I have a 89 with a t56 that I put in. It has been a good tranny but Im thinking about going with a 700r4. I like the tranny because I get over 20mpg with a zz430 and a holley carb. The rear has 4.10 gears. The reason Im thinking about going to an automatic is because I dont stay in a gear very long . What i mean is the other day I was doing some datalogging of the AFR. On the graph I could see how long I was in a gear. Through all of the shifts up to 5th gear the longest I would stay in any gear was 2 seconds. It would take about 6 tenths of a second to shift. Im just wondering if a 700r4 would be better because it would allow the motor to pull longer for each gear. The car is a my daily driver and I have never been to the track.
Any Input would be great

 

if thats why you wanna ditch it. ditch the 4.10s. thats where the problem lies. try 3.73s or 3.42s.

 

Getting what you want is more important than doing what other people think is good. If you want the overdrive auto for easier daily driving, I say go for it.

 

I would go down to 3.73 or 3.42 if you really want to stay in gear longer. I'am kind of sick of my 3.27 personally, hopefully my 4.10 will be here on monday.

 

I say if you like drag racing then go auto. If you like freeway racing or roadracing then go with the manual. My .02

 

I never make it to the drags. This is just my daily driver

 

3.42 or 3.73 gear ratios. Be special, keep the stick

 

Agreed. If you went to a 700R4 you would see a huge drop in gas mileage. HUGE. Stay with the T56 and go down to 3.42s.

 

I had 3.08 before the 4.10's and it seemed like a dog I was going to go to 3.73's and at the last minute decided to go with 4.10's .
The car accelerates fast just seems like a lot of shifting. You would think I would be used to it after driving a 18 wheeler all summer. Maybe I just need to cowboy up

 

man you've got a nice tranny there.dont make the mistake of the 700 r4 i have one in my 87 camaro aand i hate it.just my.02:hail:

 

I agree with everyone else, find you some different gears. 3.42 or so.

I recently converted to the t56 from a 700r4. had a pro-built with 2400 9.5" stall, etc.

For me, the advantages of the t56 were:

* 4-5mpg better overall mileage (25% city/75% highway)
* more fun to drive
* at any speed below torque converter lockup, you can keep the rpms' WAY lower, which is nice if you have a loud exhuast and don't want to wake the neighborhood when you slip home at midnight.

disadvantages:
* no cup-holders and a 6spd can be inconvenient
* there is no truely top-notch shifter for a t56 (at least, not the way a hurst competition plus 4spd shifter on a muncie is top-notch). (i have used a pro 5.0 and a hurst billet plus).
* traffic just plain sucks

try some 3.42's first before you go down the path to 700r4. you'll need to run 3.42 or 3.73 anyways with the 700r4, it only has a 0.7:1 4th, which is a bit highway unfriendly with 4.10's (in my opinion).

 

What are you running?

 

I just got my pro 5.0 to replace the crappy stock 6-speed shifter.

What don't you like about it?

 

Keep the 4.10s.

Just don't use all the trans gears all the time. There's no law that says you have to hit every gear. If you're just driving around in traffic, try using just 2nd, 4th, 5th & 6th. That will give you close to the same ratios as an old 4-speed with a 2.56 1st gear and 3.23 in the rear.

 

That's why I'm going with 3:73's when I get my Moser 12 bolt.

 

heh, i used to do that with my 83 with 3.73's, driving around normally i would just use 2nd and 4th

 

Keep the T-56. I absolutley love mine in my 95 Z. It has 3.42's and I cannot wait to go to 3.73's. Traffic is okay because it is a really asy car to drive plus I get 28mpg.

 

if you want, i'll trad eyou for my 700r4. i'll even pay to have sopmeone complete the swap between the two cars

no i'm not expecting you to do it. and if you do i won't let you cause i'd feel way to bad.


KEEP THE T56

 

I've been trying to get my grimey mits on a t-56 (pref 94 formula) for about a year and a half. As it was posted above you don't have to use all the gears. I had a ROD six in a 89 firebird I foolishly sold. With 3.73 I would only use 2nd, 4th, and 5th around town. Not to mention that I would usually pull down about 25 miles a gallon and that with a SR 383. With that motor and a 700r4 I got something like 19 straight highway and maybe 10 in town.

But hey it's your car. If you want auto, go auto.