Quote Originally Posted by Reasoned1 View Post
3.46 is what I was thinking since the car is for thrills not long hauls.

I would love to hear more about your upgrade.

Just noticed you're in Arlington, VA--my son lives in Arlington, and he facilitated the purchase of my ZHP at Avazi Auto Group in Gaithersburg, MD.
It definitely has been a good upgrade. Slater was right when he talks about it making a difference in the winter. That is where I REALLY noticed it. I have only driven this car through two of them and our Virginia winters aren't really that bad. We got our fair share of the white stuff. The first I had Blizzaks and the open stock diff. Car handled great but I found the car pulling in one direction a lot of times which was annoying. Second I had the Blizzaks again with the LSD, not only was it more fun, but I noticed that when pulling away or if I got stuck, having BOTH wheels pushing me forward made it a LOT easier to control. I drove around in DC the day after our big blizzard and despite plowing a few streets with my front bumper had ZERO problems.

That said, I have recommended the 3.46 as an upgrade even without the LSD unit for people on a budget. The unit is nice to have but realistically, I noticed more of a day-to-day impact from that change. I drove a stock ZHP at the Reunion and couldn't wait to get back into mine driving around the twisties in Tennessee. I missed the punch immediately. 2nd and 3rd shifts are RIGHT in the powerband and having all the pull you need in 6th on the highway is a great feeling. MPG wise it was a non-issue. All the way to TN and back I averaged 29ish while sitting a little over 3k at 80. Again, this is why you have pull in 6th which balances it out.

All in all, I agree with Rob, it's a very worthwhile upgrade that you WILL notice if you up the gear ratio. I cannot say that you would notice it as much with the 3.07 as our cars really just don't have the power to "need" the LSD. Obviously, the power of the engine doesn't change with the gearing but it allows you a little bit better "access" to it.

Oh, and Arlington is great. I love being able to walk to work! Though I do miss driving my ZHP as much...though it does give me a "bonus M3" feeling in comparison when I go from the 4runner to her or not driving for awhile.

Avazi Auto group gets some nice cars in from time to time. Do they match them with good service?