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If you’re a fan of muscle cars, or you’ve ever heard someone ask at a car show, “what gears you got in that thing?” you know that proper gearing can have a drastic effect on the performance of your car. Back when I was racing Mustangs in high school, my ’94 GT came with a dismal 2.73 gear set, optimized for highway fuel economy. My three friends with Mustangs all upgraded their gears, one used a 3.55, one a 3.73, and one a 4.10. But which would be the right choice for me?

Modifying your car is a give and take process. Want a track-ready suspension? You’re probably going to have to deal with some stiffness on the street. Want a loud exhaust? You may have to yell so your passengers hear you. Modifying a gear set (and by that I mean final drive ratio, you can also modify gears within the transmission) is a quick way to improve a car’s acceleration, but you will also have to deal with an engine that will require more revs for highway cruising. And as much as I liked improving my drag strip time (which got as low as 11.7 @ 122 mph), I spent most of the time driving my Mustang on the street. I ended up choosing the 3.55 gear set so my car could cruise on the highway at about 2,400 RPM vs. my friend Jimmy’s Mustang with the 4.10 gears that cruised at over 3,000 RPM at the same speed.

Had I not had three cars to test drive and compare before choosing my gear set, I doubt I would have made a properly informed decision. But now, you can. Vexer.com offers an online tool where you can input some basic information about your car and you can see how gears and tire sizes will not only affect your acceleration, but also the engine RPM in different gears at different speeds. It’s fun to play with, and very useful if you’ve ever considered a new set of gears for your own car.

Vexer via Ridelust