The best gear ratio depends on a
lot of variables.
A few of the important ones are tire diameter, vehicle weight plus wind resistance, and engine characteristics.
Whatever ratio is great or best in one situation won't necessarily transfer over to another situation unless all these variables are the same, or different variables offset such that the answer could be the same.
This gear calculator will help with those comparisons
http://www.onlineconversion.com/bigger_tires.htmSay you and your buddy have identical trucks and ratios except one has 28" tires and the other has 33" tires. One of you really likes how their truck drives and the other not so much. What ratio might the second truck need to drive like the nice one?
Or perhaps you have a slow old Stovebolt 6 happy at 2,500 rpm and your buddy has a v8 that likes to cruise at 3,200 RPM, you can account for those differences with some math or the gear calculator website/program and get an idea what ratio one might like knowing what the other is and how that behaves.
Not the exact subject of this thread but gear ratio related; I think a common mistake at least with old trucks with old engines is believing that because the gear calculator says with a quick axle gear ratio that you can go 110 MPH or cruise at 2,000 rpm at 65.. However you might not have power enough to do either.
To fast a gear is as bad or worse for driving than one that is too slow for your liking.
All that calculating, comparing, and guessing is no substitute for finally trying a ratio, see how you like it, and adjust from there if you can.
