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Drag racing and gear ratios

Old 01-17-09, 12:09 AM
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Drag racing and gear ratios

Hey dudes, I have a question that has been pressing in my mind for quite some time. As it sits, the last time I was at the track I was nearing the end of third gear. I don't know what speed third brings ya to but I'm into the 80s. Now I have a box of racing goodies going on with hopes of even faster times, but the major thing that concerns me is that I could be topping out third gear, meaning I would have to shift to fourth just near the end of the track. If what I know is true, this would KILL my time. Take this and combine it with that I've been looking at going with a 205/60 tire, which is shorter than stock, and I'm worried that my gearing is going to be too short for the 1/4.

Anyone with some experience on this?
Old 01-17-09, 12:40 AM
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what gears are in it now,i ran 4:88 gears with a 24in tall tire,went through the trapps at the top of third at 110 mph i don't remember the rpm,i think it was around 9800.
Old 01-17-09, 09:35 AM
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I have the stock gears and I'm not going change those.
Old 01-17-09, 09:48 AM
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Don't get the 205/60 then, stick with stock size, or get a higher profile tire with more tread on it for a better launch. This is going to be pretty much all you can do without swapping the rear end gear.

If you really want to, swap in an S4 transmission with your tailshaft as I believe some of those transmissions have a little taller gearing.

Other than that, if you don't want to shift to 4th, keep the pedal to the metal and run the #$%& out of third.
Old 01-17-09, 10:11 AM
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Is there anyone with hands on experience on this then? I'd assume that this would be very common. Or if I have enough power can I drive through forth? What are other 15 second FB's doing?
Old 01-17-09, 11:16 AM
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Since you don't want to change your rearend gears then your pretty much stuck with just changing the size of the rear tires to change the ratio a little. Using shorter tires will raise your ratio and vise versa. Most pro drag racers are going thru 5 gears at the end of the 1/4. If your going to be serious at drag racing you need to throw the stock gears away and get lower gears, especially if you are N/A. Turbo applications genarally use 4.11 to 4.56 gears and N/A use 4.88 and up. Rotaries have a high rpm powerband and the lower gears keep the power at those higher rpm's between shifts which result in quicker times. Just by changing your stock gear ratio to a lower gear set like 4.88 for example you will run a quicker 1/4 mile time.
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