Final Drive: 4.56 vs. 4.88

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by swarb

@bfrank1972 thanks for putting that together. Can you open access or just post a pic of the data?

In the end, it is track dependent and most of us aren't drag racing or reaching the top of 5th(with the 4.10's). That extra shift where you lose time is probably at the end of a long straight. I would personally choose the extra torque response gained at every corner. It's track dependent of course.

Kind of reminds me of drag racing, et vs mph, at a certain point higher final drive means extra shift and/or less mph and eventually slower et.

I'm sorry guys, threw it together late and forgot to share it, doh!

This is just an 'in a vacuum' depiction of what I'm referring to when I say the higher geared car will eventually make up distance gained by a lower geared car. Lots of variables including wind resistance (which is a big equalizer)

Also I'm not at all trying to refute the validity of lowering your final drive ratio- I'm thinking of doing it myself on my FR-S. For fun driving, it will make the car feel much snappier and certainly will pull harder in gear and out of corners. I'm not a race car driver - don't really care if the car is much faster overall as long as it is more fun! Also you're right in that if you are on a track that is optimized for your lower final drive ratio, you can see significant performance gains over a stock car. Just keep in mind it's a sliding scale - if you are optimizing for one track, you might not be optimal for another. Or if you improve your exit speeds from a prior corner, you'll find yourself running out of revs


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[SUB-FT86]

Originally Posted by skye67

As a owner of a auto tranny with a 4.67, and a former owner of a manual. The biggest mistake Subaru and Toyota did was not to put the right gear ratio in this car. With the 4.67, this car rocks!! With the manual I could only wish to get to 135. But in the auto with gears, I can touch 135 with easy, offen. And the way it goes though the gears is just fantastic. This should be the first mod to the car.

So you have owned both a manual with 4.1 and a Auto with 4.67? And you prefer the acceleration more because of the switch. This is all I need to hear.