Im trying to figure out what my rear end setup is gonna be for my street/strip '71 Monte Carlo. The car will be my daily driver but will see the track regularly. I was gonna go 3.73, but now I'm thinking couldn't I just go with something lower like a 3.55 or 3.42 gear for better street driving and then run a smaller tire when racing to make up for the gear, or maybe get the 3.73s and run a larger tire for the street like 30" and then go to 26" when racing? Seems like a balancing act to me, I'm just trying to get a better understanding of how this works before I make my final decision, because if I can go to less steep of a gear without losing too much ET that would be ideal, my goal is to be as streetable as possible but not sacrifice performance. any opinions?
Thanks,
Aubrey

This site should help point you in the right direction. Personally though I think 3.73's are a good compromise. Good enough for track, and not bad for cruising.

http://www.dalesplace.com/htm/information/rpm_calculator.htm

There is always a sacrifice. Theoretically your best combination for the track is to use as tall a tire as you can physically fit at the track for traction and then match the gear ratio to what the combination wants.

Well, throw in streetability, which there are as many opinions as there are politicians broken promises, and it becomes hazy.

I can really only speak for myself and I consider my combination streetable. I use as big a tire as I can fit, BUT I use a rear gear that will do what I want on the street and not hurt my 60 ft too much. I know it will run quicker with more gear and more converter and a few other minor mods but there is the compromise. There is also always a compromise if you want to stay without a power adder or buy race gas or drive a car that YOU consider streetable for you.

This is the main reason I went with the bigger cubes and a combo that should last many years with only minor maintenance.

Aubrey, set in your mind what RPM you want to do on the highway, your car works well with 28" tires. put the gear in there to accomplish the RPMs at highway cruising or whatever YOUR criteria may be for a street/strip car.

Then see what it runs with the best traction you can achieve which means a 28" tire not a 26". You have a lot more to gain with better tracton than you will lose from a 26" to 28" tire.

It will be trial and error because there is no perfect formula...it will come around.