wilson68944

I bought my first Mustang last month. A 2014 GT base MT, no extras. I really didn't know much about sports or performance cars other than you push the gas to go and brake to stop. I've always loved cars but have never been good with the mechanics of them. However, in the past 5 weeks I've learned more about cars than I had in my previous 27-thanks to you guys and your vast knowledge!

Anyway, it was hard to come across just a base GT in my area let alone a base with 3.73's. I heard of track pack and thought well I'm not going to the track. So, considering my car is the base GT I assume it comes stock with 3.31.

Do you honestly think it's worth tearing apart my rear end and possibly voiding parts of my warranty for the upgrade? Is there that much of a difference? I should add this is my DD and my only car.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Five Oh Brian

Congrats on the GT. I, too, went with a base GT. Mine came with the Brembo Brake Package and 3.73 gears, but 3.73's wasn't even enough gear for me and my intended use of the car. I always tend to go with a lot of gear and chose 4.56's for my '11 GT and I love it. 3.73's are a good gear for most people, so I'd say go for it. If you've been reading up here for the past 5 weeks, you've probably seen quite a few opinions on gears already supporting the switch to 3.73's, anyway.

kn7671

Simple logic will help you arrive at the right decision for yourself, as there are many things to consider prior to swapping gears. Make a realistic decision and you will be happier with the outcome.

How do you use the car, daily driver only?
What percentage driving is highway/city?
Are you planning to drag race at the drag strip?
Are you planning to road coarse/track day your car?
Do you have plans for wider/stickier tires for track use or daily driving?
Have you talked to your Ford service center about updating your computer for 3.73 gears for speedo correction?
How important is gas mileage to you?
Are you planning any future modifications?

For me, in my 2011 5.0 6MT, it came with 3.73's and I thought it was a blast at first, BUT I came down off the new car high, wore tiresome of the continuous shifting or skip shifting, disliked the near useless 1st gear in stop/go traffic, and ultimately decided on the opposite direction most others have gone, using 3.08 gears.

In the end, think hard, be realistic, do some math, make a decision. If you jump in eagerness, you can be $1000+ out of pocket to switch away from 3.73's.

Bucko

This is the best, most thought out, and unbiased best answer that can be provided in chosing a rear grear setup. Read it and decide whats best for yourself.

Ajcruz1

Good advice. Check out the other threads to, about gears and it will help you answer some of the above questions.

wilson68944

Wow, thanks man. I answered NO to all the track questions and you pretty much summed it up for me. I have absolutely no desire to take it to the track or get slicks.

I just was looking for more torque while accelerating on the street. However, I am shifting enough for my tastes and I notice a lot of the people with 3.73s don't use it as their daily driver. Again, thank you!!

Thanks to the rest of you guys as well! I appreciate the straight forward answers that were biased one way or another.

Krohn

I've been fighting the same debate in my head and I think i'll stick with my base gears too. I do a lot of highway driving and even though it is a muscle car, its kind of cool have 420hp and getting 26mpg!

Stevedotmil

I DD my car with 3.73's and the highest I can get on the highway is 24ish if I keep it in the sweet spot at around 70MPH. That doesn't happen too often and I enjoy every shift in this thing but I bought it to drive it like this knowing how it was going to be from the start.

DDMGPNY

Hello, noobie here; but definitely not a noobie to automotive upgrades.
Another thing to consider about changing gear ratios is to make dang sure that either you know how to do it; or know some one that does know and has the correct tools to do it. It is not a difficult job; but is highly technical and can take a lot of patience to get the gears set up correctly. I definitely would not turn just any dipstick loose setting up mine.

Mr. V

I think the best way to know is to drive your car back to back with a 3.73 car. If there are no friendly local mustang people, I would go to a used car lot. I went to carmax and drove both when I was shopping and it helped me decide.
I don't believe anything trumps a personal test. Side note: try and drive the same street in the same manner.

Xar

mine came stock with 3.55's and I'm very happy with the gearing, I'm not considering 3.73's.

Ronin38

Wilson, as far as acceleration is concerned, have you had it to a drag strip at all? I took mine down the first April after I bought, and bone-stock ran a 12.8 @ 110 mph! That's pretty darn quick for a totally stock car that's under $35k!

Do you have a long, open stretch of road with little or no traffic, where you can do a wide-open-throttle launch up to 90 mph or so? You'd be surprised at the acceleration available at the upper 1/3rd of the GO pedal! (Always obey local speed limits, don't endanger innocents, street racing causes cancer, IANAL, YMMV, tax, title and destination charges extra!)

PonyMuscletang13

Mine came 3.55 stock as well. I thought only the verts come 3.31's standard? Don't they have whining noise issue with higher gear ratio though?

Mighty

I traded in my '12 for a '13 GT a month ago. The '12 had 3.73 and the '13 has 3.31. I miss the **** out of the 3.73 and will be changing soon.

2012WhiteGT

Also keep in mind that to get much benefit from the 3.73 you'll need summer tires, and it wouldn't hurt to go wider. The base tires are pretty narrow at 235mm. I have 3.73s and the larger 245mm 19" all season tires, and all it does in first gear is just turn them to dust. I'm in the process of looking for a good deal on a set of Brembo rims and tires pulled off a new car so I can swap seasonally. I can tell you sometimes I wish I had 3.31s, especially on the highway when the highest I've ever seen is 22 MPG. I bet you get closer to 25 or 26.

Mighty

What kind of a price do you expect to pay for a set of take offs?

wilson68944

No, I haven't taken it to the strip yet. I have however, just WOT 2 nights ago and hit the rev limiter fuel cut off in first and second by accident. Didn't expect it to come so soon.

What gears did your premium come with that you ran such a good time stock?

Ronin38

Mine is an Auto-trans. and came with the 3:15 *corrected*.

I found that the gearing in the auto-trans. is a little different than the manual, though, so a 3:15 in mine is more like a 3:31 or so in yours... Or something like that. My car will go up to about 110 mph. in 3rd. (I wasn't watching the speedo. too closely at that point, ya know?)

kn7671

GT Auto's come with 3.15's only (no options available from Ford), while manual GT's come with 3.31's (standard equipped), or Optional with 3.55's or 3.73's.

Ronin38

^ Good catch, my apologies. It's been too long since I checked the numbers on mine. Post corrected.