Well . . . as for "stoplight fun", that deal has seemed to be "out the window" as most any small 4cyl car with a gazillion-speed automatic has enough gear and light enough weight to smoke many older "Detroit Iron" from a dead stop. To me, much more fun to find them at a 30mph roll, where a kickdown into "1" will put your car in the meat of the torque curve and pulling toward 5000spm. As they won't then have enough gear OR torque to have a good challenge to you. That's MY theory, anyway.
In that orientation, I like the 2.76s in our '66 Newport with the stock equivalent-size H78-14 tires on it. About 28.66mph/1000rpm, as I calculated it years ago. With the stock suspension calibrations and HD shocks, those cars seemed to have a natural cruising speed in the 75-90mph range. 70mph was "boring", but 75-90mph was in the "car having fun and enjoying what it was doing" range. 95mph, by comparison, the suspension seemed to be a bit past the relaxed mode at 90mph. That was fast enough, anyway. And the TX Interstates were the right place to enjoy that, plus some of the better state highways in the western areas.
By comparison, the '70 Monaco "N" 383, 3.23/H78-15 (25.4mph/1000rpm) didn't seem quite as "easy" in the 75mph+ speed ranges. It had no issues getting there or higher, just not quite as relaxed as the '66 Newport seemed to be. It always seemed to feel softer than the '66, which was good and not-quite-so-good to me. This combination also came from the factory with the "small" torque converter for a higher stall speed than the 2bbl motors had (which we learned the first time we did a trans fluid change.
I would recommend the 15" tires/wheels, though, for the additional weight capacity and better handling. Rubber compound, from my experiences, makes the difference in marginalized traction conditions, plus tread design and depth, more than aspect ratio per se, within the realm of basically stock tire sizes. N50s, though? A different breed of cat.
But, your car, your fuel expenses, etc. Enjoy!
CBODY67
In that orientation, I like the 2.76s in our '66 Newport with the stock equivalent-size H78-14 tires on it. About 28.66mph/1000rpm, as I calculated it years ago. With the stock suspension calibrations and HD shocks, those cars seemed to have a natural cruising speed in the 75-90mph range. 70mph was "boring", but 75-90mph was in the "car having fun and enjoying what it was doing" range. 95mph, by comparison, the suspension seemed to be a bit past the relaxed mode at 90mph. That was fast enough, anyway. And the TX Interstates were the right place to enjoy that, plus some of the better state highways in the western areas.
By comparison, the '70 Monaco "N" 383, 3.23/H78-15 (25.4mph/1000rpm) didn't seem quite as "easy" in the 75mph+ speed ranges. It had no issues getting there or higher, just not quite as relaxed as the '66 Newport seemed to be. It always seemed to feel softer than the '66, which was good and not-quite-so-good to me. This combination also came from the factory with the "small" torque converter for a higher stall speed than the 2bbl motors had (which we learned the first time we did a trans fluid change.
I would recommend the 15" tires/wheels, though, for the additional weight capacity and better handling. Rubber compound, from my experiences, makes the difference in marginalized traction conditions, plus tread design and depth, more than aspect ratio per se, within the realm of basically stock tire sizes. N50s, though? A different breed of cat.
But, your car, your fuel expenses, etc. Enjoy!
CBODY67
