Hello,

There is a 2011 GT in stock at local Ford Dealer that has everything I'm looking for (stripped 6spd Kona Blue ) except 3.73 gears. I'm not sure why I want 3.73 other than I see threads where people are asking dealers to swap 3.31 to 3.73. So for daily driver will I notice a difference? One thing I saw mentioned was 3.31 will lag when starting out in 2nd so 1 to 4 skip shift will have to be dealt with.

I searched the forum and didn't find what I'm looking for. If there's already a thread on this please point me to it.

 

You will notice a difference, but it really depends on what you want.
If you like shifting a lot, the 3.73's will give you that.
If you are not a racer and just want a very quick car that still gets the best gas mileage you can, get the 3.31's will you be just fine.
FYI a 3.31 equipped car has run 1/4 mile times pretty much equal to 3.73 equipped cars.
That is simply because of the ability to launch the car harder with less wheel spin, being able to have less wheel spin when shifting to 2nd and even 3rd gear, and easily being able to finish the 1/4 mile in 4th gear instead of 5th for the 3.73's

The 3.73 car will accelerate a bit harder when in each gear (meaning when both cars are in 3rd the 3.73 car will pull a bit) but the 3.73 car will also need to shift earlier to a higher gear while the 3.31 car gets to stay in the lower gear and in the high rpms for a bit longer period, probably making up a decent amount of the distance it lost while the 3.73 car was in 3rd.

As for feel however, the 3.73 car will feel snappier that's for sure.

 

Did you drive the 3.31 equipped car?

Did you like the way it felt?

Sounds to me like that is all that is important for you.

Also, skip shift is really a non-issue, you can force the stick past it and if you are even slightly enthusiastic when taking off it won't come into play.

 

I drove 3.73 but haven't driven 3.31. I'll do that next week.
I liked the way 3.73 felt but pretty much anything feels faster than my Prius.

 

IMHO, for daily driver 3.31 is better -- the way I look at it, basically, you are trading a super-low first gear with the 3.73's for a very high 6th gear with the 3.31's ; in between it doesn't make much difference because you always have a choice of gears anyway (when in 2nd-5th, if you want to get the revs up just downshift and vice-versa)

First gear with the 3.31's will be plenty low enough for smooth take-offs and slow driving like in parking lots or whatever; and you'll get a real tall 6th gear for improved fuel economy in highway cruising.

Like you said, however, you'll see lots of opposite opinions . . . this is mainly because the 3.73's make the car feel quicker / torquier.

 

That's why you get 3.55's anyway, best of both.