3.73's or 3.42's?
 

hey guys, thanks to a little bonus at work, I'll have my rear end done sooner rather than later! Ive already got an auburn posi and im buyin a girdle cover/gear/rebuild kit from thunder racing then aftermarket axles from somewhere. my rear end should be able to handle whatever ill ever be throwing at it. my car is a 93 LT1 automatic and i already have 3.23 gears. should i get 3.73's or 3.42's? i dont care about gas mileage, i have a daily 20 minute highway drive to work at 75 mph but 95% of the driving is around town, stop and go. id appreciate some opinions on what gears to go with, thanks!

4.11s 8)

I have 3:73s and like them. I get about 20 MPG or so and thats a mix of city/highway driving and of course a few 0-60 wot passes. I dont think you will see that much of a difference going with 3.42s from 3.23s, but i know 3.23 to 3.73 i saw a difference. I recently just did the same thing with my rear end after i demolished the posi unit :D

go with 3.73s

ummm 4.10s

3.42 to 3.73...your talking a nine percent increase in ratio which is really nothing. get whichever is cheaper

def. go for the 373's...youll get a much bigger kick in the ass with them compared to 342's which arent worth the hassle of changing from 323's, 273s to 342 would be a nice jump, but 323 to 342 isnt much at all :D

i have 3.42s... they are nice but I want more I think

next step up for you would be 4.10 373s you wont see much if any difference

4.10 with a a4 will not help him, it will actually hurt him. just stick with the 3.73s unless you're plannin on stalling really high.

more gear advantage will help him no matter which tranny is in the car. the numerically higher gear will make the car come out of the hole harder and use more of the power band down track.
4.10's are the way to go.

later
tim

your thinking of 3rd gens that 4.10s dont help Eric because theyre all low end tq

4.11's...ive got 4.30s and i wish i went higher

yeah this is a primarily street driven car so 4.10's would be too much. i think ill be going with the 3.73's. i just wanted to hear some opinions from people that mightve already had done such a swap, how they liked it. thanks guys!

on the steet you will notice a small upgrade in gear as much or more than on teh track.
at 70mph the difference between 3.73's adn 4.10's is about 250rpm. certainly not enough to change teh way you drive or the gas you will use.
if you get teh 3.73's you will end up wishing you had more.

later
tim

Problem with 4.10's is that if you start getting more and more into the mods then with the A4 you're going to catch yourself going into fourth gear at the end of the track (usually speeds around the 115+ range).

The general concensus is that 3.73's are the best compromise for an A4 equipped 4th Gen.

:stupid: in an lt1 car i think 3.73's would be your best choice imo

thanks for the info guys

i switched from 3.23 to 3.42 and noticed a good difference. but if mpg isnt an issue go with 3.73's

4.56 8)

just go all they way n i got 5.86 in the garage if u want to buy them. lol :twisted: