Gears

[Leslie]

Santa was kind to me, so would like to change out gears, am thinking 3.55's, roadrace my
'01 GTS.

Any suggestions? Pro's/Con's?! First thought is to get them from Jonb.

Thanks!

[XSnake]

3.55 are a great choice. NA and planning on staying that way i'm guessing?

[Allan]

I have thought about that as well.
....but I don't want to give up the north end of the speedometer in the lower revs on the highway.
Also don't want to be too busy with the shifter on the track.
Harder acceleration out of the corners would be nice though, and on down the straights.

....everything is a compromise it seems.

[MADMAX]

I fitted a 3.54 gear a couple of years ago and also exchanged the diff for an OSG - much better traction and the change in ratio is so subtle, you will quickly adjust your track driving techniques to accommodate.

I did suffer mechanical problems though so beware - without going into too many details, the ring gear worked itself loose. Just one of those thinks - if you start messin with the original setup, be prepared for anything.

[viperr]

I did 3:55 gears and they are great for road courses. I ran the Mojave Magnum mile and a half and was still able to hit over 175 mph at 5,700 rpm. It also allows me to run in 6th gear on the highway at 1500 rpm instead of 2000 rpm in 5th with stock gearing.

[ACR_VP]

I have 3.55 on mine and at Beaverun/PittRace I have no trouble keeping right on gen iv's butts until the end of the straits with only exhaust mods... Great pull exiting corners... Here's a video from last summer's ohio club event (turn your speakers down)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApL4XP4j-is
the video and logging was all done on my phone, so keep that in mind as it's not pro data logger level accurate.

This is running at about 8/10ths (crappy stock brakes, ps2's). 4th runs out at right above 120... I was really pushing it in the afternoon that day and needed to shift into fifth by the end of the strait... Not sure what kind of effects it would have with a longer strait (like mid-ohio's).

[Leslie]

thanks guys for the great advice!

yeh, I am hoping I can adjust ok to more shifting, good to know I need to look out for any mechanical issues afterwards.

ACR-VP, my track buddies ran Pitt also last year....Victor (b/w 97) and Allen (black 06)

[SoCal Rebell]

thanks guys for the great advice!

yeh, I am hoping I can adjust ok to more shifting, good to know I need to look out for any mechanical issues afterwards.

ACR-VP, my track buddies ran Pitt also last year....Victor (b/w 97) and Allen (black 06)

I ran 3.55s on my 2000 at Willow Springs among other tracks, had to hit 5th on the front straight as opposed to topping out 4th on the stock Gen 4. All in all I was quite satisfied with the gear change I hit 157 in the front straight in the Gen 4 I think the Gen 2 would of been bouncing off the rev limiter in 4th with 3.07s.

.

[Sybil TF]

I just recently found out I have 3:73s. And here I thought it was just a fast car.......from the factory.

[viperfred]

I put 3:54's in a 97 GTS. Ran my 99GTS stock, in my opinion the stock gears are fine. The 3:50's or 3:70's will mean more gear shifts which = more wear on the clutch and more drive line shock. Also means more time shifting doubt most of us would benefit faster laps.

[Sybil TF]

I put 3:54's in a 97 GTS. Ran my 99GTS stock, in my opinion the stock gears are fine. The 3:50's or 3:70's will mean more gear shifts which = more wear on the clutch and more drive line shock. Also means more time shifting doubt most of us would benefit faster laps.

Yeah but the off the line acceleration is soooooo much fun! Especially with 3:73's.

[Alley]

+1 for 3.73s. 1/4 mile racing is a blast. I finish the quarter just about at the end of 4th.

[Dan Cragin]

For the road course. A 3.33 gear is often the best choice, but hard to find now. The 3.55 is a hoot for the street or drags. You should consider an upgrade to your LSD as well, better traction and stability.

Here is some info I have off our old website:

Many Viper owners have found the benefit of “Gearing Down” for better performance. A gear change will get your engine up in the power band quicker and apply more torque to the rear wheels. This makes your car feel faster without changing its HP. A gear change is by far your biggest performance gain for the dollar. For about $1200 with labor you can make your car feel like its gained 50-70hp. Gearing down gives you quicker acceleration by allowing your existing HP to get to the rear wheels faster. Vipers were built with a high 3.07 gear, this was done to keep the Gas Guzzler tax down, This gear, in combination with the 1-4 skip shift allows 20mpg during 6th gear cruising. The 3.07 gear may be good for mileage but it makes 5th and 6th gears hardly useable for passing acceleration. A lower gear makes 6th gear) more usable and makes the car a real performer in the lower gears. Lower gears give better off throttle braking as well.

So what gears should you use? The most popular it the 3.55 ratio, for the street and canyon driver this gear provides great seat of the pants acceleration. The Drag Race and Road racer like the 3.33 ratio. The 3.33 gear helps with taller drag race tires and still lets the car pull good mph in 4th gear. The road racers like it as it lets them really hang it out in high-speed corners without getting stuck shifting into a higher gear. For those who just like to burn rubber from stoplight to stoplight the 3.73 is very popular. Lower gearing does create more heat, so 12,000-mile fluid changes are recommended. 1992-2002 Vipers require a speedometer calibration box to correct the speedometer. 2003-2010 models do not.

All ring and pinion sets are not the same, best gears are manufactured in America and are shot-peened at the factory. These are designed for quiet operation and high torque. For those who road race, drag race or have very high hp engines, shot-peening and “REM” Super Finish polishing can be used to strengthen the gears and allow them to run cooler.

[uvbnbit]

I have a 3.73 Ring/Pinion avail if anyone interested, shoot me a PM

[steve911]

Were it me, I would keep the 3.07's, keep the money you have saved and put it toward new gears for your transmission or buying one. The revised 6060's in the Gen 4 cars and the 3.07's work soooo well.

I used to have to do maintenance throttle at places like RA(America) and even Gingerman cause there was so much of a drop in revs going from 3-4. With the new trans, it just keeps pulling and pulling. Less shifting than with 3.55's.

Even if you do 3.55's there is still the big 3-4 drop in revs.

[Late Apex]

Were it me, I would keep the 3.07's, keep the money you have saved and put it toward new gears for your transmission or buying one. The revised 6060's in the Gen 4 cars and the 3.07's work soooo well.

I used to have to do maintenance throttle at places like RA(America) and even Gingerman cause there was so much of a drop in revs going from 3-4. With the new trans, it just keeps pulling and pulling. Less shifting than with 3.55's.

Even if you do 3.55's there is still the big 3-4 drop in revs. This is all very well said as I made the mistake years ago on my GTS with 3:55 and for longer tracks there was too much shifting and hurting lap times. Short track maybe. Good points above. For just street its fine and a good kick in the pants.

[Flyin' Low]

Were it me, I would keep the 3.07's, keep the money you have saved and put it toward new gears for your transmission or buying one. The revised 6060's in the Gen 4 cars and the 3.07's work soooo well.

I used to have to do maintenance throttle at places like RA(America) and even Gingerman cause there was so much of a drop in revs going from 3-4. With the new trans, it just keeps pulling and pulling. Less shifting than with 3.55's.

Even if you do 3.55's there is still the big 3-4 drop in revs.

About 8 years ago I installed G-Force 5th and 6th gears. I might be a little off on the ratios, but I think they are .86 for 5th and .70 for 6th. (it was a long time ago) I believe stock is .72 for 5th and .50 for 6th.

Best mod ever. IMHO

[lmcgrew79]

Leslie now that you have an ACR! Second gear is usable, it just comes along with some wheel spin. Second gear in turn 1-7

Here was my pitt race video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tEG-cDj0D0

[Bill Pemberton]

Gotta agree with Steve and Apex, for road racing the 3.07s are actually great, and if you want to change them then a 3.33 ( as Dan stated ) is more appropriate for circuit tracks. Have 3.55s in
my ACR and on some shorter tracks I am shifting 2-3 times more than others and as Late Apex stated , this slows down your times. More fun, yes, but believe if I had to do it again would still do
a Quaife or Giken, but the ratio would stay stock!

Oh, yeh, Leslie doesn't need any gears anymore, ha,ha!!

[Leslie]

Hey Luke! I gotta find that video when we were going around the keyhole in your car and you were using 2nd hehe.

[Leslie]

here it is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAYxdHL6fNg&feature=player_detailpage

[Fatboy 18]

Now that looks like fun :)