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I read that the final drive ratio in the IS350 rear wheel drive is 3.133. Is there a rear diff. that can change this to improve performance? I had Ford racing 3.73 gears installed in an old Mustang GT and it felt like a 30-40hp increase.
Older cars needed high gear ratios in the rear end for performance because you usually only had 3 or four gears to work with. With 6 or 8 gears, you can run a numerically lower gear ratio at the rear end.
I had a '67 Camaro with 3.08 gears and a 4-speed, it was a bit pokey off the line but after that it took off and I could pull off 25 mpg on the highway if I was really good (I had the carburetor set very lean). A friend had the same car with 3.73's and the engine was spinning over 3,000 rpm at 60 mph.
Older cars needed high gear ratios in the rear end for performance because you usually only had 3 or four gears to work with. With 6 or 8 gears, you can run a numerically lower gear ratio at the rear end.
I had a '67 Camaro with 3.08 gears and a 4-speed, it was a bit pokey off the line but after that it took off and I could pull off 25 mpg on the highway if I was really good (I had the carburetor set very lean). A friend had the same car with 3.73's and the engine was spinning over 3,000 rpm at 60 mph.
The old man here again .
In 1969, I had a NEW Dodge Super Bee, daily driver, weekend drag racer, with 4.56 gears! OUCH on gas, but WOW! on the 1/4 mile!