changing gearing, pro's and cons?
 

i searched and didn't find much. i'm getting the kaaz differential installed in a few weeks. and i was thinking about changing to a 4.33. the install would be free, just the $475 for the ring and pinion. i know you stay in usable power, but requiring more shifting. i basically have a road race car, road race street port, and gt 35/40 with all the other stuff. so i'm just wondering the pros and cons, opinions, of those who have done it, or those that have thought of doing it and decided not to.
i'm worried about stuff breaking with that high of horsepower, ppf, and axels are what else i could use the money on. just would like some info from those who know. thanks:)

it depends on what you want from the car... i absolutely hate the stock fifth gear... way too far from fourth. i drive my car on the street and road race it on a track where i routinely run higher than 165 mph so i run a shorter 5th gear. i like my stock rear ratio with the short 5th.
i plan to run the Silver State Classic (out in your neighborhood) next year and need to keep the rpm's down for the event (90 miles flat out) so i will swap in a stock 5th to lower the revs for the event which gets back to my point which is: it depends on what you do w your car. i don't think a 4.33 would be any faster on most road courses that are 1.85 miles or longer in length. drag racing might be another story and i don't know the score there. good luck.
howard coleman

thanks howard, hopefully more that have considered/done this will chime in. i dont really race my car, its mainly for my own enjoyment. i live 10 min. from various canyons/mountain roads, so i'm setting the car up mainly like a road race car. my motor done by pineapple was ported for lots of midrange power instead of peak, but we'll see when i get it on the dyno in a few weeks. (still breaking it in) i'm sure i'll want to drag it just to see how it does, and knowing myself, i'll want to do it more than once.

silver state classic huh? that's pretty big time. have you ran it before? is so what was your time and av. mph? thats pretty cool stuff, although a little crazy for me.

My personal opinion on this is....

for a near-stock twin turbo car (under 300 rwhp) going to a 4.33 can offer some benefits because you get about 10% more power down to the ground. You do have to shift more, but the car feels a little more fun I guess. In terms of actual SPEED I don't think the 4.33 offers enough on the street to really make a difference. I think drag racers say it is good for a tenth in the 1/4 or something but whatever. I still wouldn't spend the money I don't think but then again I'm cheap.

For higher horsepower cars (mine for instance).... 1st gear is useless at full throttle because it just spins the tires the whole way... 2nd is mostly the same way... you don't really get good traction until into 3rd. Putting more power to the wheels in all the gears wouldn't really help me. I do have a 0.806:1 5th gear which is really nice for high speed runs :)

Brian

i agree w Brian....
since 1st and 2nd are marginal w a higher hp setup why spend money to burn up more tires? there are lots of other better-return things to do w your mod-money unless you need a tenth at the drag strip. (BTW, i am not knocking that... just know that is the only thing you will get w the trade.)
howard coleman

thanks guys, i've decided not to do it. i'll have close to 500 at the wheels so i'm not thinking it'd do me much good. especially since i'm not tracking it at all. the money will go for axels. holy $h!% they're $800 though... i just looked em up. damn! well, thanks for all your help guys, i researched a ton lately too.