Open track rear gear selection. Help!!! T-5 5.0

RichV · May 19, 2014

I agree for the most part, however when you're drag racing down a long straight and you have a competitor in the rearview running out of gear give them the advantage to take the line into the next turn.

ba#97 · May 19, 2014

I totally agree. Its all about finding the right balance. But for open track days...you don't necessarily need to worry about that and well I can honestly say my 3:73's are great other than that last little bit at Thunderhill on the front stretch. If I had 3:55's in it....I'd say it'd be golden. Balance I feel could be the key word in this conversation.

Man-child79 · May 19, 2014

ba#97 said:
I don't think you'll ever be that high in rpm's even with 3:73's. actually you won't be. and that's mainly up to you when it comes to revving it out. I'd say 3:27's would be the lowest I would want to go and that's mainly because you make more of your speed up in the corners and even with my 3:73's I've never really had an issue with the power I have of snapping the back end around due to power oversteer. I wouldn't blame the gears on that at all. the only issue I have with the 3:73's is that at the one fast track we have in norcal I run out of gear at the end of the straightaway. but for the most part you aren't going to be topping your car out all the time anyways. you'll be in corners more than straightaways....remember that. so don't think top speed too much. cuz you shouldn't be as worried about that as you might think.

Temec.com gear ratio calculator... 3.73 vs 3.55... Both at 5500rpm, 25.7" tire (3.55 = 112.74 and 3.75 = 118.46) that's only 5.72 mph more. May wanna rethink 3.55... And no top speed is not a factor at all. My big problem is running out of steam when I've got more pavement to cover... Throw the speedo away I just don't want to have to lift because my gear is causing me to hit the sealing.

I'm rethinking again... 3.31 or 3.27... Hmmm!

Man-child79 · May 19, 2014

ba#97 said:
I totally agree. Its all about finding the right balance. But for open track days...you don't necessarily need to worry about that and well I can honestly say my 3:73's are great other than that last little bit at Thunderhill on the front stretch. If I had 3:55's in it....I'd say it'd be golden. Balance I feel could be the key word in this conversation.

Agree! Now finding that balance. Hahaha! I guess it's just time to try something and see how it feels.

ba#97 · May 20, 2014

Man-child79 said:
Temec.com gear ratio calculator... 3.73 vs 3.55... Both at 5500rpm, 25.7" tire (3.55 = 112.74 and 3.75 = 118.46) that's only 5.72 mph more. May wanna rethink 3.55... And no top speed is not a factor at all. My big problem is running out of steam when I've got more pavement to cover... Throw the speedo away I just don't want to have to lift because my gear is causing me to hit the sealing.

I'm rethinking again... 3.31 or 3.27... Hmmm!

I might, but mainly my point was that anything 3:55 and down should be fine. I wouldn't go too low though, because for me out here the only track I deal with where I even slightly run out of gear is thunderhill on the front straight and willow springs on the front straight. and I barely run out so that's why I'm not looking for a drastic change and just adding my two cents. that's why I'm talking about this balance because you don't want to find yourself too low either. where you feel like you need to do the shifting on the other end, down shifting when you shouldn't need to so you can come out of corners how you want.

ReplicaR · May 20, 2014

Man-child79 said:
Agree! Now finding that balance. Hahaha! I guess it's just time to try something and see how it feels.

Just do the math. What is your highest trap speed at the track without having to shift into 5th? Take that plug that into the gear calculator, and see what kind of gear is the best one for you. Ideally, you want to end up right at the shift point before the braking zone. Remember that the trap speed will increase, because the car will be faster due to higher torque multiplication ratio of higher gear ratio.

Man-child79 · May 20, 2014

ReplicaR said:
Just do the math. What is your highest trap speed at the track without having to shift into 5th? Take that plug that into the gear calculator, and see what kind of gear is the best one for you. Ideally, you want to end up right at the shift point before the braking zone. Remember that the trap speed will increase, because the car will be faster due to higher torque multiplication ratio of higher gear ratio.

Hmmm! I like this reply...