SLO VETTE

Recently had Chuck from Corvettes of Westchester install his 4.10 package in my '04 Z. Already had a Vararam.

He re-did the tune from several years ago and tinkered with things based on the new configuration.

Lemme tell ya, this thing SCREAMS. I mean, it's ridiculous. Fun factor x100.

I had intent of going with heads, cam, yadda yadda. Chuck advised take things in baby steps, monitor the fun factor/seat of pants feel and take things one step at a time and keep the budget in check. Boy was he right on.

Apart from a minor issue of busting a rear axle not too long thereafter (note: boys & girls, don't let your car sit for a couple years + and then embark on a 1500+ mile journey at, shall we say, fast speeds when occasion calls), it's been a smooth experience. Re-learning some shifting patterns, but wow is 5th & 6th gear now totally useful while on the highway.

Got me some new tires finally (after a month+ wait), and can now get on the throttle without worrying about my previously serious dry rot Michelin's.

Let's just say when hitting the throttle hard, the s&^%! eating mile-wide grin says it all.

For reference as to my use of the car, I don't drag race the 1/4 or do road courses, just plain city driving now & then and long highway trips.

This combo of gears, tune & Vararam is a HIGHLY recommended adventure for those seeking fun once the warranty period expires and you're on your own with respect to mods. Just get it done by a competent shop and you'll be very happy.

That's my $0.02.

justin.

youre happy with the 4.10s on the highway?

I hate mine as it tacks at like 2500rpm

SLO VETTE

For me, I like it. 6th gear is actually usable. I've found it's about 250-300 rpm more in 5th & 6th at comparable (and practical) highway speeds vs. the 3.42. Mileage is down a tad but I don't care about that aspect. Has taken a bit to get used to shifting more, but that's ok.

Also, I'm all stock exhaust, headers, etc., so the sounds are sweet like normal. If I had no cats or some other booming setup like exhaust, headers, etc., I don't think I'd enjoy those xtra rpm's on a long journey (call it an hour+ of highway time) since that'd be too much resonance. Was recently in a hi power C5 that was set up like that (gears, headers, heads & cam, no cats, yadda yadda) and while thrilling from a performance standpoint (esp. if driving), as a passenger I couldn't hear myself think. Brutal.

kirk tarrant

Im thinking about going 3.90. we only have a 1/8 mile drag strip should make it more fun on and off street,

SLO VETTE

Sounds like fun!

I'd suggest getting a really good tune to go along with it, but maybe you don't need that for your situation.

What I'm VERY glad I did was drive a couple of cars (that also had manual transmissions) with 4.10's before I made the leap. If you can, do that first.

Had I driven something with a 3.90, maybe I'd have gone that route. Who knows, but am not gonna fret about it. I'm enjoying what I have now and don't have buyer's remorse (or maybe that should be "mod remorse" ).

My next "mod" will likely just be a new clutch, as the one I have isn't all that great. Can live with it for awhile as I don't drive all that often anyway, so not a big deal. That is, until it becomes one! (Knock on wood it hangs in there for a couple/few more years....)

starsandstripes

Glad you like the 4.10's. I recently bought a new diff with the same gears and I'm excited to try it out next year.

What tires do you have? Do you get any traction with the 4.10's?

SLO VETTE

Cottoncandyek: pls. see my post on this Z06 subforum re: tires. I have Bridgestone's, they're literally brand new and have put maybe 20 miles or so on them. Only some highway throttle roll-on and on-ramp fun starting in 2nd gear. Have not done a hard launch in 1st. Yet. Full traction control will for sure be on, at least initially.

When I can finally utter the phrase, "I have serious traction problems in 1st gear," that's a day I've looked forward to for a long time.

Scotty2000SS

What are your rpms at when you're going 70? Are you driving in 6 gear around the city too?

SLO VETTE

I'll take better notes next time I'm driving, but if I recall, at 70 it's right around 2k.

City driving I'm typically in 4th or 5th. The nice thing is, both gears have a silly amount of punch. It just always seems to be in the powerband, whereas before with 3.42's it took longer to get into that zone (and thus higher speed, which might not have been practical).

Mind you, it's not for everyone, and you do shift a lot more, but if your car is an occasional fun car like mine is now, it's a hoot. I don't think I'd have done this if it were my daily driver to be honest.

Again, I think you have to drive a Vette with 4.10's before making the leap to really see what it's about.

Oh and incidentally, I'm sure my avg mileage has dropped, because I find it irresistible to just punch it. Again. And again.

Scotty2000SS

I've had 4:10s in the past. I just started off in second gear. Rob Z told me that should be my first mod. Puts you closer to the top of 4th gear in the 1/4 mile.

0Chuck CoW

Hey there Scott.

I just can't tell you how many times we've done 4.10s for customers with C5 and C6 cars.

One of my favorite mods by far!

The typical C5 C6 with Z51 trans will typically be about 2100 at 70 in 6th gear with stock size tires

and non-Z51 cars will be slightly lower.... Typically only 100 rpms or so. (we're talking 6 speed stick cars here)

Stock geared cars are in the neighborhood of 1600 rpms so on average we just say 500 rpm bump which is nothing.

The problem is that the LS motors with stock cams don't make any torque at 1500 rpm cause it's too close to idle speeds

but simply jumping the 500 rpms for all cruising and driving makes the car so much more fun and also sets you

up so that when driving sanely, there is no significant mileage loss with 4.10s. It does however depend on the driver

and how he drives.

Again, it's out favorite thing to do to stick cars and it's a crying shame that some many people go for

cams or blowers BEFORE trying gears.

Once you go 4.10s.... You'll NEVER go back!
Chuck CoW

0Chuck CoW

Thank you VERY much! You have to realize that when a shop owner tells you he wants to do the LESS EXPENSIVE MOD

for you when you come in asking about the MORE EXPENSIVE MOD... It's for a good reason.

4.10s are an AMAZING MOD for ANY STICK CAR C5 or C6. Period.

Our rear end builder John does an amazing job and he gets PLENTY of practice with them.

It's a very tricky rear end to build and does NOT get built with conventional rear end building tools or procedures.

The C5 and C6 GRETRAG rear diff is very different than others.

Just don't let anyone touch your rear end! John is very good at it!

Thank you again!
Chuck CoW

SLO VETTE

Unlike Clemson players, I don't let anyone touch my rear end.



Chuck I'm getting more used to my setup. It's friggin' awesome. Thanks again.

dork

I did pretty much the same thing--4.10s, Callaway Honker, XSPower headers and a tune. I agree completely with SLO VETTE's. (The only differences between my set up and SLO VETTE's is that I have headers and a McLeod RST AND a lightweight flywheel. The lightweight flywheel is not insignificant. my experience is probably even more exhilarating because of the flywheel. [Not meaning to one-up his review--I'm just stating what I think everyone with a lwt flywheel would say.] All flywheel feedback I've ever read says that the engine spools MUCH faster with a Lwt flywheel. For those in heavy daily stoplight-to-stoplight commutes, it's said that this addition makes for a dreary drive; I never notice it--I don't mind rowing the gears constantly. But it DOES make the clutch harder to use because the engagement is so quick and short.)

I digressed. I'm posting to add just a couple thoughts about the 4.10s. I didn't seek Chuck CoW's advice on the methodology of my modifications. I arrived at the conclusion that 4.10s, etc., would suit me better than H/C/I through my own research; I had an eye on finances. The only caution I would mention is with the advice "baby steps" w/ a 4.10... it infers that 4.10s could be just a 'first step'. Everything I read said that I should consider 4.10s OR H/C/I--that they're pretty much mutually exclusive. Headers, CAI, and Lwt flywheel could be added after 4.10s, but...

Most discussions said that 4.10s in an H/C/I car would generally make 1st gear useless on the street; that that combination might be worthy in a drag racing set up, but hooking up without a lot of tire spin with that combo on any kind of street tire in first gear is moot.

In my own case, I was looking to add as much power as possible without having to finance 'extensive' modifications to support power additives--I didn't want to beef up the clutch, half shafts, go to wider tires, nor redo/reinforce the transmission (housing), etc. A simple differential swap would run ~$1800 w/ labor and I'd be done. Cheap enough to really be appealing, but I knew going in that I'd probably have to accept that the H/C/I dream would be finished with the move to 4.10s. I'm extremely happy with the mod.

For those wondering about gas mileage, on my previous cross-country drives, I averaged 27.4 mpg before the 4.10s. Now, when I'm behaving very well, I can get 24.5--but that's rare. Those are hand-calculated numbers, with an average speed of 73 mph for 2600 miles. It's just too much fun to put my foot in it. Hell, it only adds an additional ~$300 annually at the pump, and in weekly increments of ~$5-7 for each credit card fill up; I don't even "feel it".

RPMs are 2250 at 75 mph, and just barely 2400 at 85 mph (West Texas, where 80 is posted).

In conclusion, I'm with SLO VETTE; I'd recommend the 4.10s and a tune (not because of the 4.10s) for a street car. I wouldn't even consider 3.92s. If you're gonna do 4.10s a good time is when you change the torque tube bushings or put in a new clutch because the labor is redundant.

SLO VETTE

Scotty, I took a close look the other day while driving. I'm right at 2100 while cruising along at 70.

Dork: yup I'm immensely happy with what I've got. I now have a few hundred+ miles on the car with new tires and the 4:10's. Now I can drive without fear of shredding my formerly dry rotted tires. Oh and I can say with certainty that since my car got new shoes, I'd be lucky if avg mpg is over 10.

Yeah I should've done a new clutch, but will wait for awhile on that given my car's use.

0Chuck CoW

We can do one of our CoW exclusive KEVLAR C6 ZO6 clutches for your C5.

When you bring the car home the next time we can work on that.

Corvettes of Westchester C5 CORVETTE KEVLAR Clutch upgrade.

The photo is from a C5 clutch, but we would convert your C5Z to C6Z Kevlar

Clutch with the stepped flywheel.

It's a MUST HAVE for the C5 Corvette.

Chuck CoW

SLO VETTE

zoom zoom.

chuck as you know i put maybe 3-4k miles on my car in ~6 years.

you don't have leave the lights on waiting for me to get the clutch replaced just yet.

(but if i keep flooring it like i seem to be doing more of lately, maybe i'll expedite the replacement....)

0Chuck CoW

Maybe some AMERICAN RACING HEADERS for you next then...

Chuck CoW

00__Vette

At what power levels would you say 4:10's would be too much? I'm going to get a new clutch installed this year and sounds like gears may be a nice addition to my basically stock (for now) 03' Z.

I plan to add H/C and a blower to it down the road and I'm worried that 4:10's would be too much.

thanks for the feedback Chuck!!

Acid666

Man, now I want gears. Lol.
My '02 C5Z has intake and axle back, and I want headers and possibly a cam in the future.... but I'm considering gears. I'd have to ditch this Breathless Performance short throw because it's already a bit tough to shift and I'd hate to make my life hell with more shifting of a super short stiff shifter.
I was considering 3.90s, but 4.10s may be that much more fun. It's my weekend car so it's not like it sees a lot of daily driving usage... Just all sunny day fun driving.