Detlef and others. Glad you went 3.73 instead . . .

[PhoenixGTS]

of 3.54? Given that I have 345-35-19s on the rear that are about 1.5" taller than stock (fill out the lowered wheel-well very well), the numbers point to 3.73 being about the right gear, but I have seen others claim it is too aggressive (STFA yielded little focused comments).

 

[Detlef]

I live at 5000 feet and thus have nearly 100 horsepower less to play with so the 3.73s make the Viper great on the street versys the stock 3.07s. At sea level it could be a totally different story. I can't compare to other ratio's. Learning to feather the throttle is probably a good skill anyway in case the gears are too much in your application. The one downside is that I occasionally autocross and on short courses, a stock Viper can do it in 1st gear while I need to shift to 2nd or tach out pretty rapidly. Hope this helps.

 

[newredrt10]

Street life with 3.73 means alot of shifting. I was hitting 5th gear before the the 1/4. I have gone back to 3.07 gears.

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Street life with 3.73 means alot of shifting. I was hitting 5th gear before the the 1/4. I have gone back to 3.07 gears.

I used this gear calculator [ http://chuckware.net/viper/gears.asp ] and plugging in my 26.7" tall tires came up with the following speeds at the 6k redline in first through fifth: 48, 72, 98, 128 and 173. I figured that second would get you well passed 60 for 0-60 mph runs, and that fourth going to 128 would cover a quarter mile of a very fast Viper so you did not have to shift into fifth. When I put in the stock height for the rear tires of 25.4" I get 48, 68, 94, 122 and 164 for the respective speeds in first through fifth at the redline. I can see that a fast car might have to go into fifth in the quarter, so it looks like the taller tires make a lot of difference. For comparison, my height rear tires with the stock 3:07 gearing results in 58, 87, 119, 155 and 210 in first through fifth which just seems ridiculously tall to me (it is tough to drive in a parking garage because idle in first is often faster than the prudent speed). I now gears would be nice, and I figure if you are going to do it and you are not going to drive on the freeway much, why not go with the 3:73s given my taller rear tires.

 

[newredrt10]

I comes down to how long you want to hold 6K to finish the 1/4 mile.I never did the numbers on my tires and gearing, but I can tell you that 5th gear was needed at the 1000 ft msrk.

 

[joe117]

"I can tell you that 5th gear was needed at the 1000 ft msrk"

Was this with the car you have listed as "RED RT/10 with nice mods"?

What mods? What gear in back?

 

[Paul Hawker]

The more the mods, the smaller the gear.
If you are stock, 3:55 is optium.
If you added larger diameter tires, but left engine alone, 3:73 is OK.
If you have increased power from stock, consider staying with 3:07.
If you are tracking the car, then the track will determine your gear.
This is for general Viper owners. If you wish to change the car to fit your own desires, than any thing goes!!!