4.11 gear vs stock
 

So I’ve decided to just do an aggressive NA street strip car. Currently have cam, ported throttle body, ported and rod mod intake, roto fab cold air, and E85 with 850 cc injectors and adm fpcm. So I’m thinking about doing a more aggressive cam and head work. My question though is would it be worth it to go to the 4.11 gear on these cars. I know it doesn’t make as big of a difference on these vs regular SS. I have asked in a couple FB groups but not much info. Hopefully some her has already made the swap and can give some insight. What kind of difference in quarter mile times and how is it on road course?

I went with a 4.10 tru-trac set up from GPI. And they are worth helps so much with getting the big girl moving. And 6th gear on the hwy I dropped 500 rpm with almost no cam surge getting 22mpg

Yeah I have that setup in my GPI cart right now. Was wanting some real life feedback from 1LE specific cars. I’ll probably do the gears and diff prior to changing the cam and heads.

Isn't the standard gear a 3.90? I wouldn't expect much bang for the buck there.

EDIT: Just checked the specs, 3.91

I’m going to 4.10 and a Truetrac over the winter. The stock diff is worn out, but I’m not going to keep the stock gears since I’m going in there anyway. While going to 4.10 from a 3.91 won’t be as drastic as someone going from 3.45, it still has an affect.

The 3.91 in our cars is only there to make up for the fact that our transmission is geared much longer than a regular SS so the gear spacing can be tighter. 1LEs are slightly slower in the quarter than a regular SS because of the gearing.

And someone has to say it: You have the wrong car for a street/strip setup. You have the right car for an Auto-X/Track-day setup.

And? I track my car and could use the lower (numerically higher) gearing coming out of certain turns. Gear swaps aren’t just for drag racers, and if you think so, then you don’t actually race your car.

Nice try, but no, you aren't building a track car.

The problem with the internet is, it remembers.

Imagine the time you’ve spent going through my posts… oh wait, you didn’t go through mine - you’re quoting the OP…

I don’t need to share with everyone because quite frankly I don’t think anyone cares.. I enjoy drag racing, so I still do that as well, but it’s no longer the focus. Still love a good street race, too. But here are pictures from various track days before I bent a rod and put a hole in #7 (I even race my daily…). You should try it some time - it’s what these cars are made for, right?

im actually pretty curious if any else has done this since this old post went sideways.

my locker is pretty much done. i am basically a 1 tire fire out of the corners these days.
i feel like the 4.10 route couldnt hurt since its not a huge change but any time you can give the engine alittle more mechanical advantage it seems like a good idea.

when i dropped to the 6th gen 1le tire sizes i noticed a difference in peppiness seeing as they were almost a inch shorter than the 315/35s that were on it before.

I haven't tried it, but I have a 3.91 in the vert and feel it is right about the right amount of gear for that car. It has a cammed 416 putting down around 500whp.

To have comparable overall gearing with a 1LE TR6060, you would have to go to something like a 4.30 but that might put you in 5th or even 6th depending on the track and those gears don't like hard acceleration. 4.11 is not much of a change so if you feel you would benefit from a little more bottom end, I would definitely do it while you are in there.

As for the one wheel tire fire, go with a TruTrac Torsen carrier and never worry about clutch packs again.

This is a great conversation. I love all things gearing, and I love when the 1LE guys get in the conversation because their MM6 transmission gear ratios are really well situated to run the more aggressive 4.10 ratio. It's a tough sell though, because it's true, compared to a regular SS going from a 3.45 to a 4.10 (19% change) the 1LE 3.91 to 4.10 is a much more subtle change (5%). Really, the only time I suggest it is if the car needs a ring and pinion, or is already coming apart for a TruTrac upgrade. In those cases, there is very little drawback, but some additional acceleration to be had. It's all the more-so important for cammed cars that need to see more RPM. Top speed in 5th with 4.10s in a MM6 (1LE car) is still 186mph in 5th at 7000rpm on a 27.5" tire - more than enough for just about anybody I'd think, and cruise rpm at 75mph is only 1900rpm - completely reasonable.

If anything, it's a shame the factory rear can't tolerate more like a 4.56-4.88, because that would really wake these cars up!

that's good to hear Andrew, I've always felt a little more gear wouldn't hurt so I'll go with the 4.10.

I think you'll like it. If I can help get you setup with anything, you can feel free to e-mail andrew@gwatneyperformance.com - we carry the 4.10s with a full install kit.