What do you think your city driving to Highway driving is going to be? 50city:50highway, 70city:30highway, or what? That will make a difference. If you are doing a lot of in town driving, and wanting to have fun, then ~3.27 - 2.80's are not going to be much good. 3.55's are a pretty good intermediate gears. In the summer, every other weekend I travel to my hometown which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive oneway from where I currently live and things are fine. Doing ~70 - 75mph I am getting about 16-17mpg+.
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65 Mustang 289 C4. Edelbrock 600cfm (no more Pony Carb Autolite), Shorty Headers with 2 1/2" collector & glasspacks, Shiftkit, 5-leaf stock height rear springs, 620lbs/1" drop front springs, Gas Adjust shocks, 14x7 American Racing S200 Daisy Rims, low-mid range cam, 1 1/8" front sway bar & 3/4" rear sway bar, & ~3.80's (I think) in the rear.
Talking about gearing is a little backwards with the terminology. Your 3.23's to 2.80's are considered to be your "high gears" and your 3.73's+ (3.91, 4.10, 4.55, etc) are considered your low gears.
The following is just a hypothetical example for demostration purposes and may not be an accurate representation:
Your 2.80s - 3.23s are considered "high gears" because say at 65mph (1:1 transmission final drive ratio, top gear) your engine could be reving 2000 - 2500 rpm.
At the same speed 65mph (1:1 transmission final drive ratio, top gear), with your "low gears (3.73s+)", your engine could be reving 3000rpm+.
I hope that helps.
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65 Mustang 289 C4. Edelbrock 600cfm (no more Pony Carb Autolite), Shorty Headers with 2 1/2" collector & glasspacks, Shiftkit, 5-leaf stock height rear springs, 620lbs/1" drop front springs, Gas Adjust shocks, 14x7 American Racing S200 Daisy Rims, low-mid range cam, 1 1/8" front sway bar & 3/4" rear sway bar, & ~3.80's (I think) in the rear.
tbunker, I've been struggling with this forever...it still doesn't make sense to me....I consider 373's higher because they're numerically higher AND they bring rpm's up too.
I know that they're considered lower gears, but it doesn't make sense
why would they be considered low gear if they're higher and make the engine rev higher too??
Not debating, just struggling to understand terminology
__________________
Jeremy
-86 ssp X chp 5.0 coupe
-66 coupe,Ford racing crate 5.0 roller engine, t5 trans
-1972 Maverick undergoing full resto
-1970 Maverick Grabber-why did I buy this one??
tbunker, I've been struggling with this forever...it still doesn't make sense to me....I consider 373's higher because they're numerically higher AND they bring rpm's up too.
I know that they're considered lower gears, but it doesn't make sense
why would they be considered low gear if they're higher and make the engine rev higher too??
Not debating, just struggling to understand terminology
I once had the exact same issue. This is basically how it was explained to me as a very young teenager: at the same engine speed, the 3.73s are going to turn your wheels at a low rate than the 2.80s which are going to turn your wheels are a much higher rate.
2.80s: higher rate of wheel revolution
3.73s: lower rate of wheel revolution
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65 Mustang 289 C4. Edelbrock 600cfm (no more Pony Carb Autolite), Shorty Headers with 2 1/2" collector & glasspacks, Shiftkit, 5-leaf stock height rear springs, 620lbs/1" drop front springs, Gas Adjust shocks, 14x7 American Racing S200 Daisy Rims, low-mid range cam, 1 1/8" front sway bar & 3/4" rear sway bar, & ~3.80's (I think) in the rear.
I once had the exact same issue. This is basically how it was explained to me as a very young teenager: at the same engine speed, the 3.73s are going to turn your wheels at a low rate than the 2.80s which are going to turn your wheels are a much higher rate.
2.80s: higher rate of wheel revolution
3.73s: lower rate of wheel revolution
I totally understand now.
After reading the last post, it hit me.
Thanks bunker.
I will probably be doing 60-70% driving in town & 30-40% highway. I doubt I make any long hauls....
It has a factory 3.00 in it now with FMX. I'll probably drive it a little while & decide what to do with the rear at the end of summer.
Thanks for all the help everyone. I am learning alot on this site. *(I am just so happy that we have the internet)
I plan on taking some pictures this weekend if it doesn't rain. I'll post a couple on here to show what I'm looking at.
great explanation..after a long while, I understand too!
__________________
Jeremy
-86 ssp X chp 5.0 coupe
-66 coupe,Ford racing crate 5.0 roller engine, t5 trans
-1972 Maverick undergoing full resto
-1970 Maverick Grabber-why did I buy this one??
If you are going to be doing 60%-70% in town driving and not planning on doing any long hauls then you would be fine with 3.55s. They have some nice jump to them. With the suspension set up I have right now I am almost picking up my front wheels of the line. I bet if I put a set of street slicks on that I could probably pick up the front wheels a little bit.
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65 Mustang 289 C4. Edelbrock 600cfm (no more Pony Carb Autolite), Shorty Headers with 2 1/2" collector & glasspacks, Shiftkit, 5-leaf stock height rear springs, 620lbs/1" drop front springs, Gas Adjust shocks, 14x7 American Racing S200 Daisy Rims, low-mid range cam, 1 1/8" front sway bar & 3/4" rear sway bar, & ~3.80's (I think) in the rear.
I changed mine from 2.7:1 to 3.5:1 and put in an LSD. I previuosly added a ford racing 345HP 302 and i was a bit dissappointed until the gear change.
IMHO 3.5 is not just fine it is perfect for a C4, i can rip it up from the lights as well as scream along the highway. If the motor gets 10% less life because of this then so be it. I didn't build it to drive it like a granny.
Hey steve, I've got nearly the same motor you have..the ford racing crate motor, but with the gt40y heads...321 hp.
I have the b cam, and I too am disappointed, however I know 100% it's because of my 2.80 gearing....the b cam doesn't come alive until 4000 rpms, and with no gear, it sucks bad down below.
Gears with this engine is a mustang...and it revs pretty high too for a smallblock
__________________
Jeremy
-86 ssp X chp 5.0 coupe
-66 coupe,Ford racing crate 5.0 roller engine, t5 trans
-1972 Maverick undergoing full resto
-1970 Maverick Grabber-why did I buy this one??
65 Mustang 289 C4. Edelbrock 600cfm (no more Pony Carb Autolite), Shorty Headers with 2 1/2" collector & glasspacks, Shiftkit, 5-leaf stock height rear springs, 620lbs/1" drop front springs, Gas Adjust shocks, 14x7 American Racing S200 Daisy Rims, low-mid range cam, 1 1/8" front sway bar & 3/4" rear sway bar, & ~3.80's (I think) in the rear.
65 Mustang 289 C4. Edelbrock 600cfm (no more Pony Carb Autolite), Shorty Headers with 2 1/2" collector & glasspacks, Shiftkit, 5-leaf stock height rear springs, 620lbs/1" drop front springs, Gas Adjust shocks, 14x7 American Racing S200 Daisy Rims, low-mid range cam, 1 1/8" front sway bar & 3/4" rear sway bar, & ~3.80's (I think) in the rear.
for me personally 2300-2500 consistent is the most I'd go on my smallblock.
with my 373 gears and my t5 on my fox mustang, 75mph + was about 2500 rpms, and the engine was really working hard to keep me going....Even with the full gt40p heads/full bolt ons, it really hated being revved above that, it just didn't feel comfortable at all.
__________________
Jeremy
-86 ssp X chp 5.0 coupe
-66 coupe,Ford racing crate 5.0 roller engine, t5 trans
-1972 Maverick undergoing full resto
-1970 Maverick Grabber-why did I buy this one??
