What modern features have you integrated into your car?

[metallicareload99]

Tremec's 5spds all have smoother spreads in the lower 4 gears.  But they do some hard jumps with many of the overdrive gears, to get the cruising revs down as far as possible.  Lots of OEM modern muscle cars have 5-6spd manuals with big gaps too.  Lots of owners are fine with it but it would bug me. 

I swapped the .64 overdrive to a .82 in mine and love it. 

With 4.56 gears I'm not driving the thing cross country but that's not what I use it for. (so the shorter overdrive is a better match for my higher rpm based engine)

You are the first person I've seen do overdrive right! Everybody else seems to be trying to turn these cars into Toyota Prius' I wouldn't run any gear ratio less than 4.10 with overdrive. Needless to say you have one of thee nicest/well built Chargers out here

[Kern Dog]

Do what you want but aiming for lower cruise rpms isn't necessarily a "Prius" move.
75 mph while turning under 2000 rpms is quieter, produces less vibrations, the engine sees less wear and yes....fuel economy increases if the tune is right for it.
If you have a peaky engine that has to rev to 7000 rpms to reach peak HP, rolling along at 2000 rpms results in lazy performance and likely some carboned up combustion chambers.
It is easy to fall into the trend of being comfortable with the modern amenities that newer cars have. Power windows would be cool and I'm still considering them. For now the stuff like the rear view mirror with compass and temperature is something even the wife's 2003 Honda doesn't have. I have a stereo that came with a remote control which may be great for the dudes that like to blast their stereo while standing 20 feet away but I'm not that guy.

[metallicareload99]

I agree with all the benefits of low RPM, but.....maybe it's been too long since I had a stockish engine. My 440 doesn't really like to do anything below 2500 RPM, really it wants 3,000 minimum for cruising

I can see if you have a stroker motor you can definitely pull off the low RPM cruising. But also where can you cruise 90+ MPH without getting caught by the police other than I-5 or out in the desert?

[Mike DC]

Is 2000 rpm slow?  Imagine looking at an engine block made of clear glass, and the crankshaft is spinning at 2000 rpm.  Even that speed is ridiculously fast if you saw it with human eyes.


IIRC the old flathead Ford V8 didn't have a published redline but the power peaked around 3500.  It spent its whole life below 4000.  That was the first big iconic engine in moonshining & hot-rodding & NASCAR. 

A modern Honda S2000 is revving over 4000 when it's cruising along on the highway at 70-80.  The redline is up near 9000.  It's a dinky little engine with lightweight parts and fine tolerances.     

It's all relative.  Just depends on the motor.   


Our cars were designed to spin 3000+ revs on the highway.   They were designed to make about 350 net horsepower, tops.  They were also designed for 35-cent gasoline, 55-70 mph speed limits, and they were intended to last for 4-5 years.   

It's 50-60 years later.  We are all in totally uncharted territory with these things.       

[Kern Dog]

True, but putting an overdrive transmission in gives the advantage of having rapid acceleration from a stop and lower cruising rpms.
A car with 2.76 gears is great on the freeway but often is slow out of the hole.
A car with 4.10 gears rips from a start but is at 4000 rpms at 75 mph.
My 3.55 gear in overdrive has a final drive of 2.27. Who would argue against that? I got 15.1 mpg on a road trip with this combination and I wasn't trying hard. I'd get mid 10s with 3.23 gears and a 727. I couldn't stand to drive the car with anything taller than a 3.23.

[Mike DC]

Oh yeah, I love tall/overdrive gears for a highway cruiser.  Assuming that the package is built for it.  Big cubic inches without a big cam or carb.  Tight converter if it's an automatic.  Etc.   


I'm just saying some packages aren't built for it.  A gen-2 Hemi has big cylinder heads.  It's designed to rev.  You can put a small cam in it but you're fighting the spirit of the thing.   

[Kern Dog]

I agree there too.
My current combo has a cam that is way more radical than you'd want when driving under 2000 rpms.



I used this cam  when I rebuilt it in 222.... I kept the lifters in order from when I used the cam a few years back. It was a cost saving move back then. It runs friggin strong but peaks at a point where the Tremec does not like to shift....above 6000 rpms.
I have another cam here that is milder....it ought to be a better fit.

[INTMD8]

You are the first person I've seen do overdrive right! Everybody else seems to be trying to turn these cars into Toyota Prius' I wouldn't run any gear ratio less than 4.10 with overdrive. Needless to say you have one of thee nicest/well built Chargers out here

Thank you, nice of you to say.  In regard to the overdrive it's just personal preference. I know most prefer lower rpm engines and taller gearing.

[INTMD8]

It runs friggin strong but peaks at a point where the Tremec does not like to shift....above 6000 rpms.

Seems many people have that same experience ^  I consider myself lucky then as mine shifts perfect at any rpm.

[cdr]

I did have 3.54 gears with my OD .69 a518, but the converter was a little loose, so I put a 4.10 * now all is good

[metallicareload99]

When I had 2.94 gears I was fairly happy with my mildly built 440. Except for how slow it was coming off the line. About 12 years ago I put a Dana 60 with 3.54 and I wanted overdrive so bad. But after adding a roller cam and MUCH better heads to the 440 I don't mind not having overdrive as much. It's still slow coming off the line though.

At some point I want to install a TKX and by my calculations 4.30 or maybe even 4.56 gears would be perfect

[Kern Dog]

A fat cam will make the car feel lazy at low rpms in overdrive.
ears ago I had this Lunati in the car along with a 3000 rpm stall converter, 727, 3.91 gears and a Gear Vendors overdrive that put my final drive around 3.05.
It was terrible. At cruise speeds, the rpms were lower than the stall of the converter and the throttle response was really crappy.
Nowadays I have the same cam but a 5 speed with an even taller overdrive ratio but with the manual trans, it doesn't slip and delay, it just is a bit sluggish under 2000 rpms.
In 2022, the old MP 528 Solid cam went bad but before it did, that combination pulled nice and clean from 1500 rpms in 5th gear. It was certainly a better street cam than what I am running now.