1) Anyone who thinks 4.10's are too much for the car obviously haven't driven an 05 with 4.10's. I honestly couldn't tell a difference from stock. The first thing I did when I stopped the car was looked at my old gears to make sure that my mech did in fact install the new gears. Sure enough, I found a very oily ring and pinion that said 355 on the ring. 4.10's are not too much, I was expecting such a huge difference after hearing phrases like "4.10's are way too much for a daily driver" and "it will be like driving a totally different car." My experiences were actually somewhat disappointing.

2) No gear whine. My mech even said he got lucky with the disassembly and could reuse the old bearings. When I picked up my car, I asked about whining and he said he only noticed a small amount, what he considers normal for gears this steep. I braced myself for the worst...and guess what? I think they are quieter than stock.

3) Shifts are MUCH smoother. I don't know if it is because of the lighter load on the engine or what, but I don't get the "clunk clunk" anymore when I shift without giving it enough gas.

4) Either my speedo is off or my mech didn't install the 4.10's cuz my RPMs are pretty much the same as they were before...=P Hehe, I'm pretty sure it's the speedo.

5) Cheap. If you are in Austin, Tx give me a PM and I'll hook you up with this guy. $490 and change for parts, labor and tax. A big part of my savings was that the mech reused the old bearings (my car only has 2200 miles on it).

6) Anyone thinking of going with the Motive 3.90's, I'd suggest going with the more reliable FRPP 4.10's.

 

Mine is in the shop right now having the FRPP 4.10's installed. I'm definitely going to be disappointed if I can't tell the difference from stock. I can't imagine that happening though. Thanks for the write up!

 

Ehh, I mean...I guess I can tell a difference, but I was expecting SOOOO much, that I guess it made it feel like nothing instead...

I'm sure I'll be amending this post when I have more miles on the 4.10's...when the speedo is fixed.

 

My FRPP 4.10s are waiting in my dining room. I'll make an appointment to have 'em installed in the next week or two.

Does anybody know if you can recalibrate the speedo for the 4.10s with the SCT-2, and if so how?

 

It sounds like I need to drive your car. Perhaps after I get my Hurst shifter installed, you can try mine out with that, and I can try yours out with the 4.10's I was going to wait on the Hurst, but then they started a group-buy so they'll be arriving on Wed... hopefully installation will follow shortly thereafter. I'm really curious about how the 4.10's somehow solved the "clunky" shifting when you're shifting slowly.

As for changing your speedo for the new gears, I seem to remember something about needing a tuner to change that variable, so if you've got one, check to see if there's some way to do that. I don't have one, or I'd give you more details.

 

I would assume yes because whenever I see an ad for an SCT XCAL2, one of the features is "choosing your diff gears" or something. Then they list the options, "3.23, 3.55, 3.73, etc." Dunno how to do it, check manual.

My questions is, can I borrow someone's XCAL2 and use it "choose my gears?" For some reason, I think that these flash tuners "bind" to a single car.

 

Word. I wanted to get into that group buy also, but now I'm thinking I need to get a tuner instead...

 

Yep, the tuners do bind to your car, and since they run around $359 or so (without custom tunes) that's nearly as much as your gears. I'm going to try and get a custom tune done from a shop in town that has never done an '05 before... so maybe I can get a deal if I'm their test mule

 

What shop? How much are they charging without a discount? I looked at ccstuning, but they want $450 for the tune if I provide my own tuner...a bit to rich for my blood...

 

Thanks for info, I was going with 4.10's next month, but maybe I should consider the 4.30's.

Do you reget not going with a steeper gear now that u feel this way about the 4.10's?

 

I called the shop and the actual tuning guy was gone and should be calling me Monday. No prices were quoted, so I don't know yet, but I'll let you know when I do.

When I talked to ccstuning, they quoted me $550 which included the tuner. That doesn't make sense... the tuner costs way more than $100, so they're basically charging you way more than me... weird! Either way, $550 was too much for me. I'll keep you updated.

 

That's a good question. Give me some more time with the 4.10's and I can better answer that. I think I was just expecting so much that it ended up "feeling" like nothing because of the high expectations.

My perception may be just way off. My friend said he couldn't even feel the extra 25 hp in his 99 GT when he got 3 mods installed at once. Then he got 3.73's (from 3.27's) and he said it was like night and day..."2nd gear accelerated as fast as 1st used to." That's about the same jump we're making from 3.55 to 4.10, no?

 

That is weird because ccstuning also quoted me $550 (tuner included) about a month ago. Then I got $650 when I asked yesterday. The $550 quote was when I asked via a PM on a message board, and the $650 quote was when I asked via my email. Maybe they give discounts to board members? :P

Maybe I should confront him about it. $550 is doable for me.

 

Here's my 2 cents............

I went from stock w/ 3.55's to 4.10's, JLT CAI and SCT2 w/ DTP tune all at once. ($325 for the SCT2, $75 for the tune on disc - $550 is way high, IMO).

Before mods: 1st gear was OK once the revs got above 3000. Rip 2nd gear and put down 5-10'. Wait around for 2nd gear to get in the meat of the powerband and, If I'm lucky, chirp 3rd. Overall impression = Ehh?

After mods: 1st gear = traction optional at anything above idle (and I have 255/50's). Rip 2nd and hold on hoping not to fishtail to badly. Black marks of 20-30' not uncommon. Occasionally I have to let out of it to prevent heart stoppage, especially on slick blacktop. 3rd gear = loud bark with moderate effort. The whole time my rear end is squatting way down and there is a giant smile on my face. Then I slow down, look in the rear view for The Man and then turn the Shaker back up. Anyone else getting this?

By doing these three mods at once, my difference was fairly dramatic. Better throttle response, louder intake and exhaust and the few extra HP didn't hurt me either. Speaking of HP, I also sprung for a 1/2 day of custom dyno tuning @ 475. It netted me 1 HP. Not a great HP to $ ratio. The combo of the tune from DTP and the JLT gained me 17 RWHP and 25 RWTQ. Not the flashy #'s others got, but I was running on a stingy Superflow Dyno on an 88 degree day with jungle humidity.

Interestingly, I did notcie that my shifting had tightened up after the 4.10's, meaning less slop. Dunno why, don't care. It all good.

 

No difference? 4.30's!

 

I am trying to decide whether or not to install a 4.10 gear in my car. I am just concerned with traction as mentioned above. I am at 300 whp and in the spring plan to add more power. Either go the head/cam route or a supercharger. With a power adder, I am affraid that all the car will do on the street is spin the tires.

 

Adam (Clem), that's what I like hearing! I need to get a tune. The $550 is for the flash tuner plus 2 tunes programmed onto it from an hour on the dyno. It's a loaded dyno also. I figure that's not bad, but from your story, it sounds like a custom tune isn't much better than a canned tune.

So I played a little more with the new gears after work. Ok ok...yes, the gears do pull much harder. I guess I just needed to floor it more to see that... I was cruising between 3.5k and 4k in 2nd getting on the highway...then I floored it and it pressed me back in my seat pretty good. Third pulled hard on the highway and so did fourth. So yeah, I guess I can tell a difference, but I repeat, 4.10's are nowhere near non streetable.

So after playing around a little bit, my gf came over. She asked how the gears were and I said, "You try them out and tell me what you think." She drove us to the grocery store to pick up some dinner stuff. Her verdict? "I can't really tell any difference, but maybe I need to drive a little harder." There you have it. 4.10's are not that big of a difference. Not nearly as much as people make them out to be. She's not a car enthusiast btw.

So in conclusion, I think my first post was a bit hasty. Yes I feel a difference, but it's nowhere close to the effect of "4.10's are too much for a daily driver."

Now everyone go buy them and put them in.

 

Check out this post. This guy has a Procharger and 4.10's and says he'd never go back...
http://www.2005stang.com/viewtopic.php?p=61949#61949

 

I love the 4:10,s but they are not a huge diferance from stock.I too expected more but as you drive the car more you will find they fit just right.But now I am going up to 4:30,s for next year.I want 10,s and i will need the 4;30,s as part of my next wave of mods to get the job done.

 

I got mine a couple of months ago and there is a serious different from stock. I also went with a tune. The car is just quick. I was racing everyone and leaving them all. You all will not be disappointed with the change, although you maybe with the gas mileage.