Why are gears not popular with these cars?

99cobraclone

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Guys I'm just wondering why I rarely read about gear upgrades. Honestly almost any modded GT will have 4.10s, its a must have mod. I'm just curious why most terminator owners don't upgrade the rear gearing, what gives:??:
 

SnkebiteL

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Too much wheelspin for me. No traction at all. The more power the worst it get.
 

NBS4

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I honestly see nothing wrong with the stock gears.. Hmm.. Lemme think about this...

4.10's + 450Rwhp = No Traction = Waste of Money = Yadda Yadda Yadda
 

oldnfast

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With over 300'/# of torque at 2500rpm's (stock), gears aren't really the problem. The problem is fitting those soft, wide tires into the wheelwell.
 

Silver 03 Cobra

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I've had my 03 since June,02 and a member of this board since 99 and the Terminator forum since it's start well before the 03 hit the streets. I've seen all the posts and all the pros/cons over the last several months. But, I am beginning to see a trend towards gears especially those running at the track on ET Streets. That is the only way I would recommend a gear is if you are a hardcore racer.
 

BADASS03SVT

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i love my 3.90s!! only run them with the f1's so far trapping 115-116 at about 6k rpms. i have no problems with traction..u just need to learn the car a little more. if ur not into drag racing, donmt worry about gears, unless u want a lil more umph on the street..:rockon:
 

larryc7777

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There's a couple of ways to look at 03 gearing. Usually, lower gearing is used as a substitute for torque. That's why small engines with big tires NEED big gears, even if they make good HP at the upper rpm range. You can't launch a car very well that doesn't have decent low end torque.

Our situation is somewhat different. We have a fairly small engine, BUT we have massive torque(especially pullied). Lower gearing, in our case, mandates tire upgrades. The stock tires are marginal at best.

Another aspect of our cars that comes into play is the DURATION of our power. My car makes over 450 ft lb of torque from 2500-6000 rpm. With this much available power, I feel that it is beneficial to allow the engine to "pull" in each gear. Too low of a gear ratio can "flash" through a gear too quickly. If the tires break loose, you have to "pedal" to regain traction or shift to the next gear so that the torque is less. Then the tires can get a bite again.

The stock 3.55s are a pretty good compromise for street and occassional strip use. If you tend to spend more weekends at the track, then 3.73s or 3.90s will still give decent street service but traction will be harder to comeby with street tires. For those hardcore drag strip junkies out there, 4.10s AND some good slicks are the way to go. Get a good shifter & clutch setup and be ready to hammer those powershifts cause they will happen quickly.:beer:
 

BADASS03SVT

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Originally posted by larryc7777
There's a couple of ways to look at 03 gearing. Usually, lower gearing is used as a substitute for torque. That's why small engines with big tires NEED big gears, even if they make good HP at the upper rpm range. You can't launch a car very well that doesn't have decent low end torque.

Our situation is somewhat different. We have a fairly small engine, BUT we have massive torque(especially pullied). Lower gearing, in our case, mandates tire upgrades. The stock tires are marginal at best.

Another aspect of our cars that comes into play is the DURATION of our power. My car makes over 450 ft lb of torque from 2500-6000 rpm. With this much available power, I feel that it is beneficial to allow the engine to "pull" in each gear. Too low of a gear ratio can "flash" through a gear too quickly. If the tires break loose, you have to "pedal" to regain traction or shift to the next gear so that the torque is less. Then the tires can get a bite again.

The stock 3.55s are a pretty good compromise for street and occassional strip use. If you tend to spend more weekends at the track, then 3.73s or 3.90s will still give decent street service but traction will be harder to comeby with street tires. For those hardcore drag strip junkies out there, 4.10s AND some good slicks are the way to go. Get a good shifter & clutch setup and be ready to hammer those powershifts cause they will happen quickly.:beer:

good points and i totally agree. im a big drag race guy.i dont care if i can race, ill just go watch. the reason for my 3.90s is i thought ahead about what ill will, or can run at the track. the 3.90s will take me to 120mph with 26" slicks. then after i pass that (the end of this year maybe next) i go to 28" slicks which ives me another 10mph or so. if i EVER get over 130 traps...time for a gear down. for m, the higher gears get you to your power faster and keep u there longer. its all in what u wanna do.:rockon:
 

racerat

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4.10s on my Procharged 99 GT were horrible on the street. I can't imagine them on a KB Cobra...I can't go WOT until halfway through 3rd as it is now.
 

FordFreak

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Anyone running 390's or 410's with nitto DR's? What kind of traction do you have with that setup? Considering your stock as I am.
 

Jerryk

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I have 3.90 gears and drag race it w/ ET Streets. I'm beginning to think I'm shifting at too high an RPM. I recently posted my last 3 passes, shifting at 6000, 6300 and 6500rpm. The best ET and MPH was @ 6000. 6500 caused a drop in ET of .08 and 1.74mph. I have never tried shifting at 5600 - 5900 but guess what I'm going to try next. The massive torque is down there and it MAY be that 3.90 gear is ideal (on 26" tire) IF you shift earlier (while torque is still hovering near 500lb/ft on a pullied car) and grab 4th in the 1/8th and 5th in the quarter. Gears, whether they be transmission or final drive gears, are a torque multiplier.. period. The evidence regarding optimum shift RPM is not well known so since we typically publish gear results w/o documenting shift RPM (and have the typical variances of density and driver skill) the evidence is inconclusive. I'm flying w/ 3.90 gears but only going .14 quicker then when I was on 3.55 gears and that variance was probably my slipping clutch. I never found optimum shift RPM w/ my 3.55 gears and I haven't found it yet w/ 3.90 gears. Once I do find optimum shift RPM w/ 3.90 gears I'll be wondering what could have been w/ 3.55, guess I'll have to try some 28" tall slicks ;)
 

04-MystiChrome

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Originally posted by ntechnic
They're popular as hell with me, I LOVE my 4.10's. Car works much better with them.

Ditto That!

At higher altitudes-Gears are a must with these cars
as any wheelspin becomes much less of a problem
and no problem at all with DR's.
 
Last edited:

Voice of Reason

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Is there anyone out there running 3.73's? I would think this would be a great compromise gear. Just a little more than the stock 3.55's but not nearly the traction problems that 4.10's would give on the street.
 

The Saint

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Originally posted by Voice of Reason
Is there anyone out there running 3.73's? I would think this would be a great compromise gear. Just a little more than the stock 3.55's but not nearly the traction problems that 4.10's would give on the street.


I'm pretty sure that COLEMAN has them in his car. Try PM'ing him.
 

03SilverBullet

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4.10's are one of the best mod's I've done. I'm also a hard core drag racer. So this mod is not for every one. You still keep the street manners of the car plus with a little traction help you can easily scare the shi? out of some one.
 

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