Are 3.55s worth it?
- Thread starter unclejim
- Start date
My own personal opinion after researching it as well is that there is a significant improvement on the street. One with gears will certainly pull away from a stock geared car and 6th becomes usable.
As far as the strip is concerned it seems there may only be a slight decrease in et. A lot of mixed feelings about gears floating around. I personally am holding off right now.
As far as the strip is concerned it seems there may only be a slight decrease in et. A lot of mixed feelings about gears floating around. I personally am holding off right now.
Daffy Duck Viper
Enthusiast
What J said, plus, if you ever plan on increasing horsepower significantly, say, by supercharging or turbocharging, more than likely you'll be switching back to the 3.07 gears or you will really have trouble getting the power to the ground.
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Snake Bitten
Enthusiast
Feels like a brand new girlfriend...hit it!
Snakester
Enthusiast
Yes. They are great fun.
3.55s make the power in every gear feel better, and it's most noticable in 6th on the freeway.
-Dean.
3.55s make the power in every gear feel better, and it's most noticable in 6th on the freeway.
-Dean.
weed43
Enthusiast
( Is the performance difference noticable ) You better belive it is, the best mod. I have done to the car. If anyway possible have Unitrax do the gear swap, If you decide to make the change
In a nutshell, the 3.55 gears will feel great, but they will limit/reduce your maximm attainable 4th gear mph in the 1/4 mile IF you're running enough horsepower where'd you be wanting alot of 1/4 mile MPH. That's the only drawback at all. If you're not racing at the strip WOT in 4th, then there's nothing to lose by adding the gears.
Snakester
Enthusiast
Plus another thing about the dragstrip is that 3.55s will still allow you to run 130MPH in 4th. So if your mods aren't going to take you past a 130MPH trap speed in the 1/4 mile, then you are fine.
-Dean.
-Dean.
Snake Bitten
Enthusiast
With my 3.45's, I can do 135 - 136 in fourth...that is fast enought for mid ten second passes...If you got more than that, you'll need to go back to 3.07's anyway, for traction purposes...
My $.02 worth...130mph in 4th is almost 6100rpm with 3.55s. If a guy's got a blower, nitrous, or other heavy mods propelling the car forward past the normal power peak of 5500rpm or so it might be the way to go. But for a car with a few mods I'd shy away from that in favor of 3.45s to allow 130mph at 5900...It's not much, but it can be better than fighting a given engine combination's happiest upper peak. Snake Bitten, who makes your 3.45s do you know? If I understood a local installer correctly recently, the gear after market isn't making anything for these 7/16" ring bolt-ed (Super Dana?) units yet..
Just a another thought, I have had 3.33's in for about 1000 miles. This is approximately an 8% change from the stock ratio. I didn't think it would feel or make a huge difference. I was wrong, here are some positives.
1. The car feels much stronger, even the 8% change is very noticeable.
2. 5th and 6th gear are more usable
3. I can finish the quarter in 4th, with 3.55's I could not.
4. The change makes fourth gear come alive at highway speeds.
Negatives:
1. Even the small 8% change hurts traction.
1. The car feels much stronger, even the 8% change is very noticeable.
2. 5th and 6th gear are more usable
3. I can finish the quarter in 4th, with 3.55's I could not.
4. The change makes fourth gear come alive at highway speeds.
Negatives:
1. Even the small 8% change hurts traction.
Daffy Duck Viper
Enthusiast
Oh, hey, now that's some nice information to have. Thanks.
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Snake Bitten
Enthusiast
Talk to <font color="blue">Unitrax...King of Gears!</font> in Cali...I would have prefered 3.33's, but got a deal with someone who got Heffner'd and had to go back to 3.07's...I am only spraying a 150 shot, so 3.45's work for me...3.55's would be too low for sure...
Snakester
Enthusiast
Gerald,
What are you trapping with a 150 shot?
Do you shift at lower RPMs with the nitrous?
-Dean.
What are you trapping with a 150 shot?
Do you shift at lower RPMs with the nitrous?
-Dean.
Snake Bitten
Enthusiast
I just finished the install...so I haven't had her to the dragstrip yet...Maybe this weekend! On her first couple of "maiden voyages" I did notice myself shifting sooner, like at around 5000 rpms...I still have to put the shift light in...But simply math says that I should be able to do 136 in 4th easy...Stay tuned!
Have you got your N20 installed yet? You should check out Mike Brunton's little shift light box...It is capable of running two lights...In the correct mode, one light comes on at, say, 3000 rpms...then at say, 5500 rpms, the first light goes off and the second light comes on...Guess what I am using for a window switch? Works with any cylinder motor from 2 - 16...No chips, no sending it off to MSD to get "modified"...Works like a charm right out of the box...Super nice and easy to set up...www.hightechspeed.com
Snakester
Enthusiast
Gerald,
I'm getting the N2O installed this week hopefully, when I get my modded window switch back from MSD.
I did really want the shift light/window switch solution, but the info was shakey about if someone had tried it, and if it was able to trigger the NX setup.
Oh well, maybe I'll upgrade it at some future date.
The trickier part for me (or really my mechanic)will be the progressive controller because it seems to be a less common Viper install.
My other concern is the fuel pressure switch, which (in another thread) someone was saying that it caused problems, flashing the N2O setup, and needed to be removed.
-Dean.
I'm getting the N2O installed this week hopefully, when I get my modded window switch back from MSD.
I did really want the shift light/window switch solution, but the info was shakey about if someone had tried it, and if it was able to trigger the NX setup.
Oh well, maybe I'll upgrade it at some future date.
The trickier part for me (or really my mechanic)will be the progressive controller because it seems to be a less common Viper install.
My other concern is the fuel pressure switch, which (in another thread) someone was saying that it caused problems, flashing the N2O setup, and needed to be removed.
-Dean.
Snake Bitten
Enthusiast
Dean...Didn't you see the "Nitrous Experts" thread...Why aren't you installing your own system??? Installed my own system, and I never..even..learned..to..read!!!
The fuel safety switch works perfect for me, in fact, the "ground" supplied by the fuel safety switch goes through my "window switch", and between 3000 and 5500, the "window switch" grounds the N20 relay...pretty neat!
I suspect a bad ground in the previous post, or maybe that little valve was left in the fuel rail, or most likely they just needed to buy one set at a lower volume, or an adustable fuel safety switch, these are cheap enough and in a wide variety through Summit, Jegs, etc...Not specific to NX Express or NOS, they all pretty much work/look the same...
How big a shot are you going to run??? I think I will be the second person to tell you that I honestly don't think you'll need the controller...If you really feel you need something, maybe a "delay" would be the way to go...Either way, controller, delay, or just your right foot, keep us posted!
The fuel safety switch works perfect for me, in fact, the "ground" supplied by the fuel safety switch goes through my "window switch", and between 3000 and 5500, the "window switch" grounds the N20 relay...pretty neat!
I suspect a bad ground in the previous post, or maybe that little valve was left in the fuel rail, or most likely they just needed to buy one set at a lower volume, or an adustable fuel safety switch, these are cheap enough and in a wide variety through Summit, Jegs, etc...Not specific to NX Express or NOS, they all pretty much work/look the same...
How big a shot are you going to run??? I think I will be the second person to tell you that I honestly don't think you'll need the controller...If you really feel you need something, maybe a "delay" would be the way to go...Either way, controller, delay, or just your right foot, keep us posted!
Snakester
Enthusiast
Yes, I know that I am taking my life in my hands by not going to a certified expert for the installation, but my friend/mechanic successfully installed this very NX setup on my last Corvette, with no problems. Including the same fuel pressure switch.
Thanks for the example about the fuel pressure switch working, because I had never read about any other installations where there were problems with including the switch, but many with meltdowns from people without some fuel pressure sensor or gauge.
I'm only going to run a 150 shot, but even just on the engine I was spinning going into second with my older Michelin stock tires and the 3.55 gears. So I figure that with the progressive controller I can setup the initial N2O percentage, and then ramp up to 100% with the ability to tune-in the N20 for best performance. Plus the smoothed shock of a ramped power application could possibly prevent breaking the halfshafts/u-joints.
I'm looking for an installation of my old NX N2O setup from my Corvette, so that it doesn't go to waste. And I'd like to have a N2O system that is the least expensive and most reliable for rare track use, and some occasional road use, on my 18" street tires.
And I do appreciate everyone's tips.
-Dean.
Thanks for the example about the fuel pressure switch working, because I had never read about any other installations where there were problems with including the switch, but many with meltdowns from people without some fuel pressure sensor or gauge.
I'm only going to run a 150 shot, but even just on the engine I was spinning going into second with my older Michelin stock tires and the 3.55 gears. So I figure that with the progressive controller I can setup the initial N2O percentage, and then ramp up to 100% with the ability to tune-in the N20 for best performance. Plus the smoothed shock of a ramped power application could possibly prevent breaking the halfshafts/u-joints.
I'm looking for an installation of my old NX N2O setup from my Corvette, so that it doesn't go to waste. And I'd like to have a N2O system that is the least expensive and most reliable for rare track use, and some occasional road use, on my 18" street tires.
And I do appreciate everyone's tips.
-Dean.
