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I'd really prefer a 3.42 so is it possible to buy the 3.15 and just have the gears changed with the money saved??
thx!
If you want to spend even more, sure you could. The gearset alone (just parts) will run you about $400. Add the cost of the bearings and seals too. Then add labor for someone qualified to swap the gears into the 3.15 carrier. You'll be over $1100 easy by the time you're done.
I would look around for a complete used 3.42 differential taken off a M6 car. They are a fairly common item to see for sale, as us M6 guys like to upgrade too. :)
btw; Speed Inc lists the 3.42 diff for $999.99, which is $100 less than wherever you found it.
Do the 3:73's. You are probably going to want more eventially so you might as well get the gears out of the way. I don't think the 3:73's would be to much on the highway. Depends on what you think "to much" is. Kaley
I am running 3.42's and I have a 70 mile round trip commute everyday on the highway. So far I am averaging about 21-22 mpg. RPM's at 80 about 2500. You can buy a used set of 3.42's for $800. I was on a budget when I installed mine, if not, I would have gone with the 3.73's.
Dave (D1ZZY), as you've probably read here on CF, there's a shortage of lower gears (3.42, 3.73, 3.90, 4.10, etc.) that won't be alleviated for another couple of months. If you can hold out long enough, delay buying your new (or slightly used) rear diff until this gear shortage is over.
I think you'll find several used 3.42 and lower gearboxes in the C5 Parts for Sale/Wanted section for a good price.
GTC is absolutely right. I located the thread about a gearbox GP and extracted DTE's comments: "MG (as are we) still has plenty of the 3.15, 3.42 and 3.73 gear sets in stock and will for the forseeable future, so for those of you needing those, we can accomodate you."
Again, if you can wait, when the 3.90 plus gears become available, you'll be able to pick up a higher gear ratio for much cheaper.
Hmmm.... I guess the hardest part is not really knowing how it feels to go from 2.73 to 3.42 to 3.73. etc.
Also, I'm planning on going with a S/C later this year. Would a 3.73+ with the S/C (and other upgrades) be a bit much for a daily??
You need to find a dealer with a 3.15 geared Corvette and talk him into letting you drive it. I drove several 2.73 and 3.15 geared ones before I bought mine with 3.15's. Even though I now would like to swap up to 3.42's there is a good bit of difference between the 2.73's and 3.15's. I know I would not want to go beyond 3.42's (and a TC, of course). The A4 has a 3.06 first gear so with 3.42's you get an overall first gear ratio of 10.4652:1 which is pretty good! :yesnod:
With an S/C and 3.73's traction will be a real problem!