The numerically lower first gear has a higher torque rating on the T5, also doesn't have as much of an rpm drop when shifting into second. If you are serious about performance the higher first gear will perform better as well. If it is just a play car then the 3.35 first feels more powerful and is fun to play with. 2.95 first will have better performance on road courses and the track. I've driven both, both have their place.
You're saying the 3.35 1st gear T5 has a higher torque rating than the 2.95??? It really depends on which version you have... There have been many versions and the 3.35 were never the highest, though are stronger than some of the 2.95...
It depends on the transmission and the gears used. In the TKOs the higher numerical 1st gear are the weaker transmissions. The TKO500 have the same 3.27:1 first gear that my transmission does but the TKO600 use a 2.87:1 first gear and they attribute most of the strength increase due to the gear ratio.
lol.. I didn't contradict anything.. and you're just reading between the lines to pick out what you want to interpret to better serve your intention here. We're not stupid.. we get your point without the need for all the exxaggeration. Others have corrected your math about this in other threads too. And generally speaking.. I don't "race from stoplight to stoplight" since my wife sometimes sits in the passenger seat. If I did?.. my liitle SBC lays rubber all the way in between with me counter-steering like a madman just to keep it straight.. and then I'm sleeping on the couch for the night. I do actually try not to use gas to the extreme or wear my junk out faster than a teenager with his first hotrod.. and my trans shifts at around 12-15 mph under lighter throttle angles and pops into lockup when in 4th gear at 44 mph/1500rpm. Which is the beauty of overdrive in that you can run a much steeper gear to play harder when you want to. IMHO, 3.00'ish first gear ratio combined with 3.73 rear gear(or swap the gears around to achieve the same final number any way you choose) is about perfect for multi-use vehicles weighing around 3,000-3,200 lbs. If I had a 2,500 lb car that was race gutted.. or 600 lb/ft of torque just off idle?.. I'd likely be more comfortable with the gears you're recommending.. so obviously it's all a personal preference. Being that the OP's car is being designed to be multi-faceted?.. IMO, it seems downright silly to go to all the trouble.. and spend all that money to go fast.. just to end up leaving that much potential on the table and run under 9/1 gear multiplication ratios. IMO, 10/1 or better would be the hotter ticket to a fast street/strip car.. traction permiting of course. Again.. the main point was that unless you like to just putt around as if you're driving a bone stock cruiser more often than not(and BTW.. who the hell really builds a supercharged 347 to "putt around in" in the first place?).. more gear is perfectly streetable. Many, including myself.. do it every day. As for one gearset being stronger than the other in the same exact model?.. well you guys seem pretty well versed in these transmission types and I'll leave that speculation to the experts here. I can only go off the few I've driven in slightly low'ish powered daily drivers(I call 275-300 horse motors "low'ish" by my standards). Not to mention all the dozens of guys that I race around with on the weekends who run pretty stout setups(big-bore strokers, supercharged and/or N2O) in front of those things. From what they tell me so far.. the gears only allow.. or take away from.. the margin(power rating) that's built into a particular model in the first place. That's why you need to move up to a stronger model when you start making more power.. or you could just swap gears out and go to a different final gear to prolong the lifespan by reducing torque multiplication(in essence.. adding more margin). Torque multiplication is what breaks them.. not so much the gearset being used. Because the same thing can occur with 4.56 gear swaps too.. and I've witnessed it firsthand. The car runs great.. the owner wants more, gets greedy, and swaps rear gears.. he breaks it. Now he's hooked on torque multiplication and builds a better mousetrap instead of changing back to taller rear gear. Story of my life.
Really where? I would love to see this, I have posted the calculators I use online and redundant ones to verify it so please show me where I was corrected. There are plenty of people that drive these cars every day that agree with me exactly and it has been shown over and over again. You keep stating how deep your gears are ect ect but then you keep stating over and over again how low you have to shift if the cops are following you or if you don't want to get in trouble with your better half so in turn you are telling me you built a 347 to "putt" around in..
lol.. I don't really care at this point because you seem hell bent on being unreasonable.. but you can search for the thread if you want to dig it up for more ammo for your replies. All I really remember is that it was the one where you exxaggerated the "5-10mph shifting just to drive it in traffic"(actually.. I think you even exxaggerated some rediculously high rpm in there too).. and not everyone here thought 9/1 ratios were all that and a bag of chips for a dual purpose street car. If you really want to see how your advice stacks up for this particular kind of car build.. I would suggest you go to yellow bullet, speedtalk, or any other hardcore 5.0 forum to see what kinds of cars and drivers prefer 9/1 first gear ratios. Generally speaking.. warmed over stockers.. or mega-torque setups that can pull that amount of gear is what you'll find. Because if you say that anything over 3.25 rear gear mixed with 3.00'ish first gear ratio's is "too much".. or "uncivilized" for daily driver duty?.. you'll get laughed off the board.
I've got worse gearing than that in my Ranger (4.xx first + 3.42 rear), I wouldn't want it in my Comet. Of course I can shift at 1500 RPM in that Ranger, but I'm also in 4th gear by 30mph if I shift low. My preference is the 2.9 or higher (numerically lower) first gear and a moderate rear, 3.55 or higher (numerically lower). I want mileage when I don't play, power when I do and traction in first. To each his own. I found a TKO 600 with around a 2.8 or 2.7 first and a .58 overdrive, kind of fond of that setup and hopefully I can afford one soon.
Thank you mr Roberts I appreciate your input, I am sorry that you did not find everything you accused me of to back up your claims. If you want I would be more then willing to share some of the information I have with you along with the reccomendations for gear ratios from several prestigious transmission shops, heck most of them even post them online. You can find plenty of information on sites like Wedan performance http://www.wedanperformance.com/ they even have a website dedicated to 5 speed transmission swaps and sell most of the parts to do a 5 speed swap http://www.5speedtransmissions.com they also do a lot of 6 speed transmission stuff too. They are a licensed Tremec transmission dealer and they have some very comprehensive links and calculators that you might be interested in. But if you don't like their information there are plenty of other verifiable sources easily available. I have also spent time on sites like yellow bullet, pirate 4x4(stupid rock crawlers), theturboforums.com and many others. Surprising enough a lot more people tend to agree with me then you think, but it is all a matter of preference and I appreciate your opinion, I have just one question though where did I say anything about shifting at 5mph.
i find the 3.35 vs 2.95 thing a situation of you dont know what your missing till you try it. with the original poster being in position to buy the right stuff and not all ready having something to work around, he will be able to benefit from being able to assess and calculate the correct gearing for his needs. i would suggest a trans with the 2.95 1st and the rear end ration will depend on what you intended uses are and what your rear tire height is.
I have a 3.35 T5, with 26" tall rears, and a 3:55 gear. First gear is a bit short, but the rest seem fine, and the trans is living pretty well. I have had it in the car with this config for over 4yrs, and nothing has broken or worn out. I would like to try the 2.95 trans and see how it works, as Bryant said, and maybe one day I will.
I think you hit the nail perfectly square on the head there. I'll say it again.. stock'ish 9-1 ratios are generally best suited to lower powered budget builds that can't carry the extra rpm.. or major size strokers and/or big torque supercharged motors that can easily pull the gear. Life starts getting more fun at well over 10-1 gear ratios(which is why the 3.55 and 3.73 gears are so popular for the mod'd 5.0 crowd).. gets even more interesting much above 11-1.. and downright scary at over 12-1. Short shifting is just a small price to pay on weekdays.. when you really want to put that kind of power down at the track on the weekend. Overdrives give the flexibility to enjoy both.
