Best gear ratio for street strip

[69NovaKid]

hello everyone, im looking to change up the gear ratio in my nova's 10 bolt (8.5 ring gear - 3.42 ratio)- the rear is not stock, it was rebuilt by a guy owning a race team- automatic trans turbo 350- the car runs a 13.017 at 106mph on street tires but im crossing the line at only 5,500 rpm where my cam runs up to 6,500-- im trying to figure out which is the best gear ratio i can use to keep the car streetable. Im crossed between- 3.73 and 3.90 or even 4.10 but i dont want to put too much gear in but definitly not waste the money on the 3.73's if its not going to make much of a difference. The car is not a daily driver, mostly a weekend warrior, and a car to take on cruises, or to cruise nights-- any suggestions?

[maxwedge]

If your engine, not just the cam, makes maximum hp at 6000-6500, figure that is where you would like to hit the lights at. All things being equal that is about 15% higher rpms than you are now turning, so add 15% or so to your final gear ratio, about 3.90-4.10 gears, lots of other variables are involved in this decision.

[69NovaKid]

thankyou for yor input--- my motor has run up to 7,000 rpm but i would prefer to keep it below that. What other factors are involved? Anything that helps yoru response will help me. I think im more concerned on how it will run on the street - if the rpm will be too high for cruising speeds. But would like to pick up some time athte track to get into the mid twelves (being at 12.9 now)