3.73 gears interstate behavior question

[skytop1]

I grew up with 4.56 in Vettes and 4.33 gears in Pontiacs. The GT-350's had 3.89's with little 14" wheels! Some of the cars I had were 'big' blocks. We had only 4 stinking gear transmissions to use back then. Now those gears were tight and were for serious drag racing. On the highway at 65 mph, we turned between 3500 and 4000 RPM. To pass another car, we would wind the engine to 5000 RPM or better before backing down to the 'mild' 3500 RPM range. I never experienced or heard of anyone's engine suffering from those RPM's. And we had only organic straight weight oil back then! Big noise on long trips was the down side.

Today's 3.73 rear gear set with the awesome overdrive 6 speed transmission allows us to have our cake and eat it too.

I have to chuckle at the guys who think 3.73's are too extreme. In fact, for someone who bought a performance sports car, the 3.73 gear are perfection. They are right at the inflection point between genuine performance and acceptable cruising economy. IF those folks wanted real economy, they should have bought a Focus. Period.

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[PonyGrrrl]

I really don't understand all the talk of 3.73 being too short for a DD. I DD mine and I feel 3.73 is perfect on the GT. Who buys a 435 hp 5 liter V8 and worries about gas mileage?


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[PJR202]

I really don't understand all the talk of 3.73 being too short for a DD. I DD mine and I feel 3.73 is perfect on the GT. Who buys a 435 hp 5 liter V8 and worries about gas mileage?


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The most powerful car I've ever owned was a 2000 grand prix GT and i've certainly never had anything with 3.73 gears. I had a 5 speed 86 Camaro v6 with a blistering 2.8 motor. I've read about a million muscle car mags and I remember a lot of the street cars were 3.73 or 3.55, and occasionally 4.11's.

Trust me..I want 3.73, but if I'm about to commit to purchasing a 30k car I wanna make sure I can cruise to work in syle comfortably. That said, my Tacoma cruises in 5th at about 2,200 (78mph) also from what I recall.

 

[Asharus]

all u wanna do is cruise to work in style comfortably? sounds like u should get an Auto w/ 3.15s. or get a totally different car, like a lincoln or something

 

[DarkestHour]

Picked up my GT PP yesterday and drove highway straight home. I got 29mpg in a mix of 60mph and then 75mph driving. It all went to hell though once I got off the highway.

I did a lot of reading on this site about people saying 3.73 are too short and I can't say I agree with them at all. These gears are just fine.

 

[PonyGrrrl]

The most powerful car I've ever owned was a 2000 grand prix GT and i've certainly never had anything with 3.73 gears. I had a 5 speed 86 Camara v6 with a blistering 2.8 motor. I've read about a million muscle car mags and I remember a lot of the street cars were 3.73 or 3.55, and occasionally 4.11's.



Trust me..I want 3.73, but if I'm about to commit to purchasing a 30k car I wanna make sure I can cruise to work in syle comfortably. That said, my Tacoma cruises in 5th at about 2,200 (78mph) also from what I recall.

Why would 3.73 not be comfortable cruising on the highway? It's stop and go traffic where you notice how short first gear is not on the highway. You'll be fine. My 70 year old mom doesn't have a problem driving my 16 GT PP.

 

[3 pedal metal]

I DD (including 35 min commute) my PP with 3.73s and love it.

 

[Asharus]

the only people who wouldn't love it are the lazy shifters that complain about the short gearing.

 

[PJR202]

all u wanna do is cruise to work in style comfortably? sounds like u should get an Auto w/ 3.15s. or get a totally different car, like a lincoln or something

Not exactly what I meant. What I meant to say was more like "I want to tear up the corners and wake up everyone as I pass their houses every single morning, but I don't want that to be my only driving option".

I wouldn't be buying this car if I didn't want to melt faces and puncture ear drums and intimidate everyone within 100 yards. I wanna be that car you hear coming a mile before i blow by and you have time to grab your buddy and tell him to "watch this thing coming our way. It's badass." I want the toupees of old men and bad combovers of young men in denial to fly around in my wake.

I dont care about gas mileage. I only nentioned it initially out of curiousity. I know what I'm getting on the surface, but I'd like to know some of the finer details since I won't ALWAYS be Hulk. I gotta be Bruce Banner sometimes.

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[sk8erord]

I daily mine about 90 miles a day, 60% highway no issues.

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[highvoltage]

I commute 70+ miles 5 days a week and dont mind the 3.73 at all. I get over 24mpg if im not dealing with traffic. Usually i do so its only 20mpg. Around town its about 15mpg low end. I think my lifetime avg is around 18-19mpg. I drive a little more hwy but i also rev the hell out of it very frequently.

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[2morrow]

I love the fact that I have 3.73's. I commute 65 miles round trip and the mileage is not bad. Its not like my '15 TLX but this is a way better car(for me). One cool thing is that you dont need to downshift a highway speed to pass anyone. The gearing and engine take care of that for you.

Enjoy your new ride

 

[vernonator]

I really don't understand all the talk of 3.73 being too short for a DD. I DD mine and I feel 3.73 is perfect on the GT. Who buys a 435 hp 5 liter V8 and worries about gas mileage?


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This right here!!!

My round trip is 50 miles - about 1/2 interstate, 1/2 country roads. On the interstate if there is a bit of traffic I pop it into 5th and have GREAT response in the 60mph range, cruising along at 80 - 6th gear just lopes along. On the back roads it 4th as I weave the corners. In town - I just start out in 2nd unless I want to chirp the tires a bit :love:

 

[Orgalorg]

Thanks all. I'm not concerned about mpg. My tacoma averages about 17 as it is, so a GT will be an improvement..lol

I've kinda been weighing the options in my mind. The way I see it, my budget will get me a 2015 premium with relatively low miles or a 2016 standard with PP. Looks to me like the premium is basically just leather and MFT. My wife has MFT in her explorer and it's nice, but honestly I get annoyed trying to find what I need on there. If the standard dash setup will sync with my galaxy and I get a backup camera, I'll be happy.

I want black with black wheels, and it looks like the 19" black wheels are a PP option, so I may try to get a new 16 PP. I suppose I could just plasti-dip another wheel. I'm 36 with kids, so I don't HAVE to get the PP since it'll be unlikely that I'll even accept a red light challenge. I'm mostly looking forward to that GROWL echoing off the mountains as I carve corners to the interstate in the morning. I've been listening to aftermarket exhaust setups on youtube and I'm getting the fever BAD. An 87-93 five-ohhhh GT was the ultimate cool car when I was in high school. Ford's marketing has done an excellent job of remembering that I'm 36 now and can finally achieve the dream..lol

I'll have my truck paid off in June and can start looking seriously. I only owe 1000 on it, so I wouldn't be surprised if I talk myself into paying it off early. I'd like to find out how it'll affect my credit score because at the moment I'm a 780 across the board and I want it to stay there when it comes time to finance.

Any other recommendations or stuff I should know? I've been checking out the exhausts and the Ford Racing Borla sounds incredible, as does the Borla ATAK and one of the Rousch setups I saw.

If financing and credit scores and paying off the last $1000 of your truck are concerns of yours, you might consider not buying a new car.

Be a good dad and save your money for a year or more and pay off more of your debts.

 

[BiloxiFun]

I'll have my truck paid off in June and can start looking seriously. I only owe 1000 on it, so I wouldn't be surprised if I talk myself into paying it off early. I'd like to find out how it'll affect my credit score because at the moment I'm a 780 across the board and I want it to stay there when it comes time to finance.

Unless your debt to income is outrageous and you haven't been paying on previous agreements 1K shouldn't make your credit score go up that much. I had a similar situation as you. If you know your score is that high you should be considered an excellent rating and your should be able to qualify for the best rates.

Ford was like 3 or 4% for their top tier rates to finance with them a month or so ago. My local credit union had MUCH better rates. I did a query to see what I qualified for, got the rate I wanted, and the loan paperwork was good for 60 days while I made a decision. Go ahead... get that financing together now so your stay on the lot will be shorter if they have a car you want!

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