It fit pretty well (not snug or loose) when I test fit it while putting twin disk in. Will check it when i get a min to get back out to the garage
I'm not hinting, I think the 3.50 hybrid swap is a great trans for our cars, once modified, for both dragstip and overall streetability. It's fun to do 100mph in 3rd gear. 40mpg on 100 octane in my Shadow on the highway (as long as staty out of boost) is sweet too!
Not a myth, but not as easy, and we're just cheap as usual... you're not sure why? you even admitted its teh cost yourself. LOL... but seriously, giving up boost/power at the line is giving up ET. The goal is to try to figure out how to make it stick with the power. Tires, suspenston, chassis setup are all variable to play with to make this happen. Keep in mind as well, this is not a 1500lb honda track car, but a 2700lb street car.Not sure why people here try to bandaid poor boost control with long 1st and 2nd gearing. Who else is doing that these days besides...us? Boost or timing by gear (or time based retard/boost) is still myth here.
Also, gear ratio effectiveness matters... Changing the FDR or tire diameter does not only affect 1st and 2nd but gearing through the whole run. The goal is to use all of the non overdriven gears (difficult for us as 4th os OD, but i digress) up exactly at the end of the 1/4 mile.
I owned 24.5" tires.. wanted an OBX so went with the 3.50:1 (like most folks with OBX swaps) and didnt want to bang out 4th to redline, so ended up with this:
24.5" tire with 3.50:1 A568 ~155mph in 4th at 7k (144 @ 6500)
On a good sticky track, with the old turbo, I was able to hook this combo out of the hole. Not so much on an average stick track, and horrible on a crappy track. So all around, I would consider this a decent combo for the car at that time on an average track. If I had the 3.85:1, it would have probably worked OK high end for gearing, but would have been near the limiter high end:
24.5" tire with 3.85:1 A568 ~141mph in 4th at 7k (131 @ 6500)
Now since I started the build, I raised the limiter past 7k, however, even launching on lower boost it still kills the tires (on most tracks), so why would I drop from a 3.50:1 to a 3.85:1 with those tires? So I can spin in 4th?
So I went to 26" tires for added contact patch and sidewall:
26" tire with 3.50:1 A568 ~164 in 4th at 7k (152 @ 6500)
And now this is just too much gear from the taller tire for this car. If I went to take several hundred lbs out or add a couple hundred HP, sure, but this combo is not optimized... However, it can hook!
With the 26's I think it will hook with a 3.85 and the gearing is just about right:
26" tire with 3.85:1 A568 ~149mph in 4th at 7k (138 @ 6500)
I think you must have missed the comments I've made on a 24.5" tire with 3.50:1 (48mph @ 7000 in 1st) being severley limited traction past 80 mph?Tires can only handle so much and longer gearing will accelerate no better then decreased boost or timing. If 42mph in 1st vs 45mph (difference between 3.85 and 3.50 gears at 7000rpms somehow saves the world, thats cool, but I know it doesn't and you should to.
Comparing my car to an 8 second car... OK.... What gear ratios and FRD is Red Sled running? 24.5" tires is only 1/2 of the equation... gear and tire diameter work together... oh, and he's running an auto trans too. hmm...Numbers don't lie, cars run faster when gearing and traction are both optimized without making the sacrifice of anything but what you don't need (excess power) and even Red Sled (a dodge!) knows you can't just throw all the beans at first gear. He is still running 24.5 tires since outlaw is dead. He is doing that with 2400 pounds of weight and more power then Brian Slowe. His car was as heavy as your car last year when he ran 8.8 and 166mph and then he put it on a diet.