I was originally looking at change my Tranny Converter but the cost is looking to easily be in the $1500+ cdn... So I am now being told switching from stock 3.23 gears to 3.42 gears would achieve the same results but MUCH MUCH cheaper.. I'd like your opinions please..

FYI: Obviously my car is rated for a max of 240km/140mph but I RARELY go passed 110 at the very max and that's very seldom. I also do NOT race.. I don't go to the track. The car is my daily driver. Course it is nice to "accidentally" screech the tires every once in a while ;-) (but I don't lay rubber..) I go on the freeway rarely (couple times a year) but the car is my daily city driver.

1. Does 3.42 seem good for my application?
2. How would this effect gas mileage?
3. Would this effect the accuracy of my speedo/tach?
4. How much you figure the cost for the gears?
5. How much you figure I am looking at for labour?
6. My understanding is that the 3.42 gears around allow for more low end torque at the touch of the gas pedal get to higher speed much faster than with 3.23.. Would low my 240km (to what?) top speed however since I don't get to that high, this shouldn't be an issue, correct?
7. If I have 3.42 gears and I'm driving 100KM on the freeway for an hour, is that going to be too much for the engine? Spinning the engine too fast for too long?
8. I am reading a LOT of people saying that going from 3.23 gears to 3.42 gears would result in barely anything except a tenth or so off their 1/4 mile. Well since I don't take the car to the track.. would going from 3.23 to 3.42 result in the passenger being thrown into the back of the seat a bit more with the tap of the gas pedal?
9. Would I actually NOTICE a difference between the daily driving between the 3.23 gears and the 3.42? and if so, what exactly would I feel noticing different?

Thanks.

 

if its your daily non race car and you dont lay rubber in it then why are you trying to make it more raceable....it should lay rubber already.

 

I put 4.10 in mine but its not going to be my daily driver

 

Changing from 3.23 to 3.42 will hardly be noticeable at all.

If you have to pay somebody to do it for you, it will cost you about $550-600.

Not a good plan.

Get a torque converter. Costs less, FAR more effect on how the car runs.

Not sure why you think it's going to cost so much?

 

My converter only cost 250 and its a 2800 stall

 

The L98 should be ok with 3.23's, posi would help if you don't have it already, but a converter is going to be the biggest seat of the pants difference.

 

Changing from a 3.23 to a 3.42 will make no real difference at all. Changing the converter won't make any noticeable difference at all either until you put really sticky tires on it (drag radials/slicks) and then it will only make a noticeable difference from a dead stop. To get the gains you are looking for get the equipment to start prom tuning and learn to do it yourself.

 

Tranny shops here charge between $350-400cdn to REMOVE the tranny, $200-$300cdn to re-install the tranny. Then $300-$700cdn for the TQ converter, whatever cost for the INSTALLATION of the converter, and then whatever other parts needed..

I can't understand how there is a 50/50 toss up on noticable changes between the 3.23 and 3.42.

Half the people say that going from 3.23 to 3.42 you will definately notice a change, while others say you won't notice ANYTHING at all.. Either you do or you don;t. How can't you have a YES and a NO.. I don't get it..

 

The key is right there.

A deaf person won't notice the difference between a woman singing a high note and a tuba playing a low one. A well-trained musician can tell the difference in pitch among the individual strings that produce each piano note. Most people aren't that extreme, either way; but the point is, "notice" is in the eye of the "noticer".

A gear change from 3.23 to 3.42 is less than a 6% change. You can get more than that just by changing tire sizes. It's pretty subtle. Most people would only just barely notice, if at all.

What's all this about "shop"? What's that? Never heard of using one of those for something that the owner should do himself?

Buy the converter and change it out.

 

Because everybody rates things differently. How much of a change, why don't you get a calculator out and take a look at the numbers. http://www.f-body.org/gears/


Try that out, you'll like it.

 

IMO if you dont plan on racing it then leave it stock. The mods you mentioned go with other mods as a package...torque converter, cam exhaust will net you a real noticable difference. Then get gears and slicks. You cant expect to just bolt on one thing and have a race car or any real noticable gains unless you are bolting on N20 or something like that. And in your case that might be something to think about, you will forsure notice the difference with say a 100 shot and it would be cheaper than the prices you mentioned.