Quote:
Originally Posted by texanidiot25
Gotta say, if it was so bad I don't think they'd still be using a similar setup in their current 4L60E, nearly 30 years later. Nothing wrong with a short gear to get a heavy truck moving fast. That 1st gear made my V6 1990 Firebird feel like champ until 40mph when it finally shifted. Nicely geared for loads of stump pulling torque too. The 1-2 shift is a good drop, but our V8s sit here and make all their power and torque in the mid range so it doesn't hurt them much.
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They are good for what they are. They are good transmission for a stock vehicle with moderate gear ratios. I guess, I should be a little clearer on what I'm saying. I spend 15 years drag racing and that's what I'm basing my experience off of. When the 4L60/700 is used as drag racing transmission, the low 1st gear is a bad thing. If you put 4.10's or 4.56's in the car/truck with a healthy converter, the 1st gear shifts pretty much as soon as the converter locks up and it hurts 60' times tremendously. Its causes a 46% drop in RPM, and on drag engine with a big cam, intake and heads that gets you out of the desired RPM range. The 200-4R is better and stronger for that application, and I know Pont406 does some racing, and I stand by the fact the 200 would be a better transmission for that. A 700/4L60 is a great transmission for anything from a station wagon to a quick street car, and would be adequate for almost anything out there. For myself, however, I know that 200's are stronger and I prefer the gear spacing over the 700. I've had a couple of 5.7 IROC's, a couple 305 Camaros, a '91 Formula 350, and tons of trucks with them, and they are OK, but that low first gear followed by the falling-on-it's-head-2nd-drop annoys the crap out of me!
It was a band-aid to the high rear end gears they were putting in those cars when it came. GM finally got smart in the late 90's, and starting putting lower gear ratios in new cars and trucks. It results in a better performance and better mileage. The earliers ones had too much overdrive and actually needed that low first gear.
I never intended to start a p$$ing maych with anybody, and I apologize if that's what it sounds like. Pont406 has a Pontiac engine, so figured in the fact that he'd have to buy a adaptor plate to mount a 700 and the fact is taking his truck to the dyno and racing it makes the 200 a no-brainer IMO.