I agree. But, '69 Camaros with 396 solid lifter engines, carburetor, M21 four speeds, and 3.73 gears never got much better than that when new. They aren't as fuel efficient as these new-fangled machines of today.
I think that's pretty much the plan. I'm looking to do this cheap, so if I come across the right deal on ~3.73-3.80's I won't turn it down, but ideally I want 3.55's.
Id stay with 3.50 gears unless you have an overdrive. Been there, done that. 3.89s with a C4 was no fun on the highway. sucked gas, got hot, hurt the ears. For a somewhat cheaper locker unit look at the Power Trax Lock Right. its like a mini spool but a locker. it just replaces the spider gears. Have had one in my truck for 13 years without a problem, built 380 with a manual trans. I think if you get it locked, some lift bars or traction bars, and take it a little easy on the launch you can get away with street tires aired down a ways. still not going to launch crazy hard but why buy drag tires for such a limited use for a daily driver. Ive ran low 13s on my 16" Falken street tires. fast enough to be fun. My Hoosier drag radials on 15s dry rotted beyond safety before even getting half the life out of them.
Mine with 4:11's and 255/60/15 rears goes about 3200 at 60-65mph. Its a blast in town and impresses the hell out of passengers but its a bit much on the HWY. If I was to choose I would drop to 3:55's. Mine doesnt see much HWY so I havent gone to the time and money to change the gears.
With all of this talk about double duty cars, street and strip...........I've had two cars with deeper gears than 4:11 gears that I drove on the street and raced at the strip. The first was a HiPro 64 Comet Cyclone, factory 4spd and I had 4:89's in the 9"............it was really fun on the street and back in the early 70's gas was cheap. The other was my 68 Z28 (which originally started life as drag car before I restored it) and it was a 4spd with 5:14's......My point is that if you are going to drive the car long distance..........and want to take it to the strip..........get a Quick Change. I had one in my Model A Hot Rod and could change gears in 20 minutes from 3.5's to 4.56's or anywhere lower or higher................Quick Change axles will handle upwards of 700/800hp (and have a 10" ring and pinion) depending on how they are set up.
These guys are on the right track. Gears, posi and traction bars before tires. My stock 2012 mustang, manual trans with 3.73 gears and stock 18" pirelli tires pulls 12.2. - 12.3 quarter mile times with 1.8 sixty foot times just as an example of how fast you can go without drag rubber.
