Stillen 3.90 Gear Info

[dbk]

That's an opinion Mister Black Ice. Out of everyone on this website, I know of maybe 5 people that have clocked over 200 mph (*cough cough*). For most driver's, saying the car can go over 200 but never doing it is like getting a really hot wife just to point her out to your buddies while never actually hitting the sack. Sure it's fun, but you might as well get something you can use. Driving a car that's been geared more aggressively (like an 06+ Gallardo, which put 1st and 2nd 14% and 23% shorter over the prior MY's) can be really entertaining, despite the comparative lack of power. Maybe it's just me, but despite the fact that I know the car was fast stock, 1st through 3rd didn't really feel like it.

I'm not saying anyone should or shouldn't want a different gear change, but it's definitely not a right or wrong proposition. I'd be willing to bet a car with a 3.90 in it would beat most average joe's in a Whipple'd car around a track. Modulating the throttle with 750rwhp in the 3 gears you'd use at most tracks is a more daunting task....though this is just speculation...

 

[BlackICE]

DBK, I agree the GT doesn't feel that fast, but when you look at the speeds it really is. It feels slow because it is so smooth while going so fast. Would it be more entertaining with a 3.9, I would say yes. Would it be faster, depends on what you mean. As for a stock with a 3.9 beating a Whipple car around a track. That would depend more on driver and course. But from what I heard from Ed Sims when he got the Whipple dialed in, it made a significant difference in how his car compared to his buddy's Z06. I made it effortless to keep up with C6 Z06 without shifting out of 3rd on the whole course!

I am glad people are coming up with more choices for us owners, No wrong choices, just choices and I am glad we all have choices to make. That's what makes life so interesting!

 

[werewolf]

For what it's worth, i absolutely agree that, in an ideal world, gear ratios would be optimized for the intended use : street, track, drag.

But one thing is abundantly clear ... the stock gearing was chosen, and is optimized, for exactly NONE of these. It was marketing-driven, by the spec to hit 60mph in first gear. Given this, why would anyone think that the stock gearing is "right" for our car? Why conclude that anyone who wants something lower is barking up the wrong tree?

And the other question that there's just no good answer to ... why have a 6-speed transmission, when you only use half the gears (at best)?

 

[Shadowman]

i hear you, man of shadow ... our motors are torquey, no doubt. But that torque translates to "accelerative force" through some pretty tall gear ratios and large rear tires. So, the counterpoint question is : what's the downside of being traction limited through, say, the first 4 gears? I'm not talking about planting your foot and getting a squeak :wink Heck you've still got two more gears left after that. Don't forget ... you can always modulate the torque down with your foot too.

My vote is simple : tire-melting torque on tap in all first 4 gears :biggrin With appropriate throttle control, you'll know you're getting maximum possible acceleration in all those 4 gears. And, you might actually use more than 2 or 3 out of the 6 gears on the street.

What's wrong with that?

Absolutely nothing

In fact I can be heard answering the question "why do you need even more power" all the time to which I say; whether I use it or not is not the issue but rather that I can if I want to because as you just stated; the driver operates the go pedal.

Now if tire melting torque is one of the goals then this gear swap is the peferct item. And having shared this I think that many will have a blast with it however my only real point was that IMO it is not needed because for most they there is already brut torque on tap all the time and furthermore for a similar cost (speculation) or less one can tweak the heart of the gal a bit more and you would never consider such a gear but rather a dark road or track to play on. Now if compared to (as some mentioned) a Z06; then a bit more gear is a great thing however that gal is N/A and does not build great power at the lower RPM's as such a gear swap would manipulate this situation.

Takes care; and BTW great comments

Shadowman

 

[AZGT]

Some of the changes would be done for performance purposes.

It also would make general driving of the car a little easier when leaving stop lights, etc. Yes, it would require (potentially) more shifting, but as others have said, I wouldn't mind a little more. Seems there is a general consensus that we don't use the the six speeds - I'm usually in 4th.

Obviously we all have different needs and goals for the car. For some the stock is fine, others would enjoy the 3:90. Glad the option may be there. The more options we have for the car, the more fun (if that is possible) and unique they become.

 

[cobrar1339]

Well Steve and Kyle have many thoughts to consider. Perception is not reality in many cases and personally, I believe the guys at Stillen are on to something here. How about addressing some of the tech concerns by Not4re, and maybe a clue on costs. Reasoning from a pros perspective as to what level of mods would benefit the most.

So with that said, gear one up for the runs at El Toro if you have em'. Show us what they will do !. I will run side by side to see how they perform 0-60, 70, 80, 90,100, 150, etc. But that is not the real purpose of the gears in the first place. But I would love to try them out.

Someone said they drive in 4th most of the time, likely at 80mph and it loves to cruise right there in 4th. But you really never use the other gears that much, agreed. Driving a road course in one gear, well, that is not the layout to have the most fun with the GT IMO. You would likely get your behind kicked by far lesser cars. Most of the shorter tracks would end up like this for our cars. I think this is where Stillen can come to the rescue.

Again Wipple and TT guys excluded. I understand your points and agree with them 100%.

But, some folks do not want to mod the car that much, or don't want to have to return it to stock, deal with the polution police, warranty issues. Not being able to get the car serviced at Ford dealers, etc. If you happen to be buds with a tuner or are a good wrench yourself, none of this is an issue. I can hold my own with a wrench, but we are in the minority.

A gear swap may add enjoyment for some,the car will look bone stock, but feel more powerful, blown or not. Been there done that with blown/ turbo, had my share of over 500/500 cars on boost. Does it need it, NO, our cars are fast, easy to drive and need nothing out of the box. Many of the the things we due to our cars are for personal preference and often result in a trade off of some kind.

In the end, I do not think it is about right or wrong, it's about what is right for you.

 

[gtkurt]

I have run 26 inch tall Micky Thompson ET streets on my GT. I don't know what gear ratio that translates to but it like driving a different car. All together I have had six different rear tire combos and the simple reason this one works the best is the change of gearing. And for the people who don't think you can get traction with the 3.90 gear ratio I have two broken half shafts to prove different. With this gear change I would be able to run the M&H Racemaster 390 series tire. I have tested on this tire and it will solve any traction issues for serious 1/4 mile or street racing needs. Kurt

Whipple 23lb
Methanol Injection
Spec clutch
Twin boost-a-pumps
109 octane tune
Stainless Works headers no cats no muffler
Accufab T-Body
Up Graded Half Shafts being built

 

[werewolf]

Stock tire diameter is 28.92 inches ... call it 29. Stock rear-gear ratio is 3.36. So ... using smaller diameter, 26 inch diameter tires with stock gearing would be just like using a rear-gear ratio of 3.74 with the stock tires.

 

[gtkurt]

Stock tire diameter is 28.92 inches ... call it 29. Stock rear-gear ratio is 3.36. So ... using smaller diameter, 26 inch diameter tires with stock gearing would be just like using a rear-gear ratio of 3.74 with the stock tires.

Thanks werewolf
With that in mind I am sure a 3.9 gear ratio will be incredible.

 

[OCPETE]

Bottom line on this issue is cost. Swapped diff on my '02 Z to 4.11 for about $1,500, (And kept the o/e diff), The biggest bang for the buck option without pouring major $$ to unnecessary engine mods for the same terror result :cheers

I would assume the right gear mod on the GT would have similar results as doing exotic pulley/blower/tune mods for dramatic torque results, probably, (hopefully), for fraction of the cost of the former...

I think this car is done well and fast enough practically as is. I feel fairly safe tromping on my Z toy because I leave the traction control on to keep it straight :thumbsup

Look at the pics of all those totaled FGT's out there...Doesn't take a genius to figure out the ass end freaks and overwhelms the inexperienced driver. Doing gears w/o traction control is like tossing the keys to my teenager :lol

Quanto Questa??

 

[kmillen]

Hey guys,

Here are some answers to some of the questions that have been asked. I will be answering all of the questions but I want to give each question appropriate attention.

First question on everyone's mind of course is cost. This diff ratio is costing us a lot of money to produce and requires quite a lot of specialized training. In order to produce this we will be sending one of our technicians over to Ricardo's headquarters in Michigan where he will receive 5 days of training on the Ford GT transmission and instruction on proper assembly of the transaxle. There are 3 new shims in this kit that replace either a "shim book or a range of shims. These new shims will be of a through-hardened type and will require grinding to thickness on assembly to suit each individual transmission build. Tear-down, and rebuild will typically take about 16 hours. The transmission will have to be taken apart and reassembled at Stillen. Ricardo will not allow this to happen any other way.

Now, for the guys that don't live in California, you can have the transmission removed and reinstalled at another facility that you feel comfortable with. We will send a crate to you and arrange for the shipping with a trusted carrier. Either way downtime will be approximately 6 or 7 days, depending on how busy our shop is at that time as well as part availability.

If you bring your vehicle to Stillen and we do all of the work here at our facility the total will be $9,965.00 for parts and labor

If you would like to ship your transmission to Stillen and we simply change the ring and pinion here at our facility then the total will be $8,854.00 (not including freight)

 

[kmillen]

For the guys that are concerned with the 0-200+ times. With the 3.9 gear ratio the car will actually achieve 200 MPH quicker than with the 3.3 ratio. The only significant time that will be slowed down slightly is the 0-60 time and that is simply because now you have to shift. As stated in our release, the main reasion Ford went with the 3.3 ratio is so that magazine editors wouldn't need to change gears while doing a 0-60 run. With the 3.9 ratio 220 MPH is easily achievable.

 

[gtkurt]

kmillen

When will you be able to begin the gear swaps?
Will you be taking deposits to reserve a place in line?
Thank's Kurt

 

[kmillen]

I was under the impression that the top speed shown was theoritical and not actual. Has this setup actually been tested?

You are correct. These speeds are theoritical. These numbers were calculated by Ricardo's engineers and passed on to us.

This setup has not been tested yet. It requires a MAJOR investment just to get these going and we can not justify that expense unless there is a demand for the product. Ricardo is setup for mass production, so something like this (only 50 to 100 units at a time) is requiring them to shut down their mass production lines and make a quick short production run. That is also one of the reasons for the high cost.

 

[kmillen]

kmillen

When will you be able to begin the gear swaps?
Will you be taking deposits to reserve a place in line?
Thank's Kurt

Kurt,

Ricardo tells us that it will take them 90 days to manufacture the gears from the day we say go.

We definitely encourage leaving a deposit to secure your spot in line. If you would like to leave a deposit you can call me directly at 888-222-2702 ext. 173. Or feel free to stop by our facility and just ask the receptionist for Kyle Millen.

 

[nz05gt]

You are correct. These speeds are theoritical. These numbers were calculated by Ricardo's engineers and passed on to us.

This setup has not been tested yet. It requires a MAJOR investment just to get these going and we can not justify that expense unless there is a demand for the product. Ricardo is setup for mass production, so something like this (only 50 to 100 units at a time) is requiring them to shut down their mass production lines and make a quick short production run. That is also one of the reasons for the high cost.

Just out of intrest ford actually tested the 3.9 ratio when they were developing the GT,I know of 2 complete transaxles with 3.9 ratio's are that were sold lately and are suposed to be going into GT's in california,
somebody close to the ford GT development program may be able to get there test results
Neil
NZ 05 GTR

 

[gtkurt]

Kurt,

Ricardo tells us that it will take them 90 days to manufacture the gears from the day we say go.

We definitely encourage leaving a deposit to secure your spot in line. If you would like to leave a deposit you can call me directly at 888-222-2702 ext. 173. Or feel free to stop by our facility and just ask the receptionist for Kyle Millen.

Guess who is first on the list!:banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana
Thank's Kyle:thumbsup

 

[dbk]

Just out of intrest ford actually tested the 3.9 ratio when they were developing the GT,I know of 2 complete transaxles with 3.9 ratio's are that were sold lately and are suposed to be going into GT's in california,
somebody close to the ford GT development program may be able to get there test results
Neil
NZ 05 GTR

Interesting stuff Neil!

 

[kmillen]

Just out of intrest ford actually tested the 3.9 ratio when they were developing the GT,I know of 2 complete transaxles with 3.9 ratio's are that were sold lately and are suposed to be going into GT's in california,
somebody close to the ford GT development program may be able to get there test results
Neil
NZ 05 GTR

Neil,

When do you want to send over your transmission? I know you want these gears around Pukekohe.

 

[nz05gt]

Neil,

When do you want to send over your transmission? I know you want these gears around Pukekohe.

For $9000.00 usd. I think a wipple will be better value for the gains in lap times at pukekohe.on a std motor we are already on the rev limit in 4th before the 200 metre board.3.9 would be More use at Taupo and Manfeild
:cheers Neil