I wanna know everyones opinion on what trans to use. the 700 is nice with the OD but the 1st to 2nd shift is murder when running it. however if i wanna drive it anywhere the OD is nice. what is everyones thoughts???

 

What is your rear gear ratio. Any deeper than 3.42 and you won't really like the TH350 on the highway. Third in the TH350 is the same as third in the 700R4 (1:1). Go for a drive with the 700R4 and keep it out of OD. If you could live with the higher rpms then a TH350 will work fine.

 

yea but the problem i see occuring is the 1st to 2nd shift. it will be a dramtic drop in rpms when at the track.

 

If you want to drive on the highway much, the 700r4 is the way to go. Lots of cars run a 700r4 at the track, you just have to deal with the higher rpm drop. For example, staying in first a little bit past your peak power will put it that much higher in the next gear. If it's more of a strip car a th350 is the way to go. I've had both and wouldn't trade my 700r4 for anything. If you have fairly steep gears and your engine puts out some decent bottom end torque, the extra rpm drop 1-2 won't matter much if any.

 

Or you can switch to a 200R4 that has a better gear ratio and still has an overdrive.

You either live with a poor ratio transmission just to have an overdrive or switch to one with a better gear ratio for performance without the extra weight of parts you don't need.

You could always invest in a computer controlled 4L80E to have a tranny with the gear ratios of a TH400 but also have a .7 overdrive.

 

I have a TH350 in my car now, I just bought a TH700R4. I am running 3.23 gears, and first gear in the TH350 blows. I can't wait to get that boat anchor out of my car!


first gear:

TH350
2.5

TH700R4
3.01

 

That 3.06 first gear in the 700R4 will get you off the line faster but the spread between first and second is too far apart when compared to all the other trannys. It's good on the street but sucks for racing since you have to over rev the engine in first gear so that when you shift to second the rpms don't drop well below the power curve.