Converter VS. Gears, help please!

[Roger Ramjet]

As I have said before, find a M6 guy that wants to do gears. Swap the 3.45 gears into your A6 and share the cost - everybody wins!

Get a good trans tune including the part throttle shift speeds and you might not want gears anymore. I'll send you a HPT tune if you have a way to install it.

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by Roger Ramjet

As I have said before, find a M6 guy that wants to do gears. Swap the 3.45 gears into your A6 and share the cost - everybody wins!

Get a good trans tune including the part throttle shift speeds and you might not want gears anymore. I'll send you a HPT tune if you have a way to install it.

Swapping from the stock 3.27s to 3.45s wouldn't be worth the install cost. You would only see an equivalent gain of about 6% versus 15% with 3.73s. I do agree that a good trans tune goes a long way though.

[Roger Ramjet]

Originally Posted by Apex Chase

Swapping from the stock 3.27s to 3.45s wouldn't be worth the install cost. You would only see an equivalent gain of about 6% versus 15% with 3.73s. I do agree that a good trans tune goes a long way though.

You missed the point! Take the rear center section from the M6 and install in the A6 car. Take the A6 center section, install 4.10 gears, and install in M6 car. Did the center section change in 40 minutes. Give the M6 guy a couple hundred bucks - everybody gets a good deal.

I agree that it's not a big gear change but with the A6 deep 4.03 1st gear - a little becomes a lot.

[73duster]

I am now leaning towards the 3.73 gears because it will be a daily driver and i think it will compliment the cam as well. Hopefully the combo i mentioned putting together along with this gear will give me the performance i'm hoping for.

[VADER SS L99]

Originally Posted by 73duster

I think i'm even less sure about which way to go. I just want the car to be really strong pulling when you mash the throttle. Right now i'm disappointed with the low end acceleration. The car feels like a tank, and although it has decent power, it just feels too sluggish. I don't know why these cars could'nt be built a little lighter. I don't mean to sound like i'm complaining, but i miss the overpowering feeling i had in my old simple 73 dodge dart with an almost bone stock 440 big block. I know it's apples to oranges, but i loved whipping that car around the neighborhood. I'm sure these cars are faster, but they don't "FEEL" faster.

Sounds like you need a trans tune. There is so much torque management in the stock tune of this car it is like a big boat anchor is on the rear bumper holding the car back until 3500rpms. People have reported huge huge gains in low end torque output and low end feel with a new tune that takes some or all of the torque management out. When I first got this car I was very disappointed in the low end power feel. I got out of my OHV 4.6 3v Mustang because I longed for that big displacement pushrod motor feel of the Chevy and then was like WTF when I got the car. I later learned why. It was the factory tuning that was holding this car way way back. With a tune you might only gain 10hp and torque at the peak of the rev range but you will gain a tremendous amount in the lower rev range when tuning out TM.

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by 73duster

I am now leaning towards the 3.73 gears because it will be a daily driver and i think it will compliment the cam as well. Hopefully the combo i mentioned putting together along with this gear will give me the performance i'm hoping for.

The 3.73s bring the A6 cars to life. I would check into that trans tune as well.

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by VADER SS L99

Converter, converter, converter, converter....................converter. Like said above both will be around the same price when all said and done. When has streetable gears givin .5 reduction in 1/4 times? Also why put a part in your rear end that has more chance of breaking than the stock pieces? Whoever said the converter is only good for launching is dead wrong. A good stall converter will "flash" to a higher RPM after each shift putting you right in the sweet spot of your powerband thus improving acceleration throughout a run. Just dont skip on the quality of the converter and get a Pro torque, Yank, Circle D, or Vigilante billet converter made to your driving and other mods.

I agree.
Take a stock Camaro with a good stall and race it against a stock car with gears and see who wins that drag race.

[73duster]

I just thought about an added benefit of going with the gears. I think that the drone of the exhaust would be moved down to a lower speed, rather than where you would cruise under a longer sustained rpm. If you cruise around 2000 to 2200 rpm to maintain 65 to 70 mph for example, would'nt you now cruise at a higher rpm to maintain the same speed with 3.73 gears? Would that lessen the time spent in drone mode? Just a theory, but perhaps this would be an added benefit. Any thoughts?

[Roger Ramjet]

True that a high stall converter can keep the engine around peak torque with a 3 speed or 4 speed trans. But with the 6 speed, the engine stays within 800 RPM of peak torque after ALL shifts. It would take a 3800 RPM stall converter to gain any torque. That much converter is not always fun to drive on the street, will need a trans cooler, and will have trouble locking the TC clutch.

If you want to spend some more money, there is an after market TCM operating system that will control TCC lockup and get the cruise MPG back.