+1 that is really useful and makes a lot of sense

 

Of course, this is an issue if you are doing anything other than quarter mile; tracking the car you may end up adding up lost car lengths. That 40 MPH rolling acceleration is where you gain headway going into the straightaways.

It's a tough decision for me, too. I'd love the 3.73s other than the gas mileage, so I'm leaning towards the 3.55s as well.

Ah, still lots of time to decide. Too bad that they don't make 2-speed performance rear axles.

 

I have the 3.73 gear and 1st gear is fine. My computer says 20.2 mpg right now.

I love doing the 1-2-4-6 shift or 2-4-6 shift from a rolling stop. And I'm hitting 6th at 30 mph.

The car pulls so hard in second, it's amazing.

So glad I got the 3.73 gear.

 

Actually not necessarily.
On the track the last thing you want to be doing is having to shift TOO much.
If on the straightaways you can get to the braking point in the top of 3rd or top of 4th with the 3.55's but with the 3.73's you need a shift to 4th or into 5th, you again are going to lose ground.
Every time someone with 3.73's has to shift where a person with 3.55 doesn't have to, the 3.73 car will lose ground as it will lose ground during the upshift and then again in the necessary downshift.
It would be track dependent. To me, the fact is a 5.0 liter V8 requiring a shift to 5th at 110-111 mph is pathetic really. That's more shifting than a lot of small 4 bangers require.

The GT500 SVT PP gets 3.73's but it's got lot longer legs in the individual gears (ie: it ain't shifting into 5th at 110-111 mph, I believe it's more around 125 mph).

 

I went with 3.31 because of the gearing I needed to autocross at a National level on shorter tires. I can tell you that even with the "standard" gears---it ain't slow and I got 26.7 over the weekend on a road trip that wasn't hardly at all on interstates (267.7 miles, 10.002 gallons).

30-60 in second gear was a scant 3.63 seconds, .3 faster than my LS1 Camaro w/headers, tune, intake, aluminum flywheel, etc.... and the 'stang had but 500 miles on it then. It's loosened up a bit (and found it had a bad cam sensor too).

 

I shift 1-3-5-6 from a stop, and 2-4-6 from a roll with my 3.55 car. Getting between 21.5 and 25.0 on my commute to work, depending on how much fun I have with it....

 

I got the 3.73 for track (a track with turns).

Day to day it's not bad at all. There will be a 2-3 mpg hit on the highway, but it's a V8 for xsake... not big deal. And you can start out in 2nd, if you really want, but I always go from 1st, no big deal

 

What RPMs are you guys shifting at when going 1-2-4-6, etc...? I mostly shift through all of them, sometimes going 2-4-6, but I shift mostly around 3000 and sometimes a little earlier. Getting consistant 18.5 about 50/50 HWY/City. Cruise in 6th @ 50 MPH on some local roads. And 6th @ 30 MPH?!?!? Thats around 1200 RPMs or less... I realize I could do that and get slightly better MPGs, but I got a sports car so I could go fast and quick, not cruise at barely above idle...

 

3.31 = 12.5 @ 112
3.73 = 12.6 @ 112
3.55 ?

Those are the fastest ET's in a showroom stock car so far that I know of.

PS 3.55 will not be a rarity. Its the standard gear in Canada (and possibly all Export Models)

 

Launch in 2nd, Skip Shift 2-4 at 2000 rpm, 4-5 at 1500 rpm and 5-6 at 1750 rpm. That puts me in 6th around 39 mph. I dont normally downshift unless it falls below 1000 rpm.

City mileage is ranging from 22-25 mpg over the first 1700 miles (Excepting break-in tank when I was seating rings). Thats actual mileage from miles/gallons as the Info Center reads 7% low on my car (Reads low on every 2011 owner Ive talked to).

5.0 M6 3.55

 

Interesting that the 3.31's are actually faster in the 1/4. I wonder if that is the best all around gearing for a daily driver.

 

I suspect they lose something in the seat o' the pants/butt dyno department when compared to the 3.73s....so technically faster doesn't necessarily make for a better daily driver gear, IMO.

I wonder how long the 3.31s will hold that record...and how consistently fast these cars are with the different gears. My suspicion is that the most drivers will turn better times with a 3.73 even if the theoretical best 1/4 mile can be achieved with 3.55 or 3.31.

 

I wouldnt go so far as to say they are faster. Weather and track conditions could have been better when Evan Smith wheeled the 3.73 car and it was on 19" All-Seasons (It was a CS). The 3.31 Car was on 18" all-Seasons at Atco. The best for a 3.73 Brembo so far is 12.7. My point was that their doesnt seem to be a huge difference between gears in performance. The primary limitations are traction and factory rpm limiter.

Since I very rarely use 1st in my 3.55 car on the street I would say 3.31 might be the best pure street gear.
My car spins in 1st on the street if you punch it even if your doing 30 mph.

3.55 might be the best strip gear (100%s stock) in good air as you dont run out of 4th gear.

3.73 might be the best for an Open Track Car as it would make 5th more usable. Theitr is also a case for it with larger tires and/or bumped rpm limiter.

 

That would depend. Im betting a 3.31 in the top of 4th pulls a lot harder than a 3.73 in the bottom of 5th.
I know 4.10 in 4th sucked compared to 3.55 in 3rd trapping 105-108 mph in the 2005-2010.

 

This morning I tried the 1-3-5-6 and 2-4-6 and it felt like a gem.

 

You can't do this comparison this way. The only way to do this is to have all 3 cars at the same track at the same time.

Also, Brembo cars have smaller diameter tires, so there's another factor.

Also, someone on this forum mathematically proved that 3.73 gears have a .5 highway mpg loss over the 3.31 cars and only.1 highway loss over a 3.55 car. And that was on last years 5 speed.

The overdrive ratio is so low, the mileage hit is not as bad as most think.

 

Actually over time you can. After thousands of passes have been posted. Its actually more accurate than the way you posted. Having only three cars at the same track at the same time would only tell you which of the three were faster and then only with the same driver. You have no way of knowing how representative the cars are.

Their have not been enough passes yet to prove anything. My point was more that the 3.73 so far doesnt seem to be significantly faster than the 3.31.