Hey guys. My buddy who is a mechanic swears that a car with 2.73 gears is capeable of laying more rubber than a car with 3.42 gears. Is this true? I always though the lower ratio the more tire spin you will have, but he says you are going to get up and go quicker with a lower ratio so it will just take off where as a higher ratio will work harder to get up and go and spin more. This has been annoying me haha. Im very confused help!

 

I would say your buddy is more confused than you are! Lol. It's far easier to break traction and burn the tires with a lower gear ratio. If you had a big block motor with tons of torque and 450-500 RWHP, then sure you could spin them all day long with 2.73's. Trust me, if I nail my 69 Camaro's throttle hard enough with the 3.73's in it, it won't take off and go anywhere. It'll sit still and spin the tires until they blow off the rims! I won a burnout contest at a local car show with it a few years ago. I just locked up the front brakes and sat perfectly still, smoking the tires, until the judge finally said "ok, ok, that's enough!" Even when I don't lock up the brakes, it can spin em over 100 feet if I just stay in the throttle.

 

thats what i thought.

 

It really depends on the car and how its setup. Mine would burn the tires all day with a 2.73 and still burns em all day with the 3.42 axle in it now. The gear ratio represents how many revolutions of the driveshaft are required to get a full revolution of the wheel. This being said a 3.42 gives you a torque advantage over a 2.73 hence it should be easier to spin the tires. However depending on transmission gearing and torque curve it may be possible with some cars to burn through more gears with a 2.73 based on transmission ratios and tire height. That being said if you power brake any TPI car it should sit there and burn the tires off the rims regardless of rear end ratio. So in short your buddy is a wrong because the steeper ratio is a better mechanical advantage, but this question has no clean cut answer.