2001 t/a m6: school me on gears

**Ramairgod84** · 04-18-2010, 06:28 AM

I've got 3.42's on the car now, with 93,000 miles. At 70 im at 1500 rpms...im looking to upgrade to 3.73's but i have a few questions:

Where will my mpg be if i replace the gears? (what rpm @70?)

I dont plan on doing a rear, will 373's be dangerous to the rear? i dont plan to take it to the track or beat on it constantly

**Cutlass** · 04-18-2010, 09:40 AM

your MPG won't change much. It'll be within 1 or 2 MPG of what it is now. The rear can survive just as well as it does now for the most part. To calculate the MPH and RPM, use this calculator. The stock WS6 tire is 25.66" and the T56 gear ratio are this:
1st: 2.66
2nd: 1.78
3rd: 1.30
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.74
6th: 0.50

**Jays00ss** · 04-18-2010, 05:35 PM

3.73's are a total waste of $ with a m-6

**Wesman** · 04-18-2010, 05:44 PM

I have 4.10's in mine, and I'm going back to 3.42's.

Sick of the gears being so damn short, I lost a race the other day on the highway because I had to shift into 5th at 110MPH

I drive my friends GTO with stock gears, and it just drives so much nicer, the gears feel properly spaced.

**Cutlass** · 04-18-2010, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by Jays00ss

3.73's are a total waste of $ with a m-6

I don't necessarily 100% agree with that. It depends on what you do with your and what you want out of it.

**9T8W66** · 04-18-2010, 06:10 PM

I'm inclined to agree about the 3.73's being a waste as their not much of a change from the 3.42's. 4.10's on the other hand provide a dramatic difference but IMO at the cost of some strength due to the small pinion gear. This is the reason I went with Motive 3.90's.

**02transamce** · 04-18-2010, 11:00 PM

i was thinking 4.10 for a m6 was the hot ticket.

**Ramairgod84** · 04-19-2010, 07:17 AM

i thought it was too, until i thought about gas mileage, and then read about people breaking their rears. i want to retain somewhat decent mileage, while having an extra kick when i need it, but not sacrificing my rear end. thats why i thought the 373's would be good for that

**karpetcm** · 04-19-2010, 06:07 PM

I shift from 4th to 5th at 115mph at about 6000rpms. With me since ive had 4.10's in all 5 of my camaro's ive had im use to it and love it. On the freeway the rpms are still low and on the street i like the fact that i can be in 5th gear going 35-40mph and still have something to accelerate. The accleration in 5th gear or even 6th gear is great i dont have to downshift to pass cars and especially driving the new LS3 Vette M6 there is a big difference in accleration in 6th gear. Ofcourse the motor wasnt broken in but my car definitly accelerates better in other gears no, lol. The only complaint i would have is its hella easy to spin even in 3rd gear on the highway, you need decent tires although it increases the risk of blowing up the rear end. If i had to do it all over again i wouldve probably done 4.56 gears but as we all know even with the stock gears its a gamble let alone going to 4.10's or 4.56 gears.

**Wesman** · 04-19-2010, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by karpetcm

I shift from 4th to 5th at 115mph at about 6000rpms. With me since ive had 4.10's in all 5 of my camaro's ive had im use to it and love it. On the freeway the rpms are still low and on the street i like the fact that i can be in 5th gear going 35-40mph and still have something to accelerate. The accleration in 5th gear or even 6th gear is great i dont have to downshift to pass cars and especially driving the new LS3 Vette M6 there is a big difference in accleration in 6th gear. Ofcourse the motor wasnt broken in but my car definitly accelerates better in other gears no, lol. The only complaint i would have is its hella easy to spin even in 3rd gear on the highway, you need decent tires although it increases the risk of blowing up the rear end. If i had to do it all over again i wouldve probably done 4.56 gears but as we all know even with the stock gears its a gamble let alone going to 4.10's or 4.56 gears.

Why do you care about acceleration in 5th or 6th gears?? If you want to accelerate, just downshift. Shorter gears don't gain you any performance after the launch, they just make you go through each gear more quickly. Your actual acceleration doesn't change due to the fact that your hprsepower is still the same. 4.10's help you get off the line quicker, but other than that they just make for more shifting and higher RPM in each gear for a given speed.

**karpetcm** · 04-19-2010, 07:35 PM

When i drove the LS3 Vette i had to contantly change into 5th to pass cars on the highway. No one changes to 4.10's alteast i didnt just so i can accelerate faster in 6th but its definitly a good benefit for me since i can just hit the gas and pass cars without having to downshift. I know you dont like to shift as much or go through the gears quickly and i respect that, realistically gears to me is just preference because there are certain things i like with the 4.10 gears i have. Gears ive always known doesnt give you any more power then what you had before for me it was just more fun driving the car with the 4.10's. Either way some people like it and some dont.

**Wesman** · 04-20-2010, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by karpetcm

When i drove the LS3 Vette i had to contantly change into 5th to pass cars on the highway. No one changes to 4.10's alteast i didnt just so i can accelerate faster in 6th but its definitly a good benefit for me since i can just hit the gas and pass cars without having to downshift. I know you dont like to shift as much or go through the gears quickly and i respect that, realistically gears to me is just preference because there are certain things i like with the 4.10 gears i have. Gears ive always known doesnt give you any more power then what you had before for me it was just more fun driving the car with the 4.10's. Either way some people like it and some dont.

Fair enough. As they say, to each his own!!

**35th-ANV-SS** · 04-20-2010, 10:12 AM

Just checking to see if Wesman was in this thread

**Wesman** · 04-20-2010, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

Just checking to see if Wesman was in this thread

???

**35th-ANV-SS** · 04-20-2010, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Wesman

???

You have some notorious debates on gearing in here and on tech is all

**Wesman** · 04-21-2010, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

You have some notorious debates on gearing in here and on tech is all

Notorius maybe, but so far nobody has been able to provide any substantial (physics based) evidence to prove that 4.10 gear provide any acceleration advantage after launch.

**natews6** · 05-03-2010, 07:40 AM

Just keep your 3.42's unless you have extra cash for a set of 3.73's. I have 3.73's in my car and I'm happy with them, a lot of others around here put 3.73's in their cars aswell. In my opinion I think 3.73's are the best all around gear.