Overall Gearing a Little Too Tall?
 

I am curious to hear fellow Z06 owners opinions about the stock gearing. I have read a number of past threads on the subject, but wanted to bounce my thoughts off all of you.

In general, I find the gearing to be to tall to enjoy on the street. I have never tracked my car, and I realize that the gearing may be good for that application.

However, for zipping around on public roads, (without going crazy), I find that the gears are so tall that I can almost never really get into the power band. I wonder if a shorter rear gear ratio (higher numerically) would be more fun.

As an example, there are a lot of fairly tight turns on the street which are fun when taken at 20 to 25 mph. When taking a turn like that I'm usually in second gear, and I find the power to be really soft for the exit because the revs are so low.

I know that traction is a big issue with these cars, and that taller gears help them hook up. So, my thought would be to find a rear gear ratio which perhaps has first gear top out at 45 mph or so, and second top out at 70 might me more fun around town.

So, what do you think?

Sounds like you need a 3.90 or 4.10 out back. Lots of guys run these gears for the very reason you mentioned.

For my style driving I love the longer gears. Did an event up in Hendersonville, NC a couple of weeks back and all the 600rwhp+ highly modified twin turbo G35's and 350Z's were starting in second while I started in first from a 35mph roll on a private airstrip.
They had a hard time keeping up because of it. The longer gears in this case actually helped me go 3 for 3 against cars making 100rwhp or more than me. ;)

......if you are in 2nd gear at 20 mph, and you stand on it, its no wonder your acceleration is "soft" and your rpm's are low..........I don't think you need a different rear end ratio, I think you need to be in the correct gear for your intended purpose.

In all of the Z06's I've had, ('01, '02, '04, '06, '07, '08) the the first 4 gears seemed spaced just about right!

The stock gearing is not optimized for street or racing. It is optimized for CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) and emissions.

I am thankful we did not have to pay a "Gas Guzzler" tax like most of the other performance cars.

But, I agree. This car would be much more suited to 3.70, 3.90, or even 4.10 gears. Around town and even on the highway at speeds below 60, lower gears would be much better.

The problem is no one makes a gear other than OEM in the same diameter. To install lower gears requires using std C6 ring and pinion with a smaller diameter ring gear.
Eventually someone should step up and make gears for this car.

3.90's would be perfect

A tune and a couple of bolt-on MODs and the car will never feel soft again. Any gear, any RPM and you'll have more than enough torque to get going VERY QUICKLY.:cheers:

After several mods on the car, I'm fairly happy with the stock gears. I'm saving up to refresh/build up my otherwise stock tranny with RPM. Planning on level 5 and I'm looking forward into changing just the 5th & 6th gears. Shortening 5th & 6th will hopefully get me to 200/mph quick (all closed circuit of course). I got to 195 my last run:cool:. Just need a couple of ticks:yesnod:

I think if you mod the car to 500+ tq & add shorter gears, you'll have some serious traction issues. But I get it. Short gears going through them quickly down & up in either RR or twisties is a lot of fun.

They are great for me. Almost all of my car's miles are highway miles.

VNAMVET-
Your avatar is bad a$$, nuff said!

:flag:

So, let's see where you want to go with this. If you want 1st gear to top out at 45 mph, you need a rear gear ratio of 4.72. That would make second gear feel almost like the stock first gear. My Z is basically stock except for intake bolt-ons and even then, around town, if I try flooring it in traffic in second gear, I get way loose and totally loose traction at peak torque. I seriously think a 4.10 gear would be borderline dangerous when driven the way you described. If a 4.72 was even available, first gear would be totally pointless. I am sorry, I really don't intend to dis your preferences but none of this makes any sense to me. The only things that spoil my "Fun factor" in around-town driving are available traction and common sense. Oops, almost forgot one: The cops!
Gary

I have 640 rwhp and can't stand the 3.42's for city driving. THe gears are so tall, I feel like im driving an auto. My old C5 had 3.90's with a lightweight clutch and it was the best mod I ever did to the car....

VNAMVET (Great Avatar)-I understand what you mean about being in the wrong gear for a 20 mph turn, but when moving at a decent clip and approaching the turn I downshift into second while braking before entering it. I never really downshift into first gear unless I am almost stopped. (I have always been told not to do so due to soemething with the synchros, which may be wrong advice.)

40YRW8-I think a rear end ratio which put second gear in between where first and second is now would be nice. You are right that first would be useless because it would never hook, but second and third could be more fun.

I am disappointed that no gears are available for the Z.

I have not really considered engine mods because I don't want to lose my warranty, but I probably could be persuaded to do something relatively safe.

Oliver,
I have 470 rwhp, a 3.42 gear and 345 Michelin PS-2's and I have traction problems. What kind of tires are you running to keep that thing hooked up? ;)
Gary

Why don't you think about taking a little weight out of your car. It can perk it up a little and won't void your warranty. Also, it will give a slight improvement to your around-town gas mileage and let it stop a little quicker with less wear on your brakes. Please don't flame me, I said a "Little". Personally, I have lightened virtually all of my cars and I love the light, nimble feeling I get from the Z. The synchro thing is excessive wear caused by downshifting to any gear, not just first, with a large speed mismatch between the clutch disk speed and the intended gear. If you shift into a much lower gear with a lot of wheel speed, the difference in rpm between the input shaft and the selected gear has to be made up for in friction in the synchros that have to spin up the clutch disc and drive shaft to match the speed of the lower gear. The faster you try to shift the gear and/or the large difference in speeds creates more wear on the synchro rings. This was a fairly big deal years ago with bronze synchros but our triple carbon synchros are pretty tough and if you treat your tranny with at least a little respect, it isn't going to be a big deal with our cars. Can you wear out the synchros in our transmissions? Of course. But with the Z, you just have to work at it a little harder. Oh, and one more thing. Lots of guys complain about how our transmissions and shifters are stiff and won't shift like some other performance cars. Remember that our transmissions are in the rear and the synchros have a lot more mass to accellerate or decellerate because the drive shaft is now virtually a part of the input shaft. I'll take the traction of having the tranny in the back over a few milliseconds of extra shift time any day.

The factory 3.42 are perfect for my use... Fast and super MPG for a 505 HP car.

You just hit on the one and only complaint I have against the new Z. I honestly think the C5Zs M12 tranny was more fun for driving on the street. I suppose it is the downside to having a factory produced car with 500 HP.

I had a '99 trans am with the MN6 Trans and 3.42s, I went to 3.73s, but would really reccomend 3.90s for fun driving. HOWEVER, I do think it would make the car a handfull.

Running NItto Invo 345's on the rear, they hookup great.

:iagree: but 4.10s would be ever funner! :D

Gears are the Best way to really get a huge boost in acceleration for the hardcore enthusiast like the poster. Its just a matter of time until a vendor is offering these in the Z06 pumpkin like they do in the C5s and non Z06 C6s.

I put in 4.10 gears in my 2003 Z06 and it was a complete blast! :smash:

Look up Chuck Cow he offers gear options for the C6 Z.

Also, let's not forget that the fastest C6 Z in the 1/4 for a bolt on only car that has run 10.18s :eek: :crazy: :eek: is running 4.10 gears, so enough said for the Hardcore enthusiast like the poster and myself.

When more gear options b.c available for the Z its probably 4.10s for me! Gears are BY FAR the best way to REALLY WAKE up the Z's accerleration (yes you will lose some top end but whens the last time you even got over 175 mph) without touching the engine or PCM; and you can even probably fly in under the radar without jeopardizing one's GM Warranty! :yesnod:

I think that ALL the gearing is Spot On for this car-traction limited through 3rd w/Huge Tires on good pavement, ya'll know 'da specs, let me remind ya'll- 27+ MPG my 06Z 19.9 overall since day one, but i'm an old fart, Down here in So. Walton

"Waitin' on 'da Spill"

Are people that are doing timed events (0- 60 / 1/4 mi / hpde / road) doing that much better w/gears only , or is most of that SOP on 'da street? Or are the other mods masking the gears?