Everyone is talking about gears and gear ratios. What does this mean? How do I know what I have? What is good? What different types are out there? I need the basics and the advanced. I'm new to this so lay it all on.

 

First, what kind of Fbody do you have? We can figure out what ratio you have, and go from there.

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Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8
Hypertech chip/K&N filters/Accel 8.8 wires/RapidFires
Eclipse CD and 100x4 amp/Boston plates and 6x9s
Alpine Alarm w/ Keyless entry
IROC tailights/tinted windows

 

F-body. What are the different types? Do you mean what generation?

 

He means like is it a firebird or a camaro, what year is it stuff like that

 

I have an 83 Berlinetta. v6 700r4 tranny.
I don't know much else.

 

Berlinetta. That's a Camaro but you probably know that.

 

there's normally a little sheet in the center counsel, it has a bunch of 3 digit codes on it, they're called RPO codes. you can plug them in on this site, and it'll tell you lots of little things that your car has on it, (options) well there will be one on there that'll tell you the rear end gear ratio. Essentially, your gears will determine your top speed, and your acceleration. if you had gears like 3.73, then you'd have a quick acceleration, but a low top speed, then if you had 2.77 gears, you'd have low accel, and a high topspeed. So for racing most people go for the higher gears, like 3.73, or 4.10's etc. Most of our cars with automatics came with 3.42 gears, which is a nice in between. hope this helps some.

 

these are the stats
83 Brln M5,A4 LC1 V6 8.5:1 2.8 (173) 107@4800 145@2100 2V 3.42 ---- 3.23 ----

o.k., it's saying that in 1983 the Berlinetta with the 5 speed manual transmission and the 4 speed automatic, and the engine RPO code LC1 v6, with an 8.5:1 compression ratio, that is 2.8 litres and 173 cubic inches was rated at 107hp @ 4800 rpms, and also 145 lbs/tq. @ 2100 rpms, it has a 2 barrel carb and the manual tranny came with 3.42 gears, while the auto came with 3.23 .

how's that for reading between the lines huh, all improvisation. So, that should be everything you wanted to know about your car. hope it helps.

so that gives you 3.23 gears, not bad, you'll get good accel, and a higher top end, the rest of that is just automotive mumble jumbo, but all valuable information. If you're looking to learn a lot about your car, i'd suggest getting a haynes manual, it'll tell you anything and everything you could want to know. Trust me, i've got one and they're great, you can pick em up at autozone, or any auto store.But you also have the next best thing, guys one the board that have done a lot of stuff before to their cars, and i'm sure all of us here can help you with most of this stuff too.

 

I have an '85 Berlinetta and mine says GU6 which means 3.42, that is a very good ratio, but I have a damn open axle.

My car has more HP than your '83 though, it has 135 HP and 165 TQ, not sure what the RPMs were at right now.

 

4900RPM for HP
3900RPM for torque

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Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8
Hypertech chip/K&N filters/Accel 8.8 wires/RapidFires
Eclipse CD and 100x4 amp/Boston plates and 6x9s
Alpine Alarm w/ Keyless entry
IROC tailights/tinted windows

 

Thanks for the help. I got a manual and I'm checking it out. i'll add more if I need any question. Thanks again.