| If you do not like reading I can sum up the 4.10 gears for a Z32 TT in 2 words ( THEY WORK ). For those looking for more details.........
The first thing I would say is that driving my 1990 Z32 with 2530 Turbos matched with the 4.10 gears on the street is nothing less then amazing!
The reason I say it is amazing is because my car felt very good with the stock gears and upgraded turbos. I have a 4000 rpm high stall converter that
puts the turbos in there sweet spot by just glancing at the throttle. The car was what I would call "Very fun to drive" with stock gears.
Now that I have switched to the 4.10 gears I can say that this car is more exhilarating to drive then anything I have ever been in.
My car is so responsive with the gears that I cannot even come close to describing the sensation that is felt when smashing the throttle to the floor or even nudging into it for that matter.
I have always leaned towards smaller upgraded turbos because I love a car to have a responsive feel. Having low Lag to me is extremely important.
I can tell you with full confidence that I have never been in a small turbo car that feels anywhere close to as responsive as my 2530 turbo car coupled with these gears.
I think it is time to put a myth to rest as well........I have heard many people state over the years that Z32's make terrible drag cars????????
I am hear to tell you that this simply is not true!!!!! I have been spending a bit of time at the local drag strips lately and while at the drag strips I have seen everything race from Ferrari's to tubbed camaro's. Most of the cars racing seem to run 12 to 14 second passes. The few cars that run 10s and 11s have a couple main things in common......They have done extensive mods to make POWER and they have the proper equipment to get the power down on the track (Slicks or at least ET Streets and in most cases skinnies up front). It seems that in the past people with Z's did not bring the proper equipment to the track and people just figured that the cars were not capable of good times.
I have learned that gearing is a large piece of the puzzle for those that want to drag race and also to improve the responsiveness of a turbo charged car.
In all the time I have been involved with Nissan Z cars I never played with gearing. I always swayed away from the NA Gear swap
because of the reliability issue of using a rear end with much less strength. The other factor was gears were not available for the R230 diff.
I have found that the few domestic cars that are running fast at the tracks all have 4.10 or even more aggressive gearing. In addition most have extreme mods done to the suspension. People talk about how well Mustangs launch, but the ones I have seen at the track with superchargers, N20, full front and rear swap out suspensions made for drag racing, Running full slicks, 4.56 gears are pulling 1.5 and 1.6 range 60 ft times. I have really enjoyed my 280Z and have always loved the look of the original style Z. I have also always loved the Z32 but I never previously owned one because I have been able to drive them just about every day since they were new and having the 280Z with the twin turbo power package was fun because it was different.
After inheriting my 1990 Z32 I have become extremely attached to it and love to drive it every chance I get :) Now that I own a Z32 my love for the car has grown immensely deeper!!!
My car is effortless to drive fast in a canyon or down the 1320. From the things I learned over the years about making my 280 fast, I am amazed by how easy it is to make the Z32 a quick 1/4 mile car.
My 1990 Z32 only has bolt on equipment. The engine is completely stock and the heads have never been off and it still has stock automatic cams. This engine has 136,000 miles on it and it does not have a clue that it is worn out.
What is worth noting is that the compression on this engine before installing the larger turbos and N20 when it was Kurt's car was only in the 135 PSI range.
Now after daily driving this car for several months and making at least 100 passes with over 600 RWHP with N20 the compression is now between 155 and 158 PSI across all the cylinders. So my guess is either the rings or valves have worn in better under the extreme conditions it is being put under :)
For a list of the bolt ons you can look in my profile. My Z32 is putting down consistent and easy 1.5 sixty foots and is also now making 1.4 60 foots with stock Independent rear suspension, Stock Springs and Stock Shocks. The only changes to rear suspension are the subframe spacers and Powertrix rear adjustable camber arms to get a good footprint.
I can tell you that 1.4 sixty foots would not be possible without the 4.10 gearing on my car. Lower gearing is a simple item that has been a common mod for domestics for a long time and I believe it is one of the main ingredients for quick drag cars. At my power level the gears have dropped me 3 tenths of a second....(This is huge when already going this quick!) My MPH also went up 3 to 4 MPH and I was surprised by this. I was thinking it would go quicker with the gears but not necessarily faster.
The car was going 128 MPH with stock gears in the 1/4 mile. With the 4.10 gears it runs 131 to 132 MPH in the 1/4 mile.
The first time I went to the track with the new gears my car was missing at the top due to my plugs being overheated (I was running the deep #6 plugs and burning them up) this resulted in me still running quicker with the new gears even with the car missing.
I had run a best of 10.74 @128 with the stock gears and running well. The first time I went to the track with the new gears I did not bring any tools or parts and it was missing and I still ran quicker with a 10.52 at 125 MPH. Now with new plugs and running right again with the 4.10 gears I am hitting 132 MPH and my best time of the day yesterday was 10.43 @ 131.81 MPH.
(on a side note I am testing some NA length NGK iridium # 9 plugs and they are what I was running yesterday)
I find no problem with having the independent rear suspension and if you ask anyone that has watched me drive this car down the track, It shoots out and drives as smooth and straight as cruising down the freeway. I have had several people at the track say they have never seen a street driven car come out so quick.
It takes a lot of power to get down the track quick as with any car, But once making the power the Z32 suspension has no problem putting down the power when it is properly set up. The lower gearing is a torque multiplier and will make any car quicker and more responsive.
Adding the 4.10 gears to what was already a great package on my car has pushed the car past my expectations and has made the car simply AMAZING!
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