I guess this is a theoretical question of sorts because I know there's probably no direct way to compare. Also, this is actually not on a Mustang, but I'm looking into getting a Toyota 4runner for my dd. You guys have always helped me out, so I figured this would be a good place to find out. I'm looking at two models, one is a v6 with 183 hp and 217 ft lb torque, the other is a v8 with 235 hp and 320 ft. lb torque. There's about a $2500 price gap between the two. I'm thinking about getting the one with the v6 and swapping out the gears and still have less money invested. However, I wanted to make it feel just as nice driving. Is there any way to calculate (or maybe just a rule of thumb) that would tell you if you dropped a few steps on the gearing it would be equivalent to so many horsepower? I'm gonna be going from 4.10's to 4.56's, so is there a way to tell how many hp you'd have to add to have the same seat of the pants feel? So, am I way out on this or is there any way to tell? Thanks!
