PolishX

I think the 04 Gt has 3.27 gearing , what are my options and the pros / cons of each

bob

I hear the 4.6 doesn't really wake up unless your running something bigger than a 3.73. (I'm skpetical on this given the 2v 4.6's rev limit and basic engine tune)

Being that you got an 8.8, there are more than a few options available.

3.55
3.73
4.10

are the most common.

The biggest trade off is acceleration for speed, meaning you will accelerate faster but have a lower top speed.

Aside from that you will experience increased engine wear because the engine will be spinning faster and wearing at a faster rate (probably not a big deal since an engine in good shape operating at tempurature at a steady state experiences almost no wear), gas milage may suffer, but I've talked to several people who didn't notice a difference since the increased torque multplication reduced the amount of pedal they used to accelerate to a given speed under normal conditions.

All in all though, unless your hooked on terminal velocity, I would say that a gear is one of the best bang for the buck upgrades out there. You might also want to consider an aluminum driveshaft since it will be spinning faster at any given speed and with the stock driveshaft there may be some balance issues.

joker

Personally, I would go with 3.73 gears. They are a good "all around" gear fo a 2v 4.6. If you plan on staying n/a then you could do 4.10's as well. With a pretty stock 96gt, and a 150 shot of nitrous I was running out of gear at the end of a 1/4 mile. By running out of gear, I mean I would have to shift to 5th, or max 4th way out.

88blueGT

If it were an automatic I would go with nothing but 4:10's. Manual is a differnt story. With a manual car 3:73's are just perfect. W/ the auto you need that extra kick so you would want to go with bigger gears. Also, your gas milage will suffer from an extended gear ratio. For every ratio that you go up your rpm's will increase by 200 (I think?) So if your on the highway cruising at 2,4000 rpm's w/ stock gears if you put 4:10's in it you will be cruising at 3,400 rpms's ( <-- just example). I think that a gear ratio is a def a excellent upgrade that you can make to your car. Good luck w/ everything and let us know how it goes.

fiveo93

GoofNOff

I've got 3:55s in my 96 GT vert. For me they've been the perfect gear with the mods I've got. Ported non PI heads with PI intake (Livernoise setup), CAI, Ported upper with a 70mm TB, catted x-pipes, Borla cat back, pulley's, timing adjuster, chip and tune. It now has over 100k miles and has been driven to California and back 3 times (once towing my jet ski). It still averages 27-30 miles on the highway. I treat it as a cruiser and is set up for handling. I bought the car in Germany and is set up for the flat curves on the autobahn (stationed there for 5 years). It has Saleen's racecraft suspension front to back so I needed a gear I could run the bahn with and the 3:55 were perfect. If you're thinking about hitting the track on the weekends I would go with 3:73s unless you're gonna hit the track on a regular basis and gas isn't a consideration. Then you might as well go with the 4:10's but you will need the mods to support them. My friend ran with 4:10's with basically a stock motor (4.6) and it was not happy with them. It's all about what your gonna do with the ride. Have fun with it!