Hilarious! The debate raged between 3.55 and 3.80 a year ago, and you ended up going with 4.62. My comment was "definetely 3.80" only cuz of the choices. How do you like the 4.62?
I put it in about a year ago. I ran it a little on the street and it is fun but would not reccomend it for a car that sees any street duty. I haven't finsihed the mustang 2 clip so I haven't tried it with the 351w
Excuse 69gt he's a fanboy of 4:10s and higher with overdrive. Without overdrive I would never venture above 3:55 on the freeway unless you like sitting at 3k at 65mph.
Nothing is wrong with 3500 at 65 If you like your engine at a roar all the time. I just have to drive down the highway in 4th to do it. But I have the option of 5th gear and that makes my car run 2400 RPM at 70. Wouldn't it be nice to have the option? By the way 3500 rpm with an AOD in overdrive becomes 2345 RPMs. Ah, Mr. Fynbrd. How can you say that? I have 3.70s in my Mav. Only way I will go to more is if I get the beefed up T-5 with the .59 O/D ratio. Then I'll run 4.22s that Ford Racing sells and still be running less RPM in 5th than I am now with 3.70s So when is the 306 going in?
4.22! with such a light car, not like its a fat t-bird your trying to push down the road. You'll blink and be out of first gear before you know it. The 306 will be going in soon, just can't decide if I want to by the borgeson setup before stabbing it in.. 850! is a big hit, but then my steering will be set for autocross. Still need to buy the 12.5" disc brake brackets.. Thats another 260 and lowering springs at 85$. Still on the fence for roller perches.. 200$ Would you really see the different when auto crossing the car? Shelby drop is cheap so no worries there and I already have all new suspension parts built from the lowest bidder in china. 8.8 Rearend still needs to be trimmed for shackles. So I have a long way, fortunatly the painting is on hold till the weather warms up.
Unless you're into tractor or stump pulling, any gear more than a 3.50 is pretty much useless with the low 1st gears of a T-5. Be it on the street or track. And lower rpms at cruise on the highway isn't always a good thing when it comes to fuel economy. With some builds, the lower rpms put it completely out of the powerband and you end up lugging the engine and killing the fuel mileage.
The beefed up T-5 has a lower 1st gear. It will be virtually the same as it is now. I have a 12.4:1 first gear ratio and a 2.52 final drive in 5th. The tranny I am getting will have a 12.45:1 first with a 2.48 Final in 5th. The difference is 2nd 3rd and 4th get a lot more torque multiplication and 1st and O/D stay almost the same. As it is now first is just fine in my opinion. I shift at a little over 6200 RPM and have never had too much trouble. And Flynbrd has driven it. In your opinion. Did you think first was overgeared? I do see your point though. It is a light car. 2900 LBS with a full tank last time I weighed it. And it will be losing another 50 with the aluminum heads.
I've driven manual transmission cars and trucks for 35 years. My last was an 06 GT Stang with 3.55's and 27" rubber. First gear was very nearly useless for street driving, the car had no problem taking off in 2nd. Which is likely why Ford went to 3.25 rears in the manual transmission GT's afterwards. My 89 V8 Ranger had a 2.78 geared Toploader, 2.73 rear and 28" rubber, it's 1st was far more useful than 1st in the Stang, even though 1st was only 2.78 (10.37 with the 3.73 gears) Rear tire diameter also plays a big part in the final drive. F/D with both vehicles in direct (1:1) was almost identical, the difference being made up with the tire diameter. T-5's are what ? 2.95 or 3.something firsts ? Combine that with a shorter tire (most run a 25-26" tire) and 4.10's and first gear gets used up & redlines the motor before you can even think about shifting, not to mention the decreased traction from the deeper gears. You may think going deeper gets you out of the hole quicker, but that's not always the case, it all depends on traction, the engine's torque output and your ability to react faster (shifting before redlining) in the "heat of battle" (drag racing so to speak) And on the street you'd rarely ever use first to take off from a dead stop, much less from rolling stops. Anyone who's driven manuals for any length of time knows what I'm talking about. I drive trucks for a living (34 years now) and I virtually never use the first gears of any of the trucks I drive, unless I'm on soft ground or a steep grade with a heavy load. The 08 Pete I'm in now, fully loaded (bobtail tandem axle........55,000 lbs) will take off in 4th gear of it's ten speed transmission. Using the lower 3 gears is a huge waste of time and wear and tear on the truck. Even then, I skip 5th and go to 6th to boot.
With the 2.50 gear ratio, where does that put the motor, cruising at 55-70 mph ? And what's the build of the motor ? A big cammed, big intake, big carbed motor will definately not like loafing along at those rpms. And the fuel mileage will likely suck because it's operating below the powerband. Sure, it's great for the bearings, but not really, due to the stress of it lugging the motor. My Comet is happy cruising at 3500 rpms down the interstate and it getting 16 mpg without overdrive isn't too bad either at 75-80 mph. The motor is 6 years old now too. I don't drive it enough to worry about better fuel mileage or wear.
