Ordered a gear vendor, help with deciding gears
I would really like to maximize the power of my engine, I know traction will be a big issue but if I could get the tires to hook, wouldn’t a GV and 3:73 gears be much quicker?
Not on the street, well maybe, but you can't measure it lol. The GVod needs a power interrupt on the out shift. What you gain in, the more average power delivered, you will lose on the interrupt. Furthermore on the outshift, the GV does not shift instantly when you hit the button. So you have to anticipate it.
I have a clutch so I hit the outshift button before I clutch it, then the GV outshifts while I'm selecting the next gear. IDK how fast I can shift, maybe .2 or .3 second, but the GV is always done before the power gets back on.
For you, if you need more power down low, because your 408 is lazy down there, then just put a higher stall convertor in it.
Or if the 408 is lazy down low on the 1-2 shift, either wring her out higher or again, install a higher stall. Like a 3800. When you shift into second, the Rs will drop to 1.45/2.45=59.2% So shifting at 5500, will get you 3255 into second. But shifting at 6000 will get you 3550.
Whereas the 3800 will get you .. um 3800, anytime before about 3800/.592=6440.
If you haven't driven this combo yet, save your cash. leave whatever gears are in the Dana in there, and just drive it for a few weeks. Let her tell you where she is weak, if weak she might be.
But I gotta tell you another thing. For a streeter, in straight-line performance, there are only two times the rear gear makes a difference. They are;
1) on the start line, and
2) thru the traps.
All the rest of the time you are just moving horsepower around.
Since your 408, IMO cannot help but, at WOT, spin the tires all thru first gear, #1 is a bust.
Since the 408 at WOT, is likely to still be spinning the tires at 65 mph, that's a bust too.
Since the speed limit is 65 mph, trapping is sortof a bust.
In the zero to 60 contest, a 408 is way overkill; IMO you can put a 2bbl on it and still spin, maybe to 60mph.
In the zero to 60 contest, the 340/4-speeds were killer combos; just about 300horsepower. They just needed better tires than those stinking E70-14s :(
You can pump up a 318 to that, and she won't boil the hides so bad. Put 4.30s on a smogger-teen and watch her come alive.
What I'm saying is you already have 165 more horspower than you need and probably 200/250 more than the chassis can handle, so I understand your desire to make the 408 the best that she can be, but honestly, in the street contest, with street suspension, without intending to sound like a prick; what's the point? You can disconnect the secondaries and at least one cylinder, and still waste/ nearly waste, most street non-strokers.
