building a lot of high RPM power, I would lean towards a 4.30+ rear gear. If you are going to build more power down low, I would leat to ~3.73. Of course all the questions above need to be answered and you will not really be able to answer some of them until you have your motor built.
Good Luck,
