I've got a gear drive in my 69 Firebird. The motor was put together by an old school drag race shop owner in Kinston, NC(Jackson automotive performance) originally(3yrs. ago) for his own use. It is a 12.5:1 compression 383 stroked chevy, 461 fully ported heads, big solid lifter cam, stud girdle, team G intake, modified 750 holley, super comp headers, 3" exhaust, etc, etc. (runs high 11's on 255/60/15 basic STREET tires at 3600lbs. with me in it) He builds mostly 1500+ hp stuff and has been racing competitively since the late 60's...the 383 was his version of an old school street/strip motor. By all accounts, I have every reason to believe that he knows his s**t, and he would be the first to mention that he intentionally built it "out of date" in a bit of a nostalgia thing. As far as how it sounds...the gear drive is very noticable even over the 3" exhaust, high compression, and solid lifters. Is sounds like a cross between a blower and a turbo spooling. It is the most obvious at idle. Anyone that has heard one before can tell right off that it has a gear drive. My new motor is finally ready: 406 small block, 10.5:1 comp, pocket ported 461 heads, DOUBLE ROLLER chain, etc. One of the things that I will miss the least about the 383 is the sound of that gear drive timing.

My understanding is that the gear drive is more of a style/attitude thing today rather than the best thing out there. Belt drives have certainly taken that over in the real high end stuff. Hope this helps...just my 2 cents.

George