[geeteeohguy]

I agree with Rohrt. Things have changed. I think if new cars never had flush glass, good brakes, or overdrive trannies, we would still be content with 3500 rpm at 65 mph and lousy mileage. But we got older and wiser. We know better now. We have choices to make (thank goodness!). As for top speed, at least with the early GTO's, my maximum seems to be 130-ish. At that speed, the car begins to lift and float in the front end, and feels very, very, light....like it's going to take off. Scary. But these cars are not aerodynamic...not the early A bodies, anyway. I was in my '67 competing against a guy in a 2.41 geared '74 Firebird with a 455 and 2 quadrajet carbs and a 4 speed (yes, that's correct), and we were at 125-130 mph and he could not pass me.....he was stuck. Until he decided to shift down into 3rd gear. He did that and walked me. I later went 145 mph in that car ('74 Firebird), which is the fastest I've ever been in a Pontiac. His car had spoilers, good suspension, etc, and felt glued to the road, in contrast to my ancient goat. These cars need more than a salt flat gear ratio to be able to go fast safely. The neat thing is being able to cruise at 90-100 mph as easily as if it were 65 or 70mph, IMO.

[1967Tempest]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

The neat thing is being able to cruise at 90-100 mph as easily as if it were 65 or 70mph, IMO.

Not a 2.56 story, but a overdrive story...

My 67 Tempest Coupe had 2.56 then I went to 3.23. The car took off like a rocket after the swap, but on the highway keeping up with NJ traffic I was revving 3-3500K with 4 speed at 1:1.. Noisy and after awhile got really annoying.
Installed the Tremec 5 speed. Out on RTE 80 cruising. Looked at tach and I saw 3200 rpms. I was like?? WTF??? Where is this extra cruising RPM drop??? Yeah I was doing 120.. For awhile. Like a real long time. From getting on 80 West from 287 to Exit 34B. So 10 miles or so. The funny part was traffic was moving so it didn't feel like 120.