Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The lowest I've personally seen were civilian 80s Chrysler M-bodies (Diplomat / Gran Fury / 5th Avenue) that were something like 2.26:1. Chrysler didn't have a rear-drive 4-speed (O/D) transmission at that time and in the Iacocca years there was exactly no budget for any new rear-drive tech, so they developed the A999 version of the A904 3-speed. It had a "deep" (higher numerical ratio) FIRST gear so that they could put a 2.26 rear end out back, effectively turning 3rd (direct) into a pseudo-overdrive and using convertor slip and the deep first gear to keep the cars from being complete and total pigs off the line (they were still painfully slow). But that setup could return mid to high-20s MPG in a fullsize 3-box v8 sedan with a very reliable 3-speed automatic setup and a brutally strong ring/pinion set- I've seen a lot of them with over 200,000 miles and no transmission work at all (a far cry from Chrysler front-drive automatics of just a couple years later!) So it was making the best of a bad situation. The cop-spec M-bodies could be had with that same deep first gear and a 3.23 rear end, which actually made them launch surprisingly fast for only ~150 horsepower.
Some had the same gearz WITHOUT the deep gear in the trans. In a r000lb St. Regis. Putt...putt...
The lowest I've personally seen were civilian 80s Chrysler M-bodies (Diplomat / Gran Fury / 5th Avenue) that were something like 2.26:1. Chrysler didn't have a rear-drive 4-speed (O/D) transmission at that time and in the Iacocca years there was exactly no budget for any new rear-drive tech, so they developed the A999 version of the A904 3-speed. It had a "deep" (higher numerical ratio) FIRST gear so that they could put a 2.26 rear end out back, effectively turning 3rd (direct) into a pseudo-overdrive and using convertor slip and the deep first gear to keep the cars from being complete and total pigs off the line (they were still painfully slow). But that setup could return mid to high-20s MPG in a fullsize 3-box v8 sedan with a very reliable 3-speed automatic setup and a brutally strong ring/pinion set- I've seen a lot of them with over 200,000 miles and no transmission work at all (a far cry from Chrysler front-drive automatics of just a couple years later!) So it was making the best of a bad situation. The cop-spec M-bodies could be had with that same deep first gear and a 3.23 rear end, which actually made them launch surprisingly fast for only ~150 horsepower.
Some had the same gearz WITHOUT the deep gear in the trans. In a r000lb St. Regis. Putt...putt...