legacycentral bbs

Hello all,

I have been very busy this last little while with work, but I have made time
to read all the posts! This is a fantastic forum and I can't wait to start
with the modifications on my car.

I still have to do more research into the gearing thing, but I was wondering
if anyone on the list has gone to 4.44 gears? IF so, is it worth the
effort, or are there better bang for the buck mods?

You'd have to replace the transmission as well as the rear
differential, so it's not much of a "bang for the buck" upgrade.

Exhaust work, intake and ignition are all good places to reap
reasonable performance and efficiency improvements.

I really wonder if you would like gearing of that sort unless you were
going off road. I went from the 4.11 to the 3.9 and like it a lot
better. With te 4.11 I would spin the wheels a bit and hit the rev
limiter in the first 15 feet at the lights at the strip.

I am running the 4:44 gears in my modified Naturally Aspirated
Liberty/Legacy.

What sort of performance are you looking at from changing over. From
my conversion i have found that it has helped highway rev's drop
signifacantly, but has very slightly slowed acceleration. Essentially
only STI's are running the 4:44 gears, so maybe they're stronger.

The standard Sooby Land Speed Record was done with the 4:44 gears in
a twin turbo legacy wagon, at 278km/h so i don't think it'd be too
hard to get some serious top speed out of the gears.

What sort of performance are you seeking??? I'm not really sure the
gear ratio's are what you'd be after.
George, Australia.

I've got 3.7 in mine now, and I really like it. From what I hear the 4.11 isn't that great, and I would think the 4.44 would be worse for day-to-day driving.

Wait....I'm confused now.

From what I have heard the lower final gear ratio number ie: 3.7 is actually higher gearing, vs. a higher number ie: 4.11, which would be lower gearing.

Those numbers mean how many times the transmission output is being reduced correct? If so the higher number would mean it's being reduced more times, hence lower gearing.

Am I right about this, or totally confused?

Thanks....just want to clarify things for myself and others.

You are right when I went from a 4.11 setup to the 3.9 the engine revs
dropped about 800rpm. The 4.44 would be a real "stump puller" and
would be nice off road as far as I am concerned.

Thanks....that's what I thought, just makin sure

Just in case you guy's forgot, I am considering building a hillclimb/rally
car from my 94 Legacy Turbo. I still haven't got around to finding out
about the rules regarding staying in Production with the gear swap....even
if I used 4.11 which came in the same generation (wagons I think) would be
an improvement.

I am limited by engine mods if I am to stay in production, but if the gears
take me out, then I can go wilder on the engine. I am doing all this
because the car tends to bog from lack of power/high traction while exiting
low speed corners. I have intentions of rallying, and wanted to eliminate
this problem.

Car is currently running about 11 psi of boost, and it is strong, but not
EJ20T strong. To add boost increases the intake charge to much without an
intercooler, and I can't run an intercooler in Production.

Since the 2002 WRX now race in the same class I need more power, or I need
an edge in acceleration...that's why I was considering a gear swap if it was
legal.

Good thing Josh cleared that whole thing up, I was second guessing myself as
I read those last few posts!!

Any other suggestions for legal power and speed for production rallying

Thanks for any advise.

The 4:44 ratio's were available in the Early Legacy Sti RS RA's

Don't worry I was confused to.