3.54 gears too low for a 96 with an auto?

[GillyG]

Wanto to lower final drive ratio...would 3.54 be too low? Not a daily driver so mileage is not a major issue. Dont get on hwy too much.

 

[Dick]

I'd like to know too. . . BUMP

 

[LS2POWA]

3.54s are like everyone who runs around with 3.55/3.73, those are perfect city gear ratios.

 

[CorvetteJohn]

Gears

As said 3:54 is a good ratio for town driving and on the road you would have to change the transmission speed o gear also. There are two things I can think of that you lose with the lower gear ratio and they are traction and tires:lmao:

 

[GillyG]

Anyone ever been in an lt1 c4 auto with this ratio? I feel overall will be Ok, but I am a little worried about first gear.

 

[Rich Z]

Anyone ever been in an lt1 c4 auto with this ratio? I feel overall will be Ok, but I am a little worried about first gear.

I don't know why you would worry about first gear, because you won't be using it very much. :hehehe: The rpms will wind up pretty quickly and the tranny will be in second gear before you know it.

 

[LS2POWA]

There are two things I can think of that you lose with the lower gear ratio and they are traction and tires:lmao:

Actually the higher the gear ratio, less traction. That would be the case of running 4.10/4.11 or higher, but those are strictly in city gears. When you go lower like my stock 2.56 rear youre looking at fuel economy and basically top end runs..slower from the line though.

 

[CorvetteJohn]

Actually the higher the gear ratio, less traction. That would be the case of running 4.10/4.11 or higher, but those are strictly in city gears. When you go lower like my stock 2.56 rear youre looking at fuel economy and basically top end runs..slower from the line though.

When I said lower gear ratio that is exactly what you get when you drop from 2.56 to 3.54 The higher the ratio number the higher the RPM's have to be to go the same speed. Just for conversation sake lets assume that with a 2:56 ratio and 285X40X17 tires in the rear. That gives a tire diameter of 25.9 inches. The formula to figure RPM/MPH is RPM= MPH X gear ratio X 336 Divided by tire diameter So at 45 MPH X 2.56 = 115.2 x 336 = 38707.2
Div. by 25.9 The RPM would be 1494 Lets plug in the 3:54 ratio and see what we get 45 MPH X 3.54 = 159.3 X 336 = 53524.8 Div by 25.9 = 2066 RPM so the engine would be turning 572 more RPM to go the same speed. Now if the cam gives max torque at 3000 RPM you would only have to make up 475 RPM to get into the sweet spot instead of 1506 RPM

Now I know that our engines are turning about 45 MPH at 1000 RPM so here is the explanation for that Use the same formula but add the overdrive ratio to the formula before the axle ratio. 45 X .65 X 2.59 X 336 Div by 26 the answer is 979 RPM. With my 93 it is actually 46 MPH / 1000

 

[98 softtail]

When I said lower gear ratio that is exactly what you get when you drop from 2.56 to 3.54 The higher the ratio number the higher the RPM's have to be to go the same speed. Just for conversation sake lets assume that with a 2:56 ratio and 285X40X17 tires in the rear. That gives a tire diameter of 25.9 inches. The formula to figure RPM/MPH is RPM= MPH X gear ratio X 336 Divided by tire diameter So at 45 MPH X 2.56 = 115.2 x 336 = 38707.2
Div. by 25.9 The RPM would be 1494 Lets plug in the 3:54 ratio and see what we get 45 MPH X 3.54 = 159.3 X 336 = 53524.8 Div by 25.9 = 2066 RPM so the engine would be turning 572 more RPM to go the same speed. Now if the cam gives max torque at 3000 RPM you would only have to make up 475 RPM to get into the sweet spot instead of 1506 RPM

Now I know that our engines are turning about 45 MPH at 1000 RPM so here is the explanation for that Use the same formula but add the overdrive ratio to the formula before the axle ratio. 45 X .65 X 2.59 X 336 Div by 26 the answer is 979 RPM. With my 93 it is actually 46 MPH / 1000

E=mc2